# The Use of Extended Reality (XR) in Higher Education: A Systematic Review **Author:** D. Burke, H. Crompton and C. Nickel **Published:** 17 May 2025 **Length:** 33 mins (8,584 words) ## In Summary Reviewing 295 studies published between 2020 and 2024, Burke, Crompton and Nickel map uses of extended reality (XR) across Higher Education. Virtual reality dominated the research (58%), most studies involved undergraduates (81%), and learning applications centred on knowledge acquisition, psychomotor skills and affective learning. The authors identify simulation, visualisation, problem-solving and gaming as recurring approaches. They also highlight challenges concerning student experience, inauthentic environments, cost, time and technical usability, alongside gaps requiring further research. **Source:** [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11528-025-01092-y](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11528-025-01092-y) ## What might this mean for us? Could Higher Education evaluate immersive technologies through the learning experiences they enable rather than their novelty? For Electric Dreams, the distinction between knowledge, practical skills and affective learning offers a useful way to frame discipline-led XR experiments. How might creative courses assess embodiment, access and authenticity alongside technical feasibility, and identify where immersive experiences offer something genuinely different from existing practice? ## Links in this reading - [XR in Higher Education: Adoption, Considerations, and Recommendations, EDUCAUSE](https://er.educause.edu/articles/2024/1/xr-in-higher-education-adoption-considerations-and-recommendations) - [Augmented reality in architecture and construction education: State of the field and opportunities](https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-022-00343-9) - [Original paper, SpringerLink](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-025-01092-y)