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.

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to develop