ExposAR: Bringing Augmented Reality to the Computational Thinking Agenda through a Collaborative Authoring Tool

Title of the Paper

ExposAR: Bringing Augmented Reality to the Computational Thinking Agenda through a Collaborative Authoring Tool

Paper Information

• Subject Area: Computational Thinking Education and Augmented Reality Technology
• Keywords: Augmented Reality, Education, Computational Thinking, Interactive Learning Systems, Collaborative Tools, Design Principles, Social Impact, Children's Education

Research Background and Problem

• Problems or Challenges:

  1. Augmented Reality (AR) technology, as a pervasive technology, is becoming increasingly important in children's daily lives, yet computational thinking education has not adequately covered how to understand, create, and evaluate AR technologies.
  2. Current AR educational tools mostly focus on using AR to assist other disciplines rather than teaching AR technology itself and its underlying mechanisms.
  3. There is a lack of educational guidance on the social and ethical impacts of AR technology (e.g., behavioral manipulation or privacy issues).

• Significance: Mastering computational thinking skills related to AR technology and critically understanding its social implications can help cultivate children as comprehensive critical thinkers in the digital age.

• Research Motivation: To explore how a collaborative AR authoring tool can help children understand the computational concepts, development practices, and social perspectives of AR technology, while addressing the gaps in existing educational tools in this field.

Solution

• Proposed Method or Solution: Developed a cross-device collaborative AR authoring tool named ExposAR, which aims to help elementary school students understand the core concepts, development practices, and social impacts of AR technology by constructing simple AR applications.

• Innovations:

  1. Materializing key AR computational concepts (e.g., plane tracking, image recognition) into interactive objects (Reification Principle).
  2. Designing cross-device collaborative interfaces to support real-time synchronization and role switching among authors (Cross-Device Principle).
  3. Incorporating elements from children's familiar real-world contexts to inspire reflection (Own World Principle).

• Implementation Steps and Key Technologies:

  1. Tool Design: Developed using a cross-device collaboration approach combining mobile and desktop devices.
  2. Three Core Modules: Mobile AR application (implemented with Unity and ARFoundation framework), server (real-time communication via Node.js), and desktop web application (based on Three.js).
  3. Use Case Design: Constructed AR mechanisms similar to "Pokémon GO," including gem collection, path design, and behavioral manipulation.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Outcomes:

  1. ExposAR created a collaborative sandbox environment that allows students to learn technical concepts, development practices, and reflect on the social significance of applications by building AR applications.
  2. Proposed three widely applicable design principles: Reification, Cross-Device, and Own World.

• Advantages Over Existing Solutions:

  1. Creatively exposes the underlying mechanisms of AR rather than simply providing functional authoring tools.
  2. Standardized collaborative features significantly enhance communication and task clarity among users.
  3. Distinctly integrates real-world contexts (e.g., neighborhood stores) into AR scenarios to strengthen students' connection between technology and reality.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  1. Validated through classroom experiments with 46 elementary school students (aged 13-14), who significantly improved their understanding of AR computational concepts (e.g., plane tracking, image usage) and applied these concepts.
  2. The cross-device features in collaborative development (e.g., combining 1st person and WiM views) promoted standardized operations and enhanced classroom teamwork.
  3. Tasks driven by real-world contexts (e.g., local shops) inspired students to critically discuss the manipulative nature and social implications of technology.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  1. Limitations:
     • Technical stability issues: Low surface tracking quality affected the learning experience.
     • Relatively simple game mechanics limited complexity and students' creative exploration.
  2. Future Directions:
     • Enhance the technical framework of AR authoring tools (e.g., algorithm optimization, richer interaction modes).
     • Expand scenario types and educational topics, such as machine learning and privacy ethics.
     • Incorporate more social and cultural contexts to inspire case studies focusing on the broader impacts of AR technology.