Bridging the gaps: an updated mapping of the uses of immersive learning environments

Morgado, Leonel; Beck, Dennis; O'shea, Patrick

Publication

Bridging the gaps: an updated mapping of the uses of immersive learning environments

2025-08-20Journal article

dc.contributor.author	Morgado, Leonel
dc.contributor.author	Beck, Dennis
dc.contributor.author	O'shea, Patrick
dc.date.accessioned	2025-09-09T13:28:13Z
dc.date.available	2025-09-09T13:28:13Z
dc.date.issued	2025-08-20	en_US
dc.date.updated	2025-08-27T08:54:22Z
dc.description.abstract	Since publication of the 2020 survey of surveys, “Finding the gaps about uses of immersive learning environments: a survey of surveys,” the field of immersive learning environments has experienced substantial growth and diversification. This updated review systematically maps recent developments by analyzing 64 new literature surveys published after the original corpus date, significantly expanding the corpus from 47 to 111 reviews. Through thematic content analysis, our study identifies and integrates five new educational use themes—Games, Observation, Personification, Storytelling, and Student Authoring—and revises existing categories based on recent research. We observed shifts in the prevalence of themes, most notably an increase in uses related to data collection, interactive exploration and manipulation, contextual/media integration, and physical world simulation. We also discussed these changes in relation to recent technological advancements and the influence of emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, our results provide an updated representation of immersive learning uses within the conceptual framework of immersion dimensions (system, narrative, agency), updating current research clusters and persistent gaps. By illustrating areas with limited exploration, such as highly interactive narrative experiences, or low-technology interactive uses, this paper informs future research directions and contributes to an understanding of how immersive environments are being employed for learning. This comprehensive mapping thus serves as a resource for researchers and educators aiming to leverage immersive learningenvironments. This paper builds on a shorter version accepted for inclusion in the proceedings of the iLRN 2025 conference, offering expanded results, additional analyses, and extended discussion that clarifies and deepens the original findings.	eng
dc.description.sponsorship	Open access funding provided by FCT\|FCCN (b-on). No funding was received for conducting this study. However, after it was accepted for publication, we requested public funds to support its open access.
dc.description.version	N/A
dc.identifier.doi	10.1007/s10055-025-01208-y	en_US
dc.identifier.slug	cv-prod-4554789
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/20212
dc.language.iso	eng
dc.peerreviewed	yes
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject	Immersive learning
dc.subject	Metaverse
dc.subject	Augmented reality
dc.subject	Virtual reality
dc.subject	Extended reality
dc.subject	Mixed reality
dc.title	Bridging the gaps: an updated mapping of the uses of immersive learning environments	eng
dc.type	journal article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
oaire.citation.title	Virtual Reality	en_US
oaire.version	http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyName	Morgado
person.familyName	Beck
person.familyName	O'shea
person.givenName	Leonel
person.givenName	Dennis
person.givenName	Patrick
person.identifier	R-000-93D
person.identifier.ciencia-id	7119-981F-18A9
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0001-5517-644X
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0003-1771-3237
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0002-8575-4586
person.identifier.rid	F-2692-2010
person.identifier.scopus-author-id	23025615500
rcaap.cv.cienciaid	7119-981F-18A9 \| LEONEL CASEIRO MORGADO
rcaap.rights	openAccess	en_US
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