Wittario

As a kid, we have all been encouraged to go out and play. Even in schools, a considerable amount of time was devoted to us (as students) every day for sports and physical education. The reason? Physical activity improves cognitive processes and memory, has analgesic and antidepressant effects, and even induces a sense of wellbeing.

However, today digital learning is robbing the students of their physical activities. The hours spent in front of the PC and smartphone screens are taking their toll on students’ usual brain activity, creativity, and engagement level. All because of the global pandemic and on and off lockdowns, today’s younger population are cooped up indoors, engaging only through web conferences and video chats in the name of social interaction. While the students are increasingly getting accustomed to this sedentary life amidst the COVID-19 scare, the educators’ fraternity is taking the wheel now to engage students in outdoor-based learning. This is pushing educators to collaborate with like-minded technology companies to modernise the passive online pedagogical approach.

Helping them achieve this feat is Wittario, an innovative edtech solution provider offering an outdoor-game based learning solution. Lars Gunnar Fledsberg founded Wittario in 2019 with a clear vision to establish online learning but with an innovative twist; through games and physical activities. Fledsberg leveraged augmented reality in conjunction with GPS to move learners away from their couches and PC screens and put them on an effective and engaging hunt for knowledge. “We boldly wanted to change the 1000-year-old passive pedagogical approach of the educational sector by thinking out-of-the-box with cuttingedge digital technologies,” underscores Fledsberg.

To that end, the company has developed an eponymous game-based mobile application that combines real and virtual elements to make it possible for educators to create fun and compelling learning experiences for students. The platform was rolled out for a wide audience in March 2021. “Our app is a combination of AR sensations like Pokémon Go and Kahoot, putting both the learning content and pure fun and making the learning experience more engaging,” says Fledsberg. This mishmash of learning and gaming allows the teachers to easily and quickly create interesting and meaningful assignments for their students. The educators can even divide their class of students into groups for facilitating fun-packed group assignments if they want to induce more collaboration among the students.

What’s more? Outside the traditional education realm, Wittario can also be used as a learning and communication platform to supplement HR-led training, meetings, and candidate interviewing activities.The app provides an opportunity for organisations to get to know each employee more personally and collegially by allowing them to share thoughts, knowledge, and experiences.

Using the app, managers can also conduct walk and talk meetings, teambuilding activities and workshops in more fun, engaging, and productive ways! After the workshop, the app is used to evaluate the success of the workshop by assessing the participants.

Under the Hoods of Wittario Gaming Platform: How It Works

The game master, a teacher in the education sector or a manager in the corporate landscape, accesses the Wittario Manager—a web-based user interface—to create and manage a customised game for their players (students or employees). If the game master does not have any game in mind, the app has more than 400 preset games in its library to choose from. Once the game is generated, the game master shares the game with the players in the form of digital code. Next, the game master places waypoints on a digital map and allocates a task to each waypoint, including multiple-choice questions, photo, video mapping, AR categorisation, and AR order. Players must answer these questions, collect points, compete with other players, and then move on to the next waypoints. As fun as it sounds!

Alternatively one can set distances between waypoints, instead of actual locations. This enables players to play anywhere and at any time. This flexibility arms educators with the possibility to create learning experiences that can be enjoyed everywhere.

Needless to say, Wittario is setting a new benchmark in the education domain. A testament to this is a client success story. Recently, Krapfoss School was finding it difficult to make their remote schooling a more energised learning experience. Thanks to Wittario, Krapfoss found a new way of teaching their students. They created their own questions and tasks, which made the class experience an outdoor activity, helping the students actively and physically participate to gain knowledge. Such a unique approach helped the Krapfoss School reinvigorate the learning zeal among its learners even when teaching them online.

Lars Gunnar Fledsberg founded Wittario in 2019 with a clear vision to establish online learning but with an innovative twist; through games and physical activities

Riding on the coattails of such success stories, Wittario has already carved a niche for itself as the go-to edtech company for outdoor-based learning applications. The company is currently expanding its extensive global reach vigorously by introducing new products that make it possible for users to use inside the house as well. “We also want to add learning games that can be delivered by third-party content creators, such as publishers and training companies in the next 18 months. While envisioning this platform growth, we are also bracing ourselves to be commercially available in the U.S., UK, South Africa, and Nordics in the coming time,” Fledsberg concludes.