Mixed reality results in vocational education: a case study with HoloLens 2

Abstract

Pedagogy in vocational education is challenged by the increasing availability of mixed reality (MR) technologies. Wearable technologies such as the Microsoft HoloLens are being embedded in nursing education programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia and explored in other subject areas such as construction, architecture, and engineering. Empirical research undertaken with staff and students in a nursing programme reinforces and expands on previous research findings about enhanced student motivation, learning and organisational change implications, highlighted in the 2020 special issue of Research in Learning Technology that provided a ‘state of the art’ review of mobile mixed reality (MMR) in education as at 2019. This new research also identifies a number of technical or design constraints that need to be overcome to optimise MR for vocational and higher education use. Importantly, it highlights the need for significant improvement in integration of MR platforms into the learner journey so that use of the technology is not confined to professional users and early adopter student cohorts. Finally, the authors note the portability that MR headsets offer with the potential to deliver training across multiple campus and work-based learning environments to a consistent standard.