The Illuminators Forum scanning project webinar series * * About the iLRN Illuminators Forum * * The iLRN Illuminators Forum is a global gathering place for researchers, educators, designers, and practitioners who interpret emerging signals in immersive learning and XR .” The iLRN Illuminators Forum This iLRN Forum is the conversational heart of the iLRN Searchlight ecosystem and drives persistent conversation and activity on the emerging edge of innovation in our field. It is where people who care about immersive learning come together to compare what they are seeing, make sense of rapid change, and translate scattered signals into grounded insights that serve the global community. Purpose and Function The Illuminators Forum exists to: Create a shared interpretive space for emerging signals in XR and immersive learning across regions, sectors, and platforms. Support sensemaking by inviting participants to connect weak signals, strong trends, partnerships, and local experiments to broader trajectories. Bridge practice and scholarship, linking real-world pilots and deployments with research findings and theoretical frames. Feed the iLRN knowledge infrastructure, especially the State of XR & Immersive Learning effort, the iLRN Knowledge Tree, and the Innovation Garden. So, the Forum is not only about collecting links or news. It is about thinking together—turning raw information into poignant context with current insights that can guide design, research, teaching, policy, and investment. Who Are the “Illuminators”? “Illuminators” are any iLRN community members who actively help others see more clearly: Researchers who connect new work to prior literature, methods, and theory. Educators and instructional designers who translate signals into implications for classrooms, training, and informal learning. Designers, developers, and technologists who understand the technical underpinnings and constraints of XR systems. Artists, storytellers, and cultural leaders who can speak to meaning, ethics, and affective dimensions of immersive experiences. Community stewards and chapter leads who bring regional or Indigenous perspectives into view. Industry or sector leaders with a genuine interest in helping the community. University and Library/Museum Administrators, indigenous leaders, policymakers and nonprofit organizations or independent advocates who can put a spotlight on regional issues and cultural contexts and perspectives. No formal title is required. Anyone who contributes thoughtfully to interpreting what the Searchlight reveals is, in practice, an Illuminator. Interested in contributing as a Special Guest? Please complete our Guest Interest & Proposal Form How the Illuminators Forum Fits the iLRN Ecosystem Within the broader iLRN architecture, the relationships can be described as: The Searchlight – Methods and tools for environmental scanning (news, research, projects, partnerships, indicators). The iLRN Illuminators Forum – The people who gather to reflect on what the Searchlight finds and discuss what it might mean. The Immersion Spotlight  – The specific topics, signals, or cases that receive focused attention in public webinars, posts, and written briefs. The Illuminators Forum sits between collection and communication. It is the interpretive middle layer that keeps the wider community from either drowning in relentless oncoming raw information or relying solely on a few editorial voices. Activities and Formats The iLRN Illuminators Forum can encompass multiple, complementary formats, such as: Synchronous discussions Regular Zoom or Frame VR sessions where participants review selected signals, share perspectives, and identify cross-cutting themes. Segment(s) within public-facing webinars (e.g., “Illuminators Round” or “What we’re seeing now”). Asynchronous exchanges Dedicated channels or threads in Discord / forums where members post signals (articles, projects, announcements) and add short interpretations or questions. Periodic prompts (e.g., “What are you seeing in accessibility this month?”) to catalyze contributions. Written and curated outputs Short “Illuminators Notes” summarizing what has emerged from recent conversations. Contributions to Codex pages, Knowledge Tree branches, and State of XR regional/environmental scans. Formats should stay lightweight and repeatable, emphasizing clarity and reuse rather than volume. Participation Pathways To help members orient themselves, participation can be thought of in three levels: Signal Sharers Bring forward news items, articles, projects, or local initiatives. Add brief context: where it’s from, why it matters, and what questions it raises. Interpreters Connect signals to existing research, frameworks, or ongoing projects. Identify patterns, tensions, or divergences across regions and sectors. Synthesis Stewards Help gather threads from discussions into short, reusable summaries for the Codex, State of XR efforts, or branch-specific pages. Individuals may move between these roles depending on time, expertise, and interest. The Forum’s structure should remain hospitable to light-touch participation while still enabling deeper involvement. Roles and Light-Structure Governance Without becoming bureaucratic, the Illuminators Forum benefits from a few clear, named roles: Forum Conveners  Curate a manageable set of