Exploring Strivr: An In-Depth Analysis of XR Technology in Education and Its Impact on Learning
- Marlon Malone
- Sep 20
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 27
Welcome Back to My Blog! The EdTech Zone!
Last week, I selected an artificial intelligence (AI) technology (Docebo) to implement in my work setting for teaching and learning purposes. After selecting and discussing Docebo, I explored the following regarding the AI application, while keeping my learner personas in mind:
Methodology for evaluation
Pros and cons
Ethical, equity, and inclusion implications and considerations
Final recommendations and implementation
This week, I will provide an in-depth analysis based on my findings on Strivr, an extended reality (XR) technology. My analysis considers the following for using Strivr:
Educational goals
Benefits and challenges of its use for teaching and learning
Curricular integration challenges
XR adoption requirements
Equity, inclusion, and ethical factors in the adoption of the solution
Lastly, I will make recommendations for using Strivr. Throughout the process, I will keep my learner personas in mind: Learner Personas
What in the World Is XR?
XR is the overarching term for reality-altering technologies (Rand-Hendriksen, 2019). In addition, XR makes learning topics become practical skills instead of just theory by giving learners hands-on activities and realistic simulations (Pomerantz, 2019). Rand-Hendriksen (2019) provided a clear and accessible overview of XR and its key components: virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). First, VR is an immersive experience in which the individual uses glasses, earphones, and other devices to replace the real world with a virtual world. VR is primarily used for gaming and entertainment, therapy, and training. Second, AR augments reality with computer-generated content through devices such as glasses or a phone. AR is used for gaming, entertainment, commerce, marketing, and training. Third, MR blends the physical and digital worlds, allowing computer-generated content to interact with real environments. MR is used in education, the military, industry, and healthcare.
My learning personas could benefit from all XR components. However, I will focus on VR.
Inside Jill and Kevin's Learning Experience with Strivr
Imagine Jill adjusting her headset and suddenly finding herself in the Maryland conference room with her management and stakeholders negotiating a contract with a vendor. Jill's experience is exciting, considering that she is physically in Los Angeles.
What about Kevin? Imagine Kevin learning about the new accounting and acquisition systems in a VR simulation. He can manipulate the data anyway he wants without the risk of taking the whole system down! It is all virtual!
Let me guide you on this fantastic tour! I will provide an analysis of Strivr to include considerations for educational goals, benefits, and challenges of its use for teaching and learning, curricular integration challenges, XR adoption requirements, and equity, inclusion, and ethical factors in adopting the solution.
Educational Goals
Strivr pushes for moving from traditional training (passive, learn by watching, forgettable, basic information) to immersive learning (more engaging, learn by doing, memorable, actionable insights) in an educational environment (Strivr, n.d.).
What is immersive learning? Immersive learning leverages VR, learning theory, data science, and spatial design to provide learners with realistic environments and experiences (Strivr, n.d.). Beard et al. (2021) explained that VR provides learners realistic situations within a technology-simulated space.
The educational goals (for the learner personas/organization are the following:
It gives learners a safe space to practice real-world tasks.
It builds confidence through repetition and feedback.
It improves retention by making the experience memorable.
For Jill, this means practicing contract management discussions without worrying about accessibility barriers (if captions or interpreter tools are available).
For Kevin, it means brushing up on IT systems training in a way that feels engaging rather than overwhelming.
Benefits and Challenges for Teaching and Learning
I love the idea of VR in education! It is science fiction in real-time!
Benefits:
You are engaged and creative.
You will retain what you are learning better and keep your job!
You are more relaxed and a positive thinker, especially when you combine game-based learning strategies and VR.
You can repeatedly use simulations.
I know you are wondering, where is the empirical data? Here you go! First, Hawes and Arya (2022) suggested that immersive learning environments create "feelings of presence and authenticity" and "induce positive affect and subsequently improve creativity" (p. 1). Second, immersive learning promotes long-term knowledge retention and better job performance (Strivr, n.d.). Third, combining game-based learning strategies and VR reduces apprehension in learners and enables positive thinking during learning (Hawes & Arya, 2022). Fourth, immersive environments enable learners to simulate scenarios faster than ordinary life, such as simulating years in seconds (Beck, 2019). Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger attributed his successful emergency landing on the Hudson River to years of experience and flight simulations he had undergone throughout his career (Pomerantz, 2019). However, Strivr is not a replacement for everything. It is a supplement for learning goals.
