Boosting physics education through mobile augmented reality

The integration of collaborative applications, based on modern learning technologies and the Internet, of various visualization techniques and digital strategies in open, flexible modern learning environments which facilitate access to resources, represents a challenge for physics teachers in Romania in general, and for novice teachers in particular. Although large efforts have been made worldwide to invest in educational technologies, their impact on the students’ learning outcomes is quite modest. In this paper, we describe and analyze various curricular and extracurricular activities specifically designed for and undertaken by pre-service physics teachers. These activities employ new educational technologies, mobile augmented reality (MAR) and are based on modern teaching and learning theories. MAR is an extension for mobile devices of augmented reality, an interactive and in real time combination, of real and virtual objects overlaid in the real environment. The obtained results show that pre-service physics teachers are confident in using MAR in their teaching and learning activities, and consider that the activities performed helped them develop the skills necessary for science teachers in a technology-based society and to reflect upon the role of technology in the current Romanian educational context.