---
title: "Augmented learning"
chunk: 5/6
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_learning"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T15:12:19.860274+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Is augmentation really "learning"? ==
Critics may see learning augmentation as a crutch that precludes memorization; similar arguments have been made about using calculators in the past. Just as rote learning is also not a substitute for understanding, augmented learning is simply another faculty for helping learners recall, present and process information.
Current research suggests that even unconscious visual learning can be effective. Visual stimuli, rendered in flashes of information, showed signs of learning even when the human adult subjects were unaware of the stimulus or reward contingencies.
One way to look at augmentation is whether the process leads to improvement in terms of signal to noise ratio for the individual learner. Diverse predispositions among varied learners means there can be great disparity in signal processing by different learners for any one particular instruction method.
Although people have their doubts about the effectiveness of augmented and virtual reality in classrooms, they are very useful tools for teachers and educators around the world. It is proven by studies that AR can improve student understanding of complex or invisible structures. AR and VR are capable of introducing children to new concepts in fun and encouraging ways that they cannot get from a chalk board or classroom. Not only do these realities help children learn, but they also help researchers identify what specific traits aid or hinder a child's learning capabilities.  
These mediums for education include the ability to perform experiments virtually rather than in-person due to them proposing risk or health concerns. One study conducted was focused on the understanding of electromagnetism; In comparison to a non-AR environment, AR proved to increase the students' ability to visualize structural phenomena, reduced cognitive load, and improved motivation and self-confidence. However, this seems to only be the case for physical experiences, and there has not been anything to prove AR's dominance in a person's understanding of theoretical concepts. It is for this reason that AR will not take over classrooms entirely but will be a great advancement in children's understanding of STEM concepts.
It is important to remember that this is still an under-researched and relatively new technology for schools to implement. The technology that is used for creating AR experiences dates back to 1990, however, it was not widely used for educational purposes until around 2010. There is a lot that can be done to improve how AR is used in educational settings. It is also to be noted what types of studies were conducted. A large portion of the research documented is narrative-based and qualitative literature reviews, however, some suggest that it would be more accurate and credible to perform meta-analyses. A meta-analysis is in short, a way of gathering lots of individual research experiments and studying them to make more predictions on what the information tells us. This will provide a more valid representation of data found due to the sheer number of studies that were incorporated, along with the studies differing in their research methods, rather than the findings of just one case.
AR opens a whole world of exploration for people to be able to not only learn, but to want to continue learning. Through the use of 3D VLE's, AR allows people to travel to any place that they like in seconds that would otherwise be either expensive or impossible to get to. This means that a person can be anywhere in the world and immerse themselves in the culture of the place that they travel to. AR makes travelling and studying phenomena more interactive and entices us to keep using it because of its easy access and fun nature.
While AR is helpful in classrooms, it is found that informal learning settings, outside of the classroom, have a higher impact on a student's learning. There has not yet been a study with a large enough sample size to compare how AR effects learning in these informal settings, but as stated in the second paragraph of this sub-section, even unconsciously, people are able to learn through AR with no stimulus or reward.
The group that AR has the most influential benefit on is Bachelor or equivalent level. It is believed that AR is less effective for younger children because of the complexity of operation and the overload of information. The study also backs up the previous claim that AR has a greater effect on individuals in engineering, manufacturing, and construction fields, and proves that social science understanding is not aided.