Augmented reality applied in distance education in the undergraduate course in architecture and urbanism: experience and innovation report

Abstract

Currently, the race to implement technology in higher education institutions (HEIs) is, without precedent, a need that has been greatly exacerbated and evidenced by the covid-19 pandemic. Mandatory social isolation has made the main forms of approximations and exchanges occur through the internet. From the beginning, education became one of the most impacted sectors, with strictly face-to-face courses migrating in days or at most weeks, becoming completely distance learning. The objective of this study is to understand and analyze what are the aspects of innovation, creativity, sustainability, and user experience in augmented reality technology that can be developed and leveraged in education in architecture and urbanism. The unit of analysis is a case study, carried out with teachers, tutors, and the distance learning coordination team on the BAONLINE Moodle platform of an HEI in São Paulo. As a method of user experience analysis, the case study used the Attrakdiff protocol, which evidences the points to be improved in the interface of the Augmentecture augmented reality platform, so that students can have a better experience with the technology when deployed. The results obtained with the data at the end of the research are based on the experiences of teachers, tutors, and the coordination team of the HEI's distance education platform. It is concluded that through the analysis of teachers and tutors, augmented reality collaborates a lot with student learning and research participants are interested in seeing the tool applied in other disciplines and in learning how to develop interactions in augmented reality for classes. The main limitations are the lack of knowledge in handling the technology and the difficulty found to visualize the interactions on the Augmentecture platform, as there is a need to simplify the interface about technical visualization issues.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/methofocusinterv1-068