Most 8-year-olds spend their school days mastering multiplication, perusing prose and studying the solar system. But through a research project in UF’s College of Education, a handful of third-grade “mini researchers” are adding another skill to their academic repertoires: co-designing a mobile app called AR (Augmented Reality) Expeditions to inspire Florida elementary school students to read.
Throughout the state, more than one million students struggle to read at grade level. To help close this literacy gap, the Florida Legislature established the New Worlds Reading Initiative in 2021 – a free program administered by the UF Lastinger Center for Learning for striving readers in VPK through fifth grade. The program has now distributed more than 10 million free books to Florida students.
The AR Expeditions app is just one of the program’s many literacy resources that encourage shared reading experiences for students and their families. The app undertaking began last year when a team of AR specialists and instructional designers at UF started brainstorming early iterations of the tool.
The team created four augmented reality experiences centered around themes commonly found in the New Worlds Reading book distribution lists, such as Florida’s oceans, and enlisted third-grade mini researchers to help create the app’s ocean environments and user interface. The app now enables students and their families to play literacy-based vocabulary fishing games, take bubble pop quizzes and draw in virtual coloring books while exploring an augmented reality aquarium and learning about Florida’s marine habitats.
The third-grade mini researchers were selected because, like the tool’s target audience, these students need additional reading support and are eligible for the New Worlds Reading program.
From groaning over lag times while catching virtual fish to giggling over a classroom full of digital dolphins, the students have been interacting with the app at various stages of its development and critiquing its playability and interface to improve the user experience. To keep up with the demands of these blossoming beta testers and the project’s tight timeline, the AR Expeditions team employs AI assistance to expedite the development process.
The AR Expeditions app is scheduled to begin a tiered rollout through New Worlds Reading community events in the coming months. These frequent events occur throughout the state to enroll eligible students in the program, and information about downloading and trying the app will help caregivers and students embark on an exciting literacy journey together. Eventually, the app will be downloadable directly from app stores.
The learning community leader of the mini researchers said the students are now more curious, confident and persistent. They have been inspired to see themselves as capable learners with a new excitement for reading and research, especially about the ocean. A new group of striving readers will be taking their place to co-design the next phase of the app.
Alaisa Glicco is a writer for the UF College of Education.
Editor’s note: This is the latest in a series of columns sponsored by the University of Florida.