Contextualizing the Intersection of Makerspaces and XR Technologies Through Immersive Storytelling: A Thematic Hybrid Review

Makerspaces in K-12 education are multidisciplinary and provide multiple points of intersection with different subjects, technologies, and pedagogies. At the forefront of the maker movement is an emphasis on positioning students as playing an active role in defining and interpreting their learning experiences. Extended reality (XR) technologies are used in makerspaces to help students create a record of these goals and experiences. XR technologies provide a broad inventory of devices to support students in publishing their creative process through narratives and immersive storytelling. However, the literature points to an effect size gap between the utility of XR in education and students’ learning outcomes using XR. Conversely, engaging students in XR-enhanced maker spaces through storytelling offers one approach to bridging this effect size gap. However, the literature also points to the need for a better theoretical understanding of storytelling in digital forms. This paper explores these gaps by investigating the intersection of XR technology and makerspaces through the lens of immersive storytelling. We implemented a hybrid literature review approach whereby the researchers’ independent investigations were synthesized with data from a systematized review process. Our analysis of the literature and research on immersive storytelling resulted in developing a preliminary theoretical checklist that can inform future research on developing immersive storytelling frameworks for XR-enhanced makerspaces. Researchers can use our literature-based checklist as a foundation to investigate the intersection of immersive storytelling in XR-enhanced makerspaces with the aim of helping students improve their storytelling and supporting practitioners’ formative feedback.