A conference report with a focus on Immersive Learning

The fourth edition of the Seamless Learning Conference at WU Vienna took place on October 16 and 17, 2025. The conference's overarching theme, “Molding minds - Melding modes“, explored the intersection of AI and extended realities in teaching and learning.

The conference was opened by a dialogue of Mike Bernd (KI-Campus, Stifterverband) and Jacqueline Gasser-Beck (Teaching Innovation Lab, University of St.Gallen). Moderated by Oliver Vettori (Program Management and Teaching & Learning, WU Vienna), the plenary discussion revolved around the topic, “Higher Education (em)powered by AI?”

Overviews of the Track 1 (“Assessing AI/AI Assessing“) and Track 3 (“AI Skills Deficit/AI Skills Development“) breakout sessions can be found in the conference programme. A brief summary of the presentations from Track 2, along with links to the presentations, is available below.

The Seamless Learning Conference concluded with a plenary session entitled „Lessons Learned from the FLAIR Erasmus+ project - AI skills and policy frameworks across six different European countries“.

For those interested in Immersive Learning, the plenary showcase “A glimpse of the future?”, powered by WU’s FLEX Center, is a good place to start. Florian Mosböck (WU) presented a look into the future on behalf of the FLEX Team entitled “AI: From being a tool to being a counterpart”. Five showcases were selected to illustrate the future at the crossroads of AI and Extended Reality based on contemporary developments.. The presentation showed AI as (1) a tool, (2) a co-designer, (3) a creator, (4) a transmediator, and (5) a counterpart. Details and links can be found in the presentation.

Track 2: Learning across different 'realities'

Klaus Neundlinger (in-scope) and Andrea Ghoneim (WU) chaired Track 2, "Learning across Different 'Realities,'" which was hosted by Petra Oberhuemer, the head of Digital Teaching Services at WU's Program Management and Teaching & Learning Support service unit.

Day 1: Experiencing Learning Through Immersion

The first session opened with Marina Petrova from ESMT Berlin, who presented Mission in the Snow: A Metaverse Exercise for Leading Digital Transformation. Participants got an insight into an immersive, gamified simulation. It is part of the Leading Digital Transformation program, which is taught by Nora Grasselli, a lecturer in leadership at ESMT Berlin. The game and learning experience design of “Mission in the Snow” focuses on experiential learning, in which students must collaborate to survive in a winter forest. Reflection by learners after the session was important for fostering the sustainable development of collaboration skills.

Bernhard Zeilinger, head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, posed the question: “How can students be intrinsically motivated to surpass their own potential and engage with course content beyond?”. His presentation Multifunctional Learning Environments. Virtual simulation and AI chatbots as a complement to in-class teaching showcased how simulating the EU legislative process can motivate students to explore complex stakeholder perspectives and decision-making strategies. In this simulation, students act as different stakeholders, develop positions and strategies, and negotiate within designated committees.

The first breakout session concluded with Newsday VR: Immersive Journalism Education for Real-World Preparedness and Wellbeing. Learning technologists Dan McKinnie and Danielle Millea from the University of Leeds designed an immersive and interactive environment for Carl Hartley, a University of Leeds lecturer who also works in industry (e.g., for the BBC). He aimed to simulate a trauma story for his students, providing them with scenario-based learning. The VR simulation engages students in a drug raid and helps them develop core journalistic skills while reflecting on their emotional responses.

Day 2: Reimagining Space, Identity, and Connection

The second day began with Valerie Messini, Bence Pap, and Martina Menegon from the University of Applied Arts Vienna, who presented Teaching Extended Realities. Reimagining Identities, Embodiment and Space in Artistic Education. Menegon (Department of Transmedia Arts) discussed glitched embodiments and identities, while Messini (Weibel Institute for Digital Cultures) examined the "possibilities of virtual and augmented space population through the playful use of digital technologies" with her students. Pap (Institute of Architecture), used his Master's students' work to demonstrate new spatial experiences inspired by intersections of the digital and the physical.

Following this, Dan Pearson and James Parker from the USP College in Essex presented Beyond Boundaries: Connected Classrooms Without Borders. They overcame the geographic distance between learners and teachers in different locations by creating a new type of immersive experience: theater-like classrooms in which hybrid teaching is inverted and highly interactive. VR, AR, and AI tools align with pedagogy and assessment for learning principles across different campuses.

Finally, Monika Koller and Eva Marckhgott from WU’s Institute for Marketing and Consumer Research at WU, concluded the track with Coaching Session in WU’s Virtual Campus – Conceptualization and Key Learnings. They shared insights from their “Marketing Insights” course, which brought together student groups and industry experts in coaching sessions on WU’s Virtual Campus, designed to be as engaging as in-person interactions. The key lessons learned were like a summary of the experiences shared throughout the presentations in the “Learning across different ‘realities’” track:

• Extended Reality environments for learning purposes should be structured yet flexible.

• Onboarding all participants in a new environment is essential.

• Within the didactic setting, clarity of structure and roles is crucial.

• Virtual spaces can foster the development of soft skills.

• Immersive settings promote student engagement and the cultivation of professional behavior.

(cf. Koller/Marckhgott 2025)