signals for live sessions. Propose focus areas (e.g., accessibility, Indigenous XR, workforce training, environmental sciences). Ensure regional and disciplinary diversity in the conversation. Discussion Hosts / Moderators Facilitate sessions so that multiple voices are heard. Keep discussions anchored in evidence and lived practice, while welcoming speculative futures thinking. Track time and gently keep the conversation on theme. Recorders / Synthesis Leads Capture key insights, disagreements, and questions. Produce concise notes that can be dropped into the Codex, scan logs, or Spotlight content. Regional / Chapter Liaisons Bring in perspectives and signals from specific Continental regions, chapters, or communities (e.g., Indigenous-led projects, language-specific ecosystems). These roles do not need to be rigid; they can intertwine, rotate and be shared by volunteers who understand iLRN’s values and commitments. Working Principles and Norms The iLRN Illuminators Forum: Values multi-perspectival insight. Technical, pedagogical, artistic, Indigenous, and regional lenses are all recognized as essential. Distinguishes between signal and certainty. Participants are invited to surface weak or ambiguous signals, clearly labeled as such, without treating them as predictions or faits accomplis. Grounds interpretation in evidence where possible. Links to research, case data, and lived experience are encouraged, while leaving room for reflective, speculative thinking. Practices epistemic humility. No one person or institution “owns” the future of immersive learning; the Forum is a place to ask better questions rather than claim final answers. Strives for accessibility and inclusion. This includes attention to language, time zones, bandwidth, and cultural contexts, as well as openness to early-career participants and students. These norms help keep the Forum constructive, rigorous, and welcoming. Outputs and How They Are Used Insights and materials from the Illuminators Forum can flow into: The State of XR & Immersive Learning environmental scans, providing grounded examples, trends, and tensions by region and application domain. Knowledge Tree branches, where signals are tagged and connected to relevant foundations, methods, and application areas. The Innovation Garden (iLEAD), informing design patterns, practice guidelines, tutorials, and examples. Spotlight content, including short briefs, case highlights, or thematic sessions that bring curated trends to a broader public. The aim is that discussions not remain ephemeral: they should leave a trail of reusable, citable artifacts that can support both practice and scholarship. Example Prompts for Illuminators To keep the Forum focused and generative, conveners may use prompts such as: “What are you seeing now in accessibility for immersive learning that feels qualitatively new or different?” “Which partnerships or alliances in the last quarter might reshape the landscape in your region?” “Where are you seeing immersive learning applied to heritage, human rights, or difficult histories, and what tensions does that raise?” “What technical developments (hardware, software, standards) are likely to change what’s feasible in teaching and training within the next 2–3 years?” These prompts help participants move from isolated links toward shared interpretation and comparative analysis. This Codex entry serves as: An orientation document for new participants in the iLRN Illuminators’ Forum. A reference page for conveners, moderators, and chapter leads when planning sessions or asynchronous activities. A linkable explanation for partners, sponsors, or institutional stakeholders who want to understand how iLRN is approaching environmental scanning and futures-oriented dialogue. 1. iLRN llluminators Forum - episode #1: Multimodal Illumination & thoughtful design; Let's Scan and Report together on our shared futures! (November 28th, 2025) with Daithí Ó Murchú iLRN ILLUMINATORS FORUM                                                                             .. . the weekly scanning report of iLRN IMMERSIVE FUTURES' State of XR & Immersive Learning 2026 effort                                episode #1: " Multimodal Illumination & thoughtful design; Let's Scan and Report together on our shared futures! " <- click link (YouTube video of the show) Friday, November, 28th, 2025 2pm Pacific . 5pm Eastern . 10 pm London Forum Host: Jonathon Richter Special Guest: Daithí Ó Murchú, an International consultant and expert advisor in education, AI, sustainability citizenship, disruptive technologies. HC for Côte d'Ivoire to Ireland. This inaugural session launches our weekly global scanning series for the 2026 iLRN State of XR & Immersive Learning report . Each week for the rest of the year and into the start of 2026, we convene researchers, designers, and practitioners who are actively observing developments across regions, sectors, and technologies. The goal is to build a shared and recent evidence base for understanding how immersive learning is evolving worldwide. In this first webinar, we will introduce the scanning framework, outline the workflows used across iLRN’s Regional Hubs and Geographic Chapters, and highlight early signals emerging from education, computer science, workforce development, cultural heritage, Indigenous-led