Augmented Reality to enhance the Learning Experience in Cultural Heritage Tourism: An Experiential Learning Cycle Perspective

Augmented reality (AR) applications are a powerful, modernized tool with the potential to engage students to develop skills for the future, and enhance the overall learning experience. Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle has been widely adopted in education studies to develop more appropriate learning opportunities. However, the adoption of the specific model in the context of AR as a learning tool for school children in cultural heritage tourism remains scarce. Hence, this study aims to address the gap in the literature, with an aim to assess how utilizing new and innovative technologies can enhance the overall learning experience in the cultural heritage tourism context. Experiments and three focus groups were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis, and findings demonstrate a positive response from participants, revealing that new knowledge was gained as a result of the AR experience, thus, supporting the potential of AR in education, and in cultural heritage tourism.