The Design and Evaluation of an Augmented Reality History Textbook for Primary Education

The aim of this study was the design and evaluation of an Augmented Reality (AR) textbook for the teaching of History to primary school students. The contents of the AR textbook were designed via a review of the literature, study of school textbooks and curricula regarding the subject of History, and opinions of experienced teachers. After being evaluated for usability and content by teachers and students in a pilot study, the final version of the AR textbook was evaluated by 60 teachers by examining its acceptance. Results indicated that future use of the AR textbook by teachers was dependent on them perceiving it to be useful in their teaching, possess greater advantages compared to other technologies, and feature conditions facilitating its use. The AR textbook was implemented in real learning conditions, where 65 students expressed positive perceptions regarding it, as well as their desire to use it again in the future. The factors that affected the use of the AR textbook were technical problems related to tablets and the Internet. On the contrary, students’ collaboration in groups and teachers’ positive attitudes toward digital technologies and AR in education contributed to the successful implementation of the AR textbook in the classroom.