Microsoft® HoloLens Brings Augmented Reality (AR) to the Classroom

By Sarah Hibshman Miller ‘98

In 2019, Laurel School’s incredible community successfully raised $107,431.20 dollars to bring Microsoft HoloLens technology to the classroom during the Gator Bash’s “Call to the Heart” paddle raise. At that time, Laurel had forged a unique relationship with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) to incorporate augmented reality into the classroom via Microsoft HoloLens. In fact, Laurel was the first school in Ohio to partner with CWRU in this way. The funds raised ensured Laurel could acquire the necessary hardware and software and more importantly, provide the opportunity to our students to learn programming and to be active collaborators with faculty in the development of new applications for use in K-12 classrooms.

Fast forward to 2022, three years and one pandemic later, Laurel has 10 HoloLens Mixed Reality (MR) headsets in hand and has been working diligently to incorporate two different applications into the science curriculum. COVID put an interesting spin on timing but once students were back in the classroom, Laurel’s Upper School Science Department worked together to find inventive ways of utilizing augmented reality to enhance learning.

THE PROJECTILE MOTION PROGRAM is currently being used in Physics. For this, students see a control panel and use it to launch an object through the air at an angle, which can be manipulated. Students can pause the projective at any point to study the velocity and other aspects of the trajectory.

QUANTUM brings the first 18 elements of the Periodic Table up on the screen and through virtual reality, students have the ability to click on individual elements and study their breakdown by seeing in 3D where electrons are.

Both programs can be viewed on a screen so multiple students can review and correspond about what they are seeing.

“Students have definitely embraced this type of learning and have enjoyed incorporating mixed reality into how they consume information,” said Taylor Kaar, Science Department Chair and Physics Teacher. “Making physics and chemistry more tangible—something students can actually see, has been beneficial to the learning process.”

Technology has significantly changed the way in which learning can happen, and the use of AR is not just for Physics and Chemistry. The long-term plan for HoloLens is to incorporate the use of AR and HoloLens programs into other departments across the Upper School and Middle School.

"There is so much potential for learning by incorporating augmented reality into the classroom," said Kathy Masaryk, Upper School Science Teacher, who began utilizing HoloLens in her College Prep Chemistry and Honors Chemistry classes this past year. "In addition to the physics and chemistry programs Laurel is already incorporating into our curriculum, there are many other amazing programs designed for HoloLens that help students explore topics like anatomy and atomic structure, topics that are sometimes difficult to conceptualize because we can’t actually see or touch them in our daily lives. HoloLens gives students the ability to pull back the curtain and interact with electron clouds and internal organs from the comfort of the classroom."

Across other disciplines outside of science, augmented reality can help to transform education. In math for instance, students can literally see real-world examples of word programs. In English and history, students can become immersed into the plot of a story or of historical events. This type of learning, in conjunction with more traditional classroom learning, offers students new and unique ways of absorbing information.

There is a great deal of potential to enhance the way in which students learn by utilizing this technology. “This is the way of the future so it is pretty amazing to embrace the type of technology in the classroom,” continued Taylor. “It is hard to bring a simulation to life and there is a physiological reaction that takes place when you move from the 2D to the 3D realm.”