Challenges:
You could face accessibility gaps
You may face resistance from some employees
You may face a logistics problem
Your upfront investment tends to be more expensive
Essentially, the organization needs to ensure that Strivr addresses accessibility gaps; some employees may resist the new technology, and there could be logistics issues, such as storing all the equipment. Also, the upfront investment for VR tends to be higher than live exercises (Farra et al., 2019).
For Jill, the organization would have to ensure that there are no accessibility gaps before starting training.
For Kevin, the organization would have to understand that he may resist. Therefore, we would need to promote Strivr as something that can help him reach his goals.
Curricular Integration Challenges
As mentioned before, Strivr is not a complete replacement for traditional education. We still need talented professors! The challenge is for the organization to use Strivr to align with the learning goals of the organization. I will provide recommendations for aligning with the organization in my recommendations section.
Jill could use Strivr to reinforce her training in artificial intelligence (AI) and procurement systems, after having a trainer-led class.
For Kevin, after taking a traditional lecture, Strivr could provide a safe sandbox for him to practice what he learned in class.
XR Adoption Requirements
Strivr requires a serious commitment emphasizing hardware and software investments, trainers (since they need to be trained and available to teach Strivr), technical support, oversight, and change management.
Jill needs technical support to help if there are any accessibility problems.
For Kevin, this means understanding the gradual rollout in change management to ease his anxiety.
Equity, Inclusion, and Ethical Factors
Ethics is always serious. Therefore, I will get straight to the point. The organization must ensure that Strivr provides the following:
Accessibility for learners with disabilities for full participation
Equitable access for all employees
Protection of learner/personal data
Avoiding cultural bias in how simulations are designed
For Jill, accessibility is critical.
For Kevin, equity is for him to get the support he needs to embrace the new tools without feeling left behind.
Recommendations
It is no secret that I recommend Strivr for my learner personas and organization. Nevertheless, the organization must follow five factors to design and implement Strivr successfully. First, the instructional designers must ensure that senior leadership supports the initiative. The organization should have one or two champions to drive immersive learning objectives. Also, the organization should have a governance board to keep the initiative on track. The governance board should include subject matter experts across the business, including senior leadership, executives, managers, and project managers (Strivr, n.d.). Second, the organization must have a practical strategic framework for immersive learning. The organization should ensure that its strategy maps to its business goals. The organization should connect the business goals to the learners (Strivr, n.d.). In addition, as the organization builds its strategic framework, it should address questions such as the business (learner personas, issues). Third, the learner personas, the benefits of immersive training (total immersion, realistic environment, data-driven, and active learning), and the metrics define success (Strivr, n.d.). Fourth, the organization should ensure that the instructional designers collaborate with their customers to ensure the materials link to the business goals and the use case (Strivr, n.d.). Lastly, the instructional designers should delve into learning objectives, target audience backgrounds, and evaluation criteria.
Are you ready to embrace XR? Have you experienced immersive training? Did it work for your organization?
Imagine Jill and Kevin..........
Now, imagine you are using Strivr in your teaching practice! See you next week as we tackle more exciting EdTech topics!
References
Beard, M., Gutierrez, A., & Rektenwald, S. (2021, March). Exploring the potential of virtual reality in higher education. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 901-905). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Beck, D. (2019). Special issue: Augmented and virtual reality in education: Immersive learning Journal of Educational Computing Research, 57(7), 1619-1625. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633119854035
Farra, S. L., Gneuhs, M., Hodgson, E., Kawosa, B., Miller, E. T., Simon, A., & Hausfeld, J. (2019). Comparative cost of virtual reality training and live exercises for training hospital workers for evacuation. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 37(9), 446-454.
Hawes, D., & Arya, A. (2022, May). VR-based context priming to increase student engagement and academic performance. In 2022 8th international conference of the immersive Learning research Network (iLRN) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Pomerantz, J. (2019, October). XR for teaching and learning: Year 2 of the EDUCAUSE/HP Campus of the Future Project (ECAR Research Report). EDUCAUSE. https://library.educause.edu/-/media/files/library/2019/10/2019hpxr.pdf
Rand-Hendriksen, M. (2019, May 20). What is Extended Reality (XR): VR, AR, and MR? [Video]. In Tech Sense. LinkedIn Learning. https://www.linkedin.com/learning/tech-sense/what-is-extended-reality-xr-vr-ar-and-mr
Strivr. (n.d.). The ultimate guide to immersive learning. 6629557e8c6071471ba4f252_Strivr_ebook_The-Ultimate-Guide-to-Immersive-Learning.pdf
Comments