Aurasma in the Classroom Presented by Marianna Ioannou
First, what in the world is Aurasma? •
Aurasma is a FREE app for iOS and Android devices. It uses advanced image recognition to blend a 3D image/video onto a 2D image. These blended images are called “Auras”.
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When someone holds the Aurasma app over a premarked picture, it will bring that picture to life. Take a look:
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In some cases, Aurasma can be used to replace previous QR code activities. Some differences include the ability to stay in-app for most of your activities, create linked videos in –app, and linking a picture of your choosing as the trigger.
Still don’t get it? Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBKy-hSedg8
What can I do with Aurasma in the classroom? The possibilities are endless! One of the biggest things I do is to use Aurasma as a way to show to parents their child reading his/her scripts. Some other ideas out there:
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Student created book trailers.
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Supplement textbooks.
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Embed video tutorials for homework.
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Word Walls that come to life.
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Foreign language vocabulary.
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AR scavenger hunts.
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Tag equipment in school with virtual manuals.
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Tour of the school.
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Interactive bulletin boards (have a picture come to life with student performances or explanations of activities!).
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School newsletters could come to life!
Aurasma Terms to know: Aurasma – name of the app. Trigger Images – the image used to kick start an interactive experience. This image can be anything! Overlay – the video or other experience that appears when a user scans the trigger image. Auras – What the experiences is called when someone is using Aurasma. This is the combined effort of trigger images and overlays.
Channel – You must follow someone’s Aurasma channel in order to actually see their aurasmas. Once you start following a channel all of a user’s aurasmas should play appropriately. Think of it as like following a Facebook page in order to actually see what they are posting. You can set up a QR code to follow someone’s channel.
Using Aurasma: •
First, you will need to download the Aurasma app on your device (free).
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Follow me:
By QR code/link
Next, you will need to follow my channel on Aurasma to see my Auras. Scan this QR code (twice if new to Aurasma).
Search
Open Aurasma. Click the triangle at the bottom. Click the magnifying glass at the bottom. Type in Marianna (choose Marianna by stamama). Choose Follow.
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Next, scan the picture I sent you. This is an example of how Aurasma can be used.
Creating an Aura •
To see a great video explaining these steps, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm_zuFmcBKA
Creating an account •
Open up Aurasma and click on the Triangle at the bottom.
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Tap the little person on the bottom right and either create an account or login.
Creating a channel •
Click “My auras” at the top. Then click the + button.
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Choose channel.
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Give it a picture and description. Note: right now there does not appear to be a way to later change your channel name or picture so choose wisely!
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Choose whether it is a public or private. Private channels can only be viewed by people who have been sent a link.
Sharing your Channel •
Search for your channel by name by clicking the magnifyin glass icon at the bottom.
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Pull up your channel and click the “Share button”. Share via email, text, etc. You can use the emailed ling to create QR code that others can quickly use to follow your channel using a QR code generator like http://www.qrstuff.com/ .
Following a channel •
You must follow a channel in order to see the auras created by that channel.
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You can use the QR code created in the previous step to follow or search for channel by name. Then simply click “Follow”.
Create an aura •
Click the +button at the bottom.
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Then click “Device” and the + sign at the top.
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You will create your overlay first (the part that plays).
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Either choose a video from your photo album or create one using the camera.
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Then you will choose your trigger image (this causes the overlay to play). Make sure the curson is on green at the bottom (this means a great image for an aura!).
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Give your aura a name and choose whether it is private or public. If it is private, then only those who follow your private channel will see your Aura. However, if it is associated with a public channel, everyone will see it.
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Then choose to add to channel. If you only have one channel it will automatically add to that channel.
Test you aura •
Click the square at the bottom of the screen and test out your new aura. Have fun creating!