15. Get Gamified: Promoting Augmented Reality and Digital Game Technology in Education

Most educators agree it is important to remain current with trends and continue to add fresh, innovative ideas to enhance lessons. This responsibility means that as professionals, educators must continue to seek ways to better understand students so that their unique 21st century needs can be met. Children and youth are introduced to the virtual world from a young age, which implies the manners in how they associate with technology-innovation may impact the ways in which they learn, and therefore, the production or output of knowledge. For this reason, technology innovation should be a key component in curriculum design. This chapter will highlight two main concepts of gaming technology innovation: Augmented Reality (AR), and Digital Game Technology (DGT). Understanding such phenomenon is necessary to meet student learners where they are. Special attention will be given to AR in the field of health and physical education (PE), as this is one discipline where field professionals often disagree on the appropriateness of the use of digital technology. All professional educators; however, must recognize the important role technology plays in the lives of students and seek ways to motivate them while ‘talking their talk’.