Pros and cons of using extended reality in education

Abstract

Education has always been one of the important pillars of society. Whether it was done in Ancient Egypt, Rome, or Greece, in the Enlightenment period or in modern times, it has been in the centre of humans preoccupations, and it was surrounded by challenges and opportunities. Nowadays, new technologies appear every day and there is a justified question whether they can boost education and how. With the advance of the 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), which is about the rapid changes that occur in technology, industries and society, because of the interconnectivity and digitalization, one of the most promising environments for education is Extended Reality (XR), which is a mix of virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality technologies. In this brief article, we analyze the similarities and differences between the previously mentioned technologies, as well as their benefits and challenges in design and implementation. We also mention the challenges that appear with the implementation of such technologies on a large scale – privacy, safety, and accessibility. Overall, however, the article is a manifest for using such technologies in teaching and learning, from kindergarten to universities, because they have all the ingredients students need: they are scalable, help motivate students, lower the cognitive load, can be used remotely and have a lower impact on the environment.