Rapid Experimentation as a Co-creation Tool for Gamified Augmented Reality in City Spaces—Case ARriver

New educational technology is the most visible driver of change in education. EduTech changes the way students learn as well as the role and responsibilities of teachers. Rapid technological development has been difficult to follow in terms of validating new applications pedagogically and adopting them structurally on organisational or national levels. Navigating these challenges requires open-minded cooperation between public and private actors. ARriver is an umbrella concept focused on utilising augmented reality (AR) technology around the Aura River in central Turku, Finland. ARriver’s purpose is to bring together upper secondary school content creation with rapid experimentation stemming from the individual needs of companies and start-ups—a process that is facilitated by a university to create an AR learning environment for students on multiple levels of the Finnish educational system. The concept has been developed as part of the Smart Learning Environments for the Future project funded by the European Regional Development Fund.