CedarBridge Academy is integrating the frontier of augmented reality into its classrooms and extending the knowledge to other schools as a way of preparing Bermuda’s students for the workplace of the future.

Kimberley Tucker is the science, technology, engineering and maths, or Stem, teacher for the school’s creative technologies department.

She is also the programme head for extended reality, or XR — the umbrella term for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).

On January 5, she led a professional development workshop about the use of AR in the classroom for primary and middle school social studies teachers.

It is her hope that AR will eventually be integrated into the school curriculum reaching every student in Bermuda.

Ms Tucker said the public will get the chance to witness the fruits of the students’ labour at the Bermuda Day Parade in May, when AR rolls out on an interactive float.

CedarBridge will also host an AR showcase in April to demonstrate student creations to the wider public.

Augmented reality, also known as mixed reality, overlays digital information such as video and photography and audio onto real-world imagery.

Unlike VR, no expensive headsets are required.

AR can be created relatively inexpensively — in CedarBridge’s case, by using the free software app Artivive.

Similar to a QR code, unique images the students create themselves, known as trigger images, fetch a link and connect to student-created AR content.

Ms Tucker, who began prototyping XR learning at Clearwater Middle School as a member of its school transformation team before moving to CedarBridge in September 2023, told The Royal Gazette: “Studies have found that using technology in classrooms gets students more engaged and is more hands-on.

“With the rise of technology in the workforce, it has so many uses for them. We are getting away from static learning to more interactive learning.”

“Perhaps if you are going into a college interview, you can send a little AR business card. They will see innovation and want to know more.

“It can also be a more interesting way to present research. Instead of standing up and reading something, you can take it to that next level with something more polished.”

She added: “Students are learning skills such as video editing, speech and pronunciation, collaboration and identifying an audience. They can also use AR to market themselves or to market a product.”

Ms Tucker said the parade would highlight the work of different schools from primary to high school level, adding: “We will have a bike bus with AR posters and we will have students from the different schools holding iPads up to the spectators to show them what it’s all about.”

She showed off some of her students’ work that are on display in corridors and classrooms around CedarBridge.

A former P2 student created a poster with a trigger image that led to a public service announcement warning of the dangers of drink-driving.

One project challenged students to create a “day in the life of” AR experience.

For a science project, others used VR to observe life forms in different environmental regions and create AR posters.

Trigger images can be printed onto 3-D models in the classroom, Ms Tucker said.

“We can also do something where they can use AR to see an animation of the 3-D model itself,” she explained.

She said there was huge potential to create AR content specific to Bermuda and the island’s history.

One of the assignments in the Digital Media Production course was to create an original product.

Ms Tucker said: “They had to do a poster and a presentation, then we created supplemental material in VR and they recorded a video explaining what they did.

“I had them create their sites in Artivive, put together trigger images with their video and then they published them on Artivive.”

Ms Tucker said there were 25 to 30 students in the programme.

Work is under way to have the entire student body of the school involved.

She added: “If it works out, the goal then is to have all students in Bermuda using it and, as they get more comfortable with the technology, incorporating it into the curriculum.

“This could be set as an assignment for a class where they can get graded on their work.

“We don’t have a separate certification for AR yet — the students are doing it within their existing classes, but the AR work does contribute to their grade in that class.”