Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

DOI

10.1007/s11528-025-01092-y

Publication Title

TechTrends

Pages

14 pp.

Abstract

The use of XR, which encompasses Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) has evolved rapidly in higher education (HE), driven by advancements in technology and the increasing recognition of its potential to enhance learning experiences. This systematic review provides unique findings with an up-to-date examination of the use of XR in HE from 2020–2024. Using PRISMA principles and protocol, 295 articles were identified for full examination. Using a priori, and grounded coding, the data from the 295 articles were extracted, analyzed, and coded to determine the trends in HE research regarding the use of XR. A priori coding revealed that research was conducted on six continents and in 48 countries, with the US leading in the number of publications. A prior coding also showed that VR was the most frequently used type of XR in the research studies (58%), that the research took place most often in undergraduate settings (81%), and that science was the academic discipline with the most studies (21%). Grounded coding identified three domains regarding the purpose of using XR: knowledge acquisition (51%), psychomotor learning (35%), and affective learning (14%). The grounded coding also revealed that XR was being used in four ways to facilitate learning: 1) Simulation, 2) Visualization, 3) Problem-solving, and 4) Gaming. Lastly, four challenges were identified: 1) Impact on students, 2) Inauthentic environments, 3) Time and money, and 4) Usability and technical issues. This systematic review revealed gaps in the literature to be used as a springboard for future researchers studying the use of XR in HE.

Rights

© 2025 The Authors.

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original authors and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

Data Availability

Article states: "The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request."

Original Publication Citation

Burke, D., Crompton, H., & Nickel, C. (2025). The use of Extended Reality (XR) in higher education: A systematic review. TechTrends. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-025-01092-y

ORCID

0000-0002-8214-0386 (Burke), 0000-0002-1775-8219 (Crompton), 0009-0009-6420-3716 (Nickel)

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