DIGITAL FABLAB
School in the Time of Covid AR as a learning tool driving industrial innovation
With the outspread of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, home schooling turned itself from a niche practice to a consolidated reality for millions of youngsters all around the world. From the beginning of this experience, it was evident that the classical teaching methods were not fit for virtual learning, meaning that teachers and trainers struggled to develop more efficient approaches to their subjects by exploiting all their knowledge and coping with the limited resources in their possess.
The Vocational Education and Training system was more impacted by the pandemic mobility restrictions than Higher Education due to the limitation of work-based learning opportunities and the necessity to shape ad-hoc school-based activities. In February 2021, the OECD encouraged its Member Governments to provide guidance and teaching resources to VET schools to facilitate the redesign of curricula and teaching methods, including the implementation of innovative pedagogical approaches and new technologies.
We have indeed experienced a swift transformation of virtual teaching since the start of the pandemic. In September 2019, the European Footwear Confederation, partner of the Erasmus+ project SciLed, produced a research study on different learning tools and methods. Three years later, the entries included in the report are rather seen as everyday practices than as cutting-edge methods.
A paragraph of such report was dedicated to Augmented Reality (AR). The Gartner Information Technology Glossary defines AR as the real-time use of information in the form of text, graphics, audio and other virtual enhancements integrated with real-world; the interaction with the surrounding real world draws the line between AR and Virtual Reality (VR). The COVID-19 pandemic gave a boost to the spread of AR/VR: Sergei Vardomatski, founder at HQSoftware, reported to Forbes that the global spending related to this technology (headset, software and services) rose in 2020 to 12 billion $, meaning an increase by 50% from the previous year.
Despite the rising use of AR, its application in education is still at an embryonic phase; however, its potential is remarkable, particularly when it comes to learning by doing in VET. From a strictly pedagogical point of view, the AR-based learning systems have several dynamic features that enhance teachers’ and students’ interest to learn. Moreover, with the introduction of AR, the lab equipment becomes more affordable and accessible for both students and schools: each student could work on its project with their setting without the need to have a machinery per person (a logistic and economic limit).
However, although technology always sounds easy and catchy, integrating AR in education is not a smooth, top-down approach. First of all, access to internet and basic digital equipment still constitutes a barrier for a large section of worldwide population and education establishments, and the figures increase the more the technologies are advanced. Then, the use of such learning tools requires specific training for educators, which is not always facilitated. Finally, the main features of AR need to be harmonised to the new context and to the corollary legislation (children rights, privacy, cybersecurity, etc).
We see that AR has a high potential but also objective limitations. At this point, we should ask ourselves: how to turn AR into a concrete support rather than a missed opportunity? And more specifically: How to give students hands-on activities that allow them to learn and demonstrate competence when they do not have the same access to labs, workplaces, or materials that they had pre-covid?
The second question drives the Finnish project 3DBear AR. Based on the Finnish educational system, considered to be among the best ones worldwide, this method allows students to learn by doing, build on their successes, learn to monitor their progress, and take control of their own learning. The concept of the tool is very linear. Trainers create and assign lessons or challenges via a teacher dashboard, while students use the app on their smartphone or to create scenes using the object library, images from their devices, or uploads from Thingiverse (a free, online platform for 3D files). Once the task is completed, they share their work through the cloud feature to the teacher dashboard for viewing. Teachers can eventually share designs with teams of students for further discussion and modification. The range of technologies within 3DBear App is not limited to AR; instead, the project rather fosters the integration of all 3D technologies. In addition, the tool has been conceived to be easy to use by trainers, although a wide range of training possibilities (video tutorials, webinars, ad-hoc solutions, etc.) remains available.
There are other initiatives addressing the peculiarities and needs of VET detailed earlier in this article, such as the Meta-AR-App developed by a team of Purdue University (US): it is a platform combining the features of clouding and collaborative AR technologies that enables authoring between instructors and students. Unlike 3DBear AR, whose activities depend on the trainers’ input, this tool is customised to allow two modalities of interaction in the classroom: local (student to student) and global (instructor to class). Meta-AR-App has been developed for STEM classrooms; however, looking at the presentation by the developing team, it seems easily applicable to the VET dynamics.
Finally, a few words on Mesh, one of the latest products of the Microsoft family. The tool allows to collaborate virtually, train together anywhere, and design in 3D. According to the development team, this technology is intended to target people who work with 3D product models. Therefore, MS Mesh can allow designers and engineers, but also students and teachers, to collaborate remotely. Applying it to our reality, a VET class would be in the condition to simulate a footwear laboratory and test different production methods, engage in product development and testing, prototyping and product launching. A Mesh extension for Microsoft Teams has been recently announced and will be soon be available.
Concluding, what is the lesson for the footwear sector? Despite the critical conditions generating the phenomenon, AR can play a role in the modernisation of footwear VET education by tackling the criticalities from the roots. The implementation of AR in the learning curricula and tools, once supported with the right funds and policies and made available on a large scale, represents in first place a step forward for the VET system, whose main objective is to train specialised workforce to the needs of the current industrial system. However, as a domino effect, we should recognise the role of such tools as facilitators for the natural transition from the learning dynamics to the workplace, where advanced technologies are leading. In other words, AR is a valuable tool supporting the necessary digital and green transitions that the footwear community cannot leave behind.
By CEC