iLRN's State of XR & Immersive Learning Project involves a Delphi-inspired environmental scanning and forecasting exercise in the vein of the well-known Horizon Report series (previously published by the New Media Consortium). Each year educators, education leaders, researchers, technologists, and others representing diverse learning sectors and contexts are selected to join an esteemed global panel of experts, and invited to contribute their perspectives and research on applications of XR and immersive learning technologies. Their discussions and deliberations over the course of several months serves as the springboard for the production of an official report, published under a Creative Commons license by the Immersive Learning Research Network, that showcases the findings. The inaugural edition of The State of XR and Immersive Learning Outlook Report was published in Summer 2021. We plan to move toward a more open, crowdsourced model for identifying/scanning for and also vetting relevant research studies, projects, cases/exemplars, resources, etc. rather than relying on a single, centralized model.

2023 State of XR & Immersive Learning Project

Our FIRST State of XR and Immersive Learning Report published May 2021 is being used in institutions around the world for strategic planning and teaching. The examples have provided direction for institutional projects and research, as well as the text included in many undergraduate and graduate workshops and courses in design, instruction, media, the arts, administration, the sciences, and teacher education and professional development.

The Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) partnered with IEEE ICICLE, EDUCAUSE, the Consortium for School Networking, and the eLearning Guild to establish The inaugural State of XR and Immersive Learning Report, a multi-sector, cross-disciplinary initiative aimed at regularly surveying the XR and immersive learning landscape to identify the technological, pedagogical, and other innovations exhibiting the most promise, along with the major opportunities and challenges related to their uptake, adoption, and implementation; and advancing research and promoting research-grounded practice in the use of XR and immersive technologies for supporting learners across the full span of learning from K-12 through higher education as well as in workplace, community, and lifelong learning.

The process was revised in 2022 to better include Expert Panel feedback for greater engagement and a faster pace. Round two included both synchronous meetings and asynchronous work and optional times for networking and learning about each other’s work. The Expert Panel now also has a location on the iLRN Virtual Campus in the State of XR & Immersive Learning Lighthouse, where expert panelists may choose to meet, collaborate, share their findings with the broader iLRNetwork and, if they wish, to set up an office or meeting space of their own.

The work on the 2022 Report commenced with a kick-off and the first of periodic expert panel working sessions to be held throughout the Spring 2022. The executive summary of the 2022 Report was co-produced by the Expert Panel and released at the 8th Annual iLRN Conference in May. The full featured report will be released in Fall/Winter 2022.

The Expert Panel Forecasting Working Groups. Following on the premise of this Delphi-style, future focused effort. The Expert Panel continues to frame the work in the three main research questions. For each research question, panelists were able to choose to participate in one of the synchronous sessions and also contribute asynchronously during the specified timeframe. The panel has worked through three research questions based on a preset schedule provided to the panel, culminating in the vote of final emergent categories in April 2022. Panelists were also encouraged to participate in the Immersive Learning Showcase hosted annually during the iLRN Conference on the virtual iLRN Campus.

During summer 2022, the panel continued developing the full-featured report with opportunities for the expert panels to provide exemplars. The final report will be released in Winter/Spring 2023.