Developing a Shared Understanding of AR Learning and Instruction: Community Workshop and Theory Reflections

Abstract

Augmented Reality (AR) can provide interactive, immersive and situated learning experiences. However, we are still missing a shared theoretical understanding of AR in education from researcher and practitioner perspectives. To expand the theoretical perspective by incorporating the voices of the immersive learning community, an interdisciplinary community workshop was held at the iLRN2025 conference. Four groups (N = 24) brainstormed anticipated technological innovations and captured relevant theories and instructional frameworks. The results presented in this Extended Abstract provide another step in an in-progress project. They show that technological innovations in hardware performance and combination of AR and AI are anticipated most. Furthermore, the applied frameworks show a high variability, but not many AR-specific frameworks. No systematic approach from the AR learning and instruction community towards frameworks is apparent. Based on the findings, we want to start cultivating a shared understanding and foundation for researchers and practitioners in AR learning and instruction, for example in the form of a conceptual compass to navigate the educational AR landscape and scaffold the selection of theoretical and pedagogical foundations. For a starting point, frameworks from workshop results and the literature are described. Future discussions with practitioners and researchers will include discussions about these frameworks and how a conceptual compass can keep up with future technological innovations.