AR learning
Seekxr has launched an online augmented reality (AR) platform for Education, Seek Education, to provide teachers with teaching resources to encourage interactive learning.
Parker McDonough, Head of Seek Education, says immersive technologies like AR encourage students to learn through doing. Research shows the benefits of immersive technology, such as improved long-term memory retention.
"However, there have been some perceived restrictions for teachers considering introducing augmented or virtual reality, including cost and device compatibility," said Parker. "Seek Education removes these restrictions through its core cross-platform technology so that anyone can access its library of AR models and bring the curriculum to life."
Parker says supplemental teaching tools like this are more relevant than ever right now as parents juggle work with homeschooling their children and as teachers seek additional online resources to aid remote learning.
Teachers and parents can subscribe to the platform and get a personal dashboard that shows six core subjects, including anatomy, animals, art, biology, history and physical science. Students can then click on one of those subjects to see relevant AR models - like the solar system or human DNA strand.
Clare Brockman, a high school English teacher at St. Pius X in Houston, Texas, who uses the platform, said she believes every classroom will use Augmented Reality in the future.
"Our school just received a federal grant that allows us to buy World History AR models for our students," said Brockman. "However, Seek Education's platform democratizes the availability for AR models across a variety of subjects and makes them readily available for all students."
"Students need as much help as they can get right now in school, and AR is amazing," added Brockman.
Currently, Seek Education has 60 schools around the country and Germany using the platform for K—12 students but says it plans to expand its content library to serve a wide variety of learners up to the university level. The company is making Seek Education is free to use until the end of the 2020 school term.
SeekXR has closed $4.5M in seed funding from several investors, including Wolverine Fund, Dow Jones, First Step Capital, Morris Investments, and Sahalee Partners.
