THE EXPANDING ROLE OF IMMERSIVE MEDIA IN EDUCATION Emre Erturk and Gabrielle-Bakker Reynolds Eastern Institute of Technology, 501 Gloucester Street, Taradale, Napier 4112, New Zealand ABSTRACT This paper seeks to understand the impact of immersive media, in particular augmented reality, within the education sector. A small experimental methodology was adopted alongside a current literature review. Three research questions were posited as follows: (1) What are the affordances of immersive media within education? (2) What are the barriers to immersive media in education? (3) How may immersive media be implemented? Affordances of immersive media include greater content customisation, increased creativity with less risk, promoting student interaction, enhanced motivation and engagement, and the chance for students to engage in extraordinary experiences. In 2020, many students around the world are staying home and studying in isolation, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this emergency context, mobile applications can offer interesting experiences that can make life and learning less difficult and more pleasant. The mobile web application Metaverse was used to exemplify in two different ways how immersive media can be appropriately used as a tool in a university level education setting. The first prototype was a short quiz on general knowledge about New Zealand, to help orient new international students. The second prototype was a quick poll to feel the pulse and understand the mood of students while at home and physically away from the campus and their lecturers. In summary, the authors present an updated review of this technology and present their own new examples of applications that serve additional purposes. KEYWORDS Immersive Media, Augmented Reality, Mobile Learning, Home Learning, Educational Technology 1. INTRODUCTION Immersive media can be understood as any technology that blends computer generated content with the physical environment, creating a sense of immersion and stimulating the human senses through interactive multimedia. For instance, virtual reality aims to occlude the physical environment. In contrast, augmented reality may involve overlaying content the upon physical world. The Virtuality Continuum (see Figure 1) was created in 1994 by Milgram and Kishino as cited in Milman (2018) to show the various modes on a scale. Figure 1. The Virtuality Continuum Since immersive media’s use within the educational sector is still relatively recent, the objective of this paper is to explore its role by discussing its pedagogical affordances and barriers, and provide examples of its practical use. Common previous applications of augmented reality were for younger students and children, or for teaching high school and university students application development and visual design. This paper takes a broader approach in a different context in 2020 where virtual engagement is important. International Conference e-Learning 2020 191