Smartphone-based augmented reality avatars to improve secondary students course engagement

Education has suffered an unprecedented disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting the provision of in-person education at all levels worldwide with temporary suspension or limited in-person sessions and the increased use of remote classes. These atypical learning conditions can have potentially harmful effects on students who require more guidance and benefit more from in-person interaction with teachers and other students. This paper presents the design of a solution that uses smartphone-based Augmented Reality (AR) avatars of teachers to improve students' engagement. The approach presented has been designed considering the feedback from teachers and students of Secondary level in Northern Ireland. As most students in developed and developing countries own and regularly use smartphones, we consider that the proposed solution would benefit students in Mexico and other countries.