Educational Potential of Augmented Reality Mobile Applications for Learning the Anatomy of the Human Body

The use of different technologies and technological solutions for learning purposes is no longer a novelty in the educational environment. Digital teaching materials are being developed that can be used both in classroom activities and for providing students with opportunities for independent learning. However, alongside these materials, there are various additional opportunities that can be used in the educational process to make learning more interesting and to motivate learners to become more actively involved in the construction of their knowledge. One is mobile applications, where augmented reality (AR) solutions enable the anatomy to be learned interactively by accessing knowledge traditionally provided through two-dimensional teaching aids, or sometimes through static three-dimensional objects. Mobile applications with AR solutions allow to understand the anatomy from both the external and internal dimensions of the body without being in a specific laboratory or anatomy laboratory (anatomicum). This article summarizes the evaluation results of 41 applications analyzed in the first evaluation phase, and seven mobile applications that met all of the advanced selection criteria were selected for in-depth analyses using a developed evaluation framework with 19 criteria from three areas: (a) technological performance, (b) information architecture, and (c) educational value.