XR Meets Reality: Reflecting on Integrated XR in High School
Presented by James Whittle, Head of eLearning & IT, Centenary State High School, at ‘Worlds of Possibility: Transforming Education with Immersive Technologies’
Centenary State High School has taken a bold step towards revolutionising education, integrating extended reality (XR) into its classrooms for an entire cohort of 250 students.
Led by James Whittle, Head of eLearning and IT, the Brisbane-based public high school is strategically using XR to enhance curriculum delivery for Year 7 students, making learning more engaging and immersive.
With this rollout, Centenary State High School is paving the way for curriculum-aligned XR implementation in Australian schools. James Whittle shares their strategy, lessons learned, and findings in scaling XR infrastructure to allow every student to have innovative experiences in their everyday learning.
WHY XR?
Photo by James Whittle, Centenary State High School
An umbrella term for the immersive technologies that connect virtual and real worlds, XR facilitates ‘hands-on’ interactive experiences that challenge the boundaries of traditional learning. In this trial, Centenary State High School aimed to use XR as a tool to not only enhance student engagement, but also deliver curriculum concepts and skills in an interactive and immersive way.
James notes that implementing XR was not an overnight solution, with the school’s journey beginning in early 2023.
“We’ve been experimenting with XR for about 2 years now, building familiarity amongst staff and students. Sometimes that looks like kids playing Gorilla Tag during breaks, and sometimes that looks like a group of teachers forming a community of practice and really digging into the educational research behind XR.”
THE TRIAL
In 2024, they were ready to move to a larger scale implementation in their curriculum, and a two-week trial was prepared with the goal of answering two main questions:
Can we scale XR for an entire year group?
Does XR improve student engagement and learning outcomes?
Students in Centenary State High School’s XR Lab. Photo by James Whittle, Centenary State High School.
The trial program saw 250 Year 7 students participating across 11 science classes. Having recently completed a unit on forces and motion, students explored these concepts further using Newton’s Room, a mixed reality physics-based application covering Newton’s three laws of motion. The application was deployed on Meta Quest 2 headsets using ArborXR, a remote device management platform.
Newton’s Room, a mixed reality physics-based application. Photo by James Whittle, Centenary State High School.
Each class began with an introduction to XR, an overview of the headset controls, menus and basic troubleshooting, and an understanding of what to expect from the experience.
“For many students, this was a completely brand new experience. Probably about two thirds of them had never used a headset before, so they needed some help to feel comfortable.”
Classes were then split into two groups, with one group working through the Newton’s Room experience and the other completing a worksheet that included resources and videos from the game. Each group was allocated 30 minutes for their activity before swapping over.
WHY NEWTON’S ROOM? EVALUATING APPS FOR THE CLASSROOM
The selection of Newton’s Room was a strategic one, chosen for its alignment with the physics curriculum objectives and intuitive game-based progressive design. The mixed reality application also provided an ideal first experience of XR, allowing students to still see their real-world classroom and people around them throughout the experience.
“Mixed reality [also] allowed us to use the limited space we had available quite effectively, and while it looks quite chaotic from the outside, students sharing that play space and overlapping worked surprisingly well. Rather than individuals blocked off from each other, it was much more social and collaborative than I expected.”
Students sharing space through mixed reality. Video by James Whittle, Centenary State High School.
There are three components James considers in the evaluation of apps that balance engagement with educational outcomes:
Learning Goals: “To be valuable, the apps need to have clear learning objectives. The students shouldn't just be playing or viewing that content or that knowledge, they should be demonstrating those skills in order to progress through the experience.”
Usability: “Apps need to be easy to navigate, with short tutorials and intuitive controls. Ideally the sessions would last between 20 and 30 minutes, long enough to be meaningful but short enough to prevent fatigue.”
Immersion: “Students come to us with a very high standard of what a 3D world should look like, and high production value with really engaging visuals, soundscapes and music help deliver on that promise and hold attention.”
Newton’s Room, a mixed reality physics-based application. Video by James Whittle, Centenary State High School.
THE RESULTS
The purpose of this trial was to answer two main questions, and here’s what the results found.
Can we scale XR for an entire year group?
The trial confirmed that XR can scale to large groups - even with limited resources. However, it was found that a high level of IT support was required to run the sessions effectively.
Does XR improve student engagement and learning outcomes?
For engagement, the answer was unquestionably yes. The response from students and teachers alike was incredibly positive, stating that they wanted to use XR more often and for a longer time.
At this stage, measurable learning outcomes are yet to be reported on, however preliminary survey results show that the majority of students who participated in the trial are eager for the rollout to continue, with 65% wanting the school to use XR more often and 55% responding that XR helped them to learn.
“There’s a really positive perception and that’s a really great place to start. … Students are enthusiastic about teachers incorporating more XR into their learning and that gives us a basis to start with, but we definitely have some work to do to get all of those students really keen on VR as a learning tool.”
THE FUTURE
Trials have continued, with more than 2,000 sessions completed in 2024 and a range of use cases emerging, including student development and prototyping of apps for VR. It’s a strong start and James will continue to refine the process, focusing on key areas for improvement.
Teacher-developed and -led sessions
“Teachers need to be able to lead and develop these sessions themselves. It can't be the IT expert coming in and saying what's going to work in your classroom.”
To achieve this, teachers need to be brought on board and provided with training to be able to choose and even co-develop learning applications, and to identify where they are best integrated into their learning program.
“We're already seeing these conversations begin and XR being a key part of many of our Australian curriculum units going forward.”
XR skill progression
Continued engagement to increase the familiarity, ease of use, and comfort in both students and teachers is a key component of leveraging XR for learning.
“This goes hand-in-hand with the ease of use and teacher comfort. As students spend more time in XR, the technology should disappear and the learning should become what they're really most focused on.”
Evidence of learning outcomes
Through continued trials, James emphasises the importance of gathering data to determine the extent to which XR implementation is improving students’ educational outcomes.
“We need to gather rigorous evidence to determine if and under what circumstances XR leads to better learning.”
Photo by James Whittle, Centenary State High School
As they continue their journey in XR implementation, James and the team at Centenary State High School gain new understanding of what makes immersive learning possible and effective, and the massive potential for this technology in the world of education.
“As educators, content creators, policy makers and researchers come together, we're seeing rapid progress towards realising the potential of XR. I believe it will soon be a foundational tool in secondary education, driving deeper engagement and understanding across subjects.”
Read more about Centenary State High School’s XR trials in James Whittle’s article: VR meets reality: Reflecting on our first large-scale VR Experience
ABOUT JAMES WHITTLE
James is the Head of eLearning & IT at Centenary State High School, and is an experienced educator and school leader focused on integrating new technology to inspire and prepare students for a bright future. With 14 years in public education, his approach is always centred on student agency and success.