Imagine exploring a city’s historical sites, uncovering secrets, and learning about important figures – all while having fun. That’s exactly what 7th-grade students from Maribor primary schools experienced using our ARtour mobile guide.
An Innovative Learning Experience
In March, we embarked on an exciting project in Maribor, Slovenia, where we used the ARtour mobile guide in a completely new way. Instead of a traditional classroom setting, we turned history lessons into an interactive adventure.
How We Made It Happen
To make learning about history engaging, we developed a special guide in the ARtour app tailored for this project. Students were tasked with finding monuments and graves of significant historical figures, using the app to uncover clues.
Here’s how it worked:
- Interactive Guide: Each point in the guide had hints and geographic information about a landmark, but the actual names and details were hidden.
- Discovery Challenge: For instance, a monument labeled ”Prisoners Run” required students to visit the location to discover its true title and historical context.
The Impact of Mobile Guides
This approach was a hit with the students, and here’s why:
- Engaging Technology: The use of a mobile guide made the learning experience more exciting, tapping into technology students are already familiar with.
- Active Exploration: Walking around and discussing the sites with teachers provided hands-on learning that imporved memory retention.
- Real-World Skills: Navigating with maps in an unfamiliar area helped students develop practical skills.
Students Reactions
The feedback was overwhelingly positive:
- ”It was fun.”
- ”I learned interesting things.”
- ‘ I didn’t know Maister is buried here.”
Many students were so enthusiastic that they downloaded the app on their smartphones to continue exploring on their own.
Looking Ahead
This successful experiment demonstrates that mobile guiding applications can transform education by making learning more interactive and engaging. We’re excited to continue developing ARtour’s mobile learning features to inspire and educate students in new and innovative ways.