ARIES – Augmented and Immersive Reality for Improved Education in Schools in Europe
ARIES is a European Erasmus+ project that aims to strengthen the use of Augmented Reality (AR) and Immersive Reality (IR) in secondary school education. The project empowers teachers with the competences, tools, and learning environments they need to integrate these emerging technologies into everyday teaching practice. By fostering innovation and engagement, ARIES contributes to more inclusive and motivating learning experiences across Europe.
Start: November 2022
End: October 2025
Total Duration: 36 months
- Funded by: Erasmus+ Programme (KA220 – Cooperation Partnerships in School Education)
The central objective of ARIES is to help teachers develop the core competence of implementing and facilitating AR and IR in classroom settings. This involves not only understanding the technologies themselves but also being able to plan, deliver, and assess engaging, competence-oriented learning environments. The ARIES approach is grounded in the LEVEL5 methodology, a learning and validation framework which emphasises the integration of knowledge, skills, and attitude and links learning outcomes to the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).
Project Activities
To support this objective, the project is delivering several key results. First, a Competence Framework was developed, outlining both generic and domain-specific competences needed for the use of AR/IR in secondary education. It is designed to be flexible and adaptable to different school contexts and subject areas. This framework serves as the foundation for training activities, validation tools, and digital content development.
Building on this, a set of modular training and learning units for teachers has been created and is made available through the ARIES Moodle platform. These modules include:
An introduction to Augmented and Immersive Reality,
The ARIES Competence Framework itself,
A course on the LEVEL5 approach,
A separate LEVEL5 assessment module to support self-reflection and validation,
A course on Facilitation of Design Thinking, and
A module on Competence Oriented Learning and Validation (COL&V).
The modules can be accessed individually and are designed to allow for flexibility in learning, offering teachers an opportunity to engage with the material at their own pace and according to their classroom needs.
The platform also includes a growing Virtual Exhibition Space, which functions as a wiki-style repository of AR/IR tools, learning approaches, and best practice examples. Teachers can browse, contribute to, and share resources with others, fostering peer learning and exchange across Europe.
To support long-term impact, ARIES includes a valorisation strategy that focuses on the sustainability and re-use of the project’s outcomes. A repository of certified courses, built on the LEVEL5 and EQF frameworks, ensures that learning paths can be validated and transferred to other contexts. A European label is being developed to recognise quality learning initiatives in the AR/IR field, promoting transparency and comparability.
The project also lays the groundwork for a network of educational stakeholders, aiming to link schools, teachers, training providers, and policy actors. These efforts will culminate in a final conference and ARIES award, celebrating innovative learning projects and providing a platform for European cooperation and knowledge exchange.
By offering a combination of practical training, validated competence frameworks, and a collaborative platform, ARIES seeks to make the integration of AR and IR into everyday teaching not only possible but sustainable, scalable, and inclusive.