XR, environmental applications, and medical education & healthcare. We will also welcome several of our most engaged community contributors—Regional Hub leaders, Chapter stewards, and active members of our Discord scanning channels—to discuss what they are seeing in their local contexts and how they approach environmental scanning as a practice. The session is designed to be conversational, method-focused, and open to observers who want to understand how the iLRN community co-creates the annual State of XR report. Attendees will gain clarity on how to participate, where scanning takes place, and how individual contributions feed into the 2026 global findings. WATCH THIS EPISODE #1    TITLE: Multimodal Illumination & thoughtful design; Let's Scan and Report together on our shared futures! <- click link (YouTube video of the show) This week on iLRN Illuminators' Forum, we're featuring a few of our findings on computer science and game design journal articles that were published during the Year 2025 with an opportunity to drop your own pub(lication) reference links if you published in 2025 - to be lightly curated by our iLRN volunteers and highlighted in the show's links HERE on this iLRN Codex page!   We also have a Special Guest on the Illuminators' Forum, Daithí Ó Murchú , an International consultant and expert advisor in education, AI, sustainability citizenship, disruptive technologies. HC for Côte d'Ivoire to Ireland. Daithí has projects from Africa to Ireland and he's volunteering to help us lead in the global scanning effort for his many geographic regions and types of expertise related to high quality "immersive learning" experiences, at scale.  2. iLRN illuminators forum - episode #2: The Learning Sciences as foundation of Immersive Learning; (December 5th, 2025) with Tassos Mikropoulos Guest: Tassos Mikropoulos, General Chair, iLRN2026 Athens & State of XR European Regional Hub co-Lead iLRN ILLUMINATORS' FORUM .. . the weekly scanning report of iLRN IMMERSIVE FUTURES'  State of XR & Immersive Learning 2026 effort                                episode #2: "Spotlight on 2025 contributions to The Learning Sciences as foundation of Immersive Learning with Special Guest Tassos Mikropolous " <- click link (YouTube video of the show) Forum Host: Jonathon Richter Special Guest: Anastasia "Tassos" Mikropolous,a leading scholar in learning sciences and educational technology, specializing in cognitive processes, sensor-based interfaces, and mixed-reality learning. General Chair of iLRN2026 and long-time innovator in the Greek and European research communities. This session is the second  episode of our weekly global scanning series for the 2026 iLRN State of XR & Immersive Learning report . Each week for the rest of the year and into the start of 2026, we convene researchers, designers, and practitioners who are actively observing developments across regions, sectors, and technologies. The goal is to build a shared and recent evidence base for taking a Collective Expert Focused Snapshot for understanding how immersive learning is evolving worldwide.  Focus Areas: Learning Sciences · Teacher Education · Augmented Cognitive Tools This Friday, we continue building the foundation for the 2026 State of XR & Immersive Learning Scan by turning our attention to the Learning Sciences , with a particular emphasis on the research and design traditions that shape how immersive technologies support human learning. Our guest, Tassos Mikropoulos , brings a distinct vantage point as both a computer scientist and a long-standing contributor to educational technology research. While last week’s episode leaned heavily into Computer Science, Game Design, and themed entertainment, this session shifts toward the pedagogical and cognitive dimensions of immersive learning—areas where Tassos’ work is especially resonant. We will explore: • Teacher Education in XR: How immersive technologies are being integrated into teacher preparation programs, what design patterns support novice teacher development, and how simulation-based practice environments are reshaping professional learning. • Augmented Cognitive Tools & Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Emerging research on agentic AI, multimodal interfaces, and adaptive XR systems that scaffold inquiry, reflection, and feedback. We’ll look at how these tools extend human cognition and expand the repertoire of instructional strategies available to educators. Together, these threads reflect the evolving core of the Learning Sciences—linking cognition, interaction, and design—while helping set the direction for this year’s global scanning effort. All are welcome to join as we continue mapping the trends, signals, and scholarly conversations that will inform iLRN’s 2026 report and the Athens conference. Jump to this episode on the iLRN YouTube Channel with the following link:  The Learning Sciences as foundation of Immersive Learning with Special Guest Tassos Mikropolous 3. iLRN Illuminators Forum - episode #3: New Immersive Technologies from 2025 and industry + higher education partnerships (December 12th, 2025); with Kat Schrier iLRN ILLUMINATORS FORUM                                                                             .. . the weekly scanning report of iLRN IMMERSIVE FUTURES' State of XR & Immersive Learning 2026 effort  episode #3: "New Immersive Technologies from 2025 and industry + higher education partnerships"  Forum Host: Jonathon Richter Special Guest: Dr. Kat Schrier Professor/Director of Games and Emerging Media, Marist University This session is the third episode of our weekly global scanning series for the 2026 iLRN State of XR & Immersive Learning report. Each week for the rest of the year and into early 2026, we convene researchers, designers, and practitioners who are actively observing developments across regions, sectors, and technologies. The goal is to build a shared and recent evidence base for taking a Collective Expert Focused Snapshot of how immersive learning is evolving worldwide. Focus Areas: Ethics in Immersive Learning · New Immersive Technologies (2025) · Data Rights & Consent · Self-Regulated Learning · Inclusive & Accessible Design This Friday, we continue building the foundation for the 2026 State of XR & Immersive Learning Scan by spotlighting new immersive technologies that emerged in 2025 —and the ethical questions that arrive with new affordances: embodiment, agency, emotion-rich simulation, and increasingly data-intensive interaction. Our guest, Dr. Kat Schrier , Professor and Director of the Games & Emerging Media program at Marist University , brings a distinctive perspective grounded in games for social impact , ethics-centered design, and inclusive communities. Her work spans ethical decision-making in games, the use of AI to extend learning, and practical strategies for reducing bias and harm in online spaces. In this episode, we explored: • Ethics as XR Scales from Pilots to Policy In 2025 we saw immersive learning shift from isolated pilots into institutional infrastructure—across universities, school systems, cultural heritage initiatives, and workforce pathways. As XR operationalizes, ethical choices move from “design considerations” to governance-level decisions: consent, transparency, and accountability at scale. • Power, Agency, and Data Rights in Immersive Systems Immersive experiences can capture meaningful behavioral signals—choices, attention, participation patterns, and narrative decisions. We’ll discuss how those data streams create value (and risk), and why consent, ownership, and purpose limitation become central ethical questions. • Authenticity, Representation, and Whose Voice Shapes the World As immersive environments become more photoreal and emotionally persuasive, we must ask whose truth is being presented and who gets to author that representation. This includes cultural heritage and Indigenous storytelling transitions from oral tradition to multimodal and immersive forms. • Self-Regulated Learning and “Learning Beyond the Experience” A 10-year meta-analysis highlighted the strength of self-regulated learning as a predictor of achievement. Dr. Schrier connects this to practical design, including how reflective scaffolds (including AI-supported dialogue) can extend learning through planning, monitoring, and reflection—rather than relying on novelty or fidelity alone. • Accessibility as an Ethical Design Constraint High-fidelity immersive experiences can exclude learners due to bandwidth, device access, ability differences, and varied technology literacies. We’ll discuss why “more immersive” may sometimes mean “more inclusive,” and how designing for the margins often improves experiences for everyone. Together, these threads reflect a core reality surfaced in the 2025 scan: immersive learning is accelerating in capability and reach—and the ethical frame must evolve just as quickly if we want scaling to remain aligned with human dignity, inclusion, and meaningful learning. All are welcome to join as we continue mapping the trends, signals, and scholarly conversations that will inform iLRN’s 2026 report and the Athens conference. Jump to this episode on the iLRN YouTube Channel with the following link: Ethics in Immersive Learning with Special Guest Dr. Kat Schrier (Episode #3 — December 12, 2025) 4. iLRN Illuminators Forum — episode #4: Rehearsing the Real: AI, XR, and Performance Under Pressure; (December 26th, 2025) with Amany AlKhayat iLRN ILLUMINATORS' FORUM                                                                             .. . the weekly scanning report of iLRN IMMERSIVE FUTURES' State of XR & Immersive Learning 2026 effort  episode #4: "Rehearsing the Real in 2025: AI, XR, and Performance Under Pressure"  Forum Host: Jonathon Richter Special Guest: Dr. Amany AlKhayat Columbia Teachers College Episode Snapshot Series: iLRN Illuminators’ Forum (Weekly Global Scan) Purpose: Contribute to the 2026 State of XR & Immersive Learning report through structured 2025 horizon scanning across regions, sectors, and technologies. Episode Title: Date: [Friday, Month Day, 2025] Time: [Start–End, Time Zone] Format: Live webinar + recording Registration: [Link] Recording: [YouTube Link — add after publishing] Host: Jonathon James Richter Special Guest: Dr. Amany AlKhayat Overview This episode continues iLRN’s 2025 global scanning effort in support of the 2026 State of XR & Immersive Learning report. We focus on signals suggesting a shift toward immersive and AI-augmented learning experiences designed for high-stakes communication and performance under pressure. Rather than centering on a single paper or product, the Illuminators’ Forum format emphasizes interpretation and sense-making: what appears to be accelerating, what is consolidating into practice, and where meaningful tensions and design tradeoffs are becoming visible. Guest Perspective Dr. Amany AlKhayat joins as a special guest with expertise at the intersection of: immersive learning design and research conversational AI and learning interaction language, communication, and performance-oriented learning contexts authentic institutional settings and real constraints Her role in this episode is to serve as an anchor and interpretive lens—helping us connect field-level patterns to grounded considerations in learning design, measurement, and learner experience. Focus Areas AI-Augmented Immersive Learning Mixed Reality and Performance Contexts Learning Sciences and Design Tradeoffs Workforce Readiness and High-Stakes Communication Strategic Communication and Organizational Behavior 2025 Scan Pillars Featured in This Episode Pillar 1: XR + AI in Workforce Training is Shifting Toward Performance Readiness A 2025 signal across regions and sectors: immersive learning is increasingly framed as rehearsal for consequential moments (communication, interviews, negotiations, leadership interactions), rather than generalized skill acquisition. Indicative dimensions to scan: scenario-based rehearsal and task anchoring adaptive conversational agents and feedback loops performance evidence vs. participation/completion metrics personalization at scale (and its limits) Pillar 2: Immersive Strategic Communication and Organizational Behavior as Emerging Capabilities A second 2025 signal (more emergent, but accelerating): immersive systems increasingly function as organizational capability infrastructure—supporting communication practice, alignment, sensemaking, and behavioral dynamics under real constraints. Indicative dimensions to scan: communication as performed interaction (not content delivery) AI agents as role-players, coaches, or stressors organizational ethics: agency, transparency, accountability readiness vs. manipulation concerns Session Structure Total Duration: ~60 minutes Opening Framing (5–7 min) Context for the 2025 global scan and how this episode fits the report pipeline Featured Dialogue (25–30 min) Moderated conversation with Dr. Alkhayat connecting expertise to global signals Additional 2025 Trends (15–20 min) Two scan-derived trends to broaden the picture (the two pillars above) Wrap-up (5 min) Takeaways, thanks, and preview of the next session Slides are optional. The default mode is conversational and reflective. Discussion Prompts Use/select 4–6 depending on time. Where are you seeing the most credible movement from “training content” to performance rehearsal in immersive learning? What design choices matter most when performance is evaluated under pressure (timing, feedback, fidelity, social presence, agent behavior)? What should count as evidence in these contexts—performance metrics, physiological signals, qualitative indicators, or a hybrid? How do we distinguish “supporting communication” from shaping behavior in organizational settings? What ethical lines are becoming harder to see as AI agents become more persuasive, adaptive, and embedded in learning environments? What seems stable across regions in 2025, and what appears culturally or infrastructurally contingent? 5. iLRN Illuminators Forum — episode #5: At the Threshold: Recasting iLRN as an Open Immersive Learning Society; (January 2nd, 2026) - with Caitlin Krause iLRN ILLUMINATORS FORUM #5 The weekly scanning forum supporting the iLRN Immersive Futures — State of XR & Immersive Learning 2026 report Episode Title: Immersive Learning at the Threshold: Recasting iLRN as an Open Immersive Learning Society YouTube Recording link: https://youtu.be/OFtJBMvH8IY Purpose: To convene the global immersive learning community at a pivotal moment for the field—inviting shared responsibility, collective sense-making, and forward-looking vision in support of the 2026 State of XR & Immersive Learning effort. Date: January 2, 2026 Time: 2:00–3:00 PM Pacific / 5:00–6:00 PM Eastern Media: Live webinar + recording + survey + forum New Session Type : Instead of Report & Special Guest Discussion, this week opened participatory dialogue and open reflection (including asynchronous opportunities) Host: iLRN CEO Jonathon Richter, Ed.D. iLRN Survey: What’s your vision for the immersive learning field in 2026?  https://tally.so/r/kdeyde SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY: Caitlin Krause Author of DIGITAL WELLBEING: Empowering Connection with Wonder and Imagination in the Age of AI Posted Webinar Description: As we begin 2026, immersive learning appears to be crossing a genuine threshold. Over the past decade, the field has moved from experimentation to legitimacy. Evidence has matured. Practices have diversified. Expectations—societal, institutional, and ethical—have sharpened. Happy 2026! What feels different now is not simply technological acceleration, but a shift in responsibility. Immersive environments are increasingly used to rehearse real decisions, shape public understanding, and mediate collective experience. That raises a larger question for all of us working in this space: What should immersive learning be accountable for in 2026? This Friday’s Illuminators’