The Conceptualisation of User-App Interactivity in Augmented Reality-Mediated Learning: Implications for Literacy Education

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) is transforming users’ multisensory experiences and heightening the level of engagement with multimodal learning. Scholarly attention is urgently needed to conceptualise and examine user–app interactivity in educational contexts. Drawing on the systemic functional–multimodal discourse analysis approach, this article aims to explore key user roles prompted by AR apps and examine educational functions that these user roles fulfil in AR-mediated learning. Based on our analysis of 14 AR apps selected for a 3-day workshop with six Australian primary school teachers, we identified four categories of user roles that facilitated different literacy activity types during AR-mediated learning. To design effective learning experiences, this article argues that teachers need to consider the resonance between students’ AR experiences and their prior engagement with other forms of digital texts when planning for scaffolding strategies.