Blazing New Ground in Informal Education

Informal learning institutions are seeking new ways to integrate mobile technologies which offer visitors unique educational experiences. One way to do this is with augmented reality (AR) software, which allows players to use location-aware smartphones to play games featuring a digital overlay within a real-world context. AR experiences can highlight and contextualize ideas, while personalizing the visitor experience. This panel discussion features three distinct informal learning institutions (a wildlife sanctuary/working farm, a living history museum, and a botanical garden) each of whom recently developed and piloted its own AR game using TaleBlazer (an augmented reality authoring toolkit for iOS and Android smartphones). The panel session will include a brief overview of TaleBlazer, case studies of the pilot projects developed by each institution, and dialogue between panelists and the audience on the unique challenges of integrating AR in unlikely informal learning places.