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Christopher Holden is an Associate Professor at the Honors College at the University of New Mexico. Julie Sykes' and his AR game Mentira is well-known for jump-starting interest in place-based mobile games for language learning. He has been involved with many other language learning projects using AR and other place-based technologies since. He is also a member of the design team of the ARIS project, where he builds community among creators of AR for learning. 

Whether you're teaching introductory or advanced levels of language, one of the most exciting things to do is to connect the somewhat abstract activities of language learning in the classroom to real live contexts for language use in the world. But how many of these language-culture connections really bring students into another world? How far do we get from just a swap of vocabulary or shallow dive? When we can provide students with deeper experiences, both in terms of culture and language, we can draw them further into the worlds we'd like to share. When you go somewhere and can begin to develop relationships, things being to take off. At the same time, multifaceted experiences are often hard to pull off in a classroom environment or in places where there are not a lot of local contacts in terms of relevant language or culture. But with a bit of creativity, willingness to leave the room with four walls, and the help of some modern tools, there are new options for creating culturally relevant language experiences for language learners. Augmented Reality (AR) brings a lot of possibilities into play. Essentially, AR is a framework for creating hybrid worlds: a bit of what is already there and new content and modes of interaction layered on top. AR is still pretty new but a lot more of us are familiar with it after last year's launch of Pokémon Go. Using GPS coordinates, QR codes, and a variety of other mechanics, authors can bring ideas or observations in the usual world to new prominence in participatory contexts layered above. 

With free, easy-to-use AR design tools out (ARIS is my favorite), language educators and researchers over the last decade have found AR to be a convenient and accessible way to develop and integrate educational ideas that come from the worlds of videogames, place based learning, or even revitalize older modes of participation, like Dinner Murder Mysteries. AR can be used to create language rich activities for students that also bring them into contact with the places around them or each other. 

Even better, AR does not have to involve complicated media. You can build quite complex worlds with ARIS using only text, photos, or videos, along with the sort of multiple-choice style simulated conversations (in text) made familiar from videogames. It is simple enough for teachers to use or for teachers to assign to their students. Although there is a lot of interesting decision making that can happen in playing one of these games, it may be even easier to access a depth of engagement with less up front time spent in production by using AR as a way for students to develop and create meanings through design. 

Best of all though is the growing community around these ideas. From basic technical support, to examples and help with the nuanced art of designing AR experiences for learning, there are many resources and contacts available. Here are a few that can help you get started:

• PEBLL - A database of place-based language learning activities maintained by CASLS at the University of Oregon. Don't forget to tell them about your project too!
• ARIS Homepage - All the basic details and how to get started with ARIS.
• Field Day Forums - There is no question too simple or complex that you can't get help with it from the other ARIS users. This is the beachhead of the super friendly ARIS community and even a place to go ask questions about other AR tools like Aurasma or Taleblazer.
• Paris Occupé - Terri Nelson's amazing AR game simulating what it was like to try and survive in Paris during WWII.
• Mobile Media Learning: Innovation and Inspiration - A collection of simply shared stories about experimentation with rich mobile experiences for learning, many of them AR. Free PDF too!