Challenges and Opportunities for Using Immersive Technology: A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Cross-Country Studies

Abstract

The trend of using immersive technology with augmented reality as a didactic tool has enriched the learning process with various superior content. Previous studies have explored the aggregate effect of using augmented reality in education, but few have analyzed the comparative effectiveness of studies between countries as a categorical variable. Filling the previous gap, this work makes it possible to find the aggregate effect of the application of augmented reality by comparing study results between countries as a categorical variable. This work examined 52 independent comparisons for a total of 2,056 subjects. The analysis results assisted by CMA software showed that integrating immersive augmented reality technology in learning was associated with a positive and moderate effect ( g = 0.71, p < 0.005) compared to other learning conditions. This impact is consistent and robust across primary studies. These results add empirical validity regarding the effectiveness of immersive technology, as it is necessary to understand the study in the context of future didactic development of Augmented Reality.