Systematic review and meta-analysis of augmented reality in educational settings

Augmented reality (AR) is an important technology to enhance learning experiences. Many studies have been conducted to establish the tendencies, affordances and challenges of this technology in educational settings. However, these studies have little analyzed important issues such as the special needs of specific users or the impact of AR on education through the quantitative analysis of the data. This paper presents a literature review that covers 61 studies published between 2012 and 2018 in scientific journals and conference proceedings. As a result, it identifies the status and tendencies in the usage of AR in education, the impact of this technology on learning processes, open questions as well as opportunities and challenges for developers and practitioners. The results indicate that AR has a medium effect on learning effectiveness (d = .64, p < .001). The most reported advantages of AR systems in education are “learning gains” and “motivation.” Otherwise, it is also important to mention that only one of the AR systems of the studies includes accessibility features, which represents a setback in terms of social inclusion. Therefore, given the apparent multiple benefits of using AR systems in educational settings, stakeholders have great opportunities to develop new and better systems that benefit all learners. This technology covers a wide range of topics, target groups, academic levels and more. This could be an indicator that AR is achieving maturity and has successfully taken root in educational settings.