This paper is an example of how to use new technologies to produce didactic innovative resources that ease the teaching and learning process of mathematics. This paper is focused on augmented reality technology with the aim of achieving the creation of didactic resources related to the polyhedra taught in a course of compulsory secondary education in Spain. First, we introduce the basis of this technology and present the theoretical framework in which we make an exhaustive analysis that justifies its usage with educative purposes. Secondly, we explain how to build the polyhedra in augmented reality using the Unity game engine and the Vuforia software development kit (SDK), which enables the use of augmented reality. Using both tools, we create an augmented reality application and some augmented reality notes with the purpose of helping in the process of visualization and comprehension of the three-dimensional geometry related to polyhedra. Finally, we design an innovative, didactic proposal for teaching the polyhedra in the third course of compulsory Secondary Education in Spain, using the resources created with the augmented reality technology.

Climate Change is the most important threat to our society and all species on Earth. Large alterations in the climate are affecting every aspect of our society and in order to limit this impact we must decarbonize the economy before 2050. Although science presents solid evidence on the magnitude of the problem and outlines precisely the consequences, people do not act accordingly and do not consider this issue a priority for their survival. The reason behind this paradox might be a non-appropriate Social Representation of Climate Change in society as the Social Representation conditions and forms the response of the society. In this paper, we extend previous investigations of how this Social Representation is formed in order to find ways to improve it through a Massive Online Open Course on the Science of Climate Change. Using a validated questionnaire, we investigated the knowledge dimension of the Social Representation of Climate Change in a group of students of a MOOC on Climate Change. A pre- and posttest revealed general improvements in all the categories that were considered in this study. A detailed analysis showed different degrees of improvement for different groups, providing new insights in the efficiency of knowledge-based online courses. Well designed Massive Online Open Courses, based on scientific evidence, targeted to the general public might improve the Social Representation of Climate Change, which may in turn trigger awareness and an effective mobilization to address this important and urgent topic.

In this paper, we describe the implementation of an Augmented Reality Sandbox as a platform for educative experiences. Usually, the traditional Augmented Reality experiences, where the interface is a screen of a mobile devices, here the interface is real sand. It can form real landscapes where a virtual layer of information is displayed. We constructed the Sandbox from open source software and with accessible hardware. In this paper we discuss the special features of this installation, we evaluate the bottlenecks toward its implementation in real classrooms and the contents that can be teach together with the expected benefits.

En este artículo presentamos el proyecto Arenero Educativo que utiliza la tecnología de Realidad Aumentada para implementar un recurso para la enseñanza de las matemáticas y las ciencias naturales. Esta instalación usa una cámara infrarroja para leer la superficie tridimensional de la arena y después dibujar sobre ella curvas de nivel y cuerpos de agua que se transforman cuando el usuario interactúa con la arena.Describimos con detalle las nuevas posibilidades de su interfaz novedosa y su implementación técnica. Detallamos también nuestra propuesta didáctica y reflexionamos acerca de la importancia de establecer una ruta de implementación accesible. Finalmente, discutimos acerca de la importancia del MediaLab de la Universidad de Salamanca como agente dinamizador de este tipo de proyectos multidisciplinares.

Educación sobre el Cambio Climático: una propuesta de una herramienta basada en categorías para analizar la idoneidad de un currículum para alcanzar la competencia climática