Design and Examination of Applying Mobile Technologies and Augmented Reality to Support Learning History in the Classroom

Abstract: In recent decades, debates on applying digital technologies in the humanities field have increased. Discussions focus on developing a sustainable approach to learning humanities using Immersive digital technologies, such as Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR & AR). These technologies have been frequently presented to give users an interactive experience. This thesis study focuses on learning history as a subject at school. The AR technology is used on a private app called Time-travelling, which is customized on the Onspotstory platform. The study aims to create an interactive and memorable learning approach for the history lesson in primary schools among students and their history teachers. The thesis considers the massacre incident in the 5th century in Sandby Castle, sited in Öland, Sweden as the case study. The information about the story of this incident, the photos of archeological findings, and other requirements for designing and implementing the thesis have been provided by Kalmar län museum as well as published information by archaeologists at Linnaeus University (Kalmar, Växjö) in Sweden. Throughout the implementation of the idea, Interaction Design perspectives, Human-Centered Design, and Digital storytelling methods are applied. The study was examined among 74 students aged 10-13, 3 teachers, and in 2 schools. the findings show that application of AR technology can affect learning history as a subject at school. Moreover, learning through the application of AR technology provides an interactive experience that also affects the understanding of cultural heritages related to the site.