XR Education Policy Whitepaper

SEER XR Education Policy Whitepaper

The Scoping Extended Educational Realities (SEER) Research Group at the University of Glasgow is undertaking a project, supported by Meta, to study the benefits immersive technologies can bring to education.

The SEER team is led by me, Dr Neil McDonnell, together with Dr Lavinia Hirsu, Dr Gabriella Rodolico, Dr Lysette Chapronniere, Sarune Savickaite, and Dr Imants Latkovskis. Our aim is to to examine the practical and operational considerations of using immersive technologies like extended reality (XR)* in education including teacher capacity and classroom deployment practicalities.

Our Whitepaper research is generously supported by a gift from Meta’s Immersive Learning Fund, which allows researchers to remain independent whilst working on the project.

The research will inform a Whitepaper, due to be published in summer 2023 with a view to informing policy makers and funders of where the research gaps exist, and what areas of policy might require consideration.

The University has a vast and hard-won understanding of the operational and logistical challenges of deploying XR teaching. Our team will be drawing on our experience of developing the edify platform which is used in Higher Education, in comprehensive secondary contexts, remote rural school deployments, and primary classrooms. We are using pioneering facilities at the Advanced Research Centre (ARC), have been blending teaching, learning and research with XR technologies – many of which came into their own during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Outputs:

McDonnell, N. , Hirsu, L. , Rodolico, G. , Savickaite, S., Latkovskis, I., Chapronniere, L. and SEER (Scoping Extended Educational Realities), (2024) XRed: Preparing for Immersive Education [Report]. Documentation. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.

McDonnell, N. , Hirsu, L. , Rodolico, G. , Savickaite, S., Latkovskis, I., Chapronniere, L. and SEER (Scoping Extended Educational Realities), (2024) XRed: Preparing for Immersive Education. Whitepaper. Documentation. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.

PI: Neil McDonnell

"I think that XR has the potential to give teachers magical powers and it is our ambition to catalyse the responsible adoption of these technologies in education.

To do this we must first understand where and how it can best be deployed for educational gain, and what barriers there are for adoption by teachers and students. We aim to articulate a roadmap for users, developers, manufacturers, and policy makers which can help bring XR tools to education as safely and effectively as possible.”

Funder: Meta

Meta is focused on building an ecosystem to support learning in the metaverse. This includes empowering the next generation of AR/VR creators, transforming the way we learn through high-quality immersive experiences and increasing access to education through technology.

Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs at Meta, said: “For most of us, learning is social – we learn from and with others, and from each other’s experiences. That’s why the unique feeling of presence and immersion these technologies create can be so transformative for education. Partnerships like this with experts from University of Glasgow will help us understand how teachers and students can get the best out of these technologies.”

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