The potential of extended reality in higher education from the perspective of digital natives

Abstract

New digital technologies drive changes across all daily life and work aspects, including higher education. Extended reality is one of the key technologies reshaping the current ways of teaching and knowledge acquisition. This term encompasses a range of immersive technologies, such as virtual and augmented reality. Existing research demonstrates that using these technologies in education facilitates learning processes, offers students engaging educational experiences, and allows them to take a more active role in managing their learning strategies. Integrating new educational technologies into education is further supported by the "digital native" nature of today's students, who have been surrounded by new technologies from birth. Current university students are considered digital natives—natural users of new technologies who are presumed to have a close affinity with their use. This paper aims to evaluate students' knowledge of extended reality technology, their opinion on the effectiveness of its solutions, the readiness of businesses in the Czech Republic for the adoption and implementation of XR solutions and students' attitudes toward its potential applications in higher education, especially in project management education. The quantitative analysis is conducted via a two-phase survey administered before and after a lecture focused on extended reality technology. The results indicate that students have relatively limited knowledge of the potential applications of this technology across the current global landscape. However, they view its potential and integration into education as essential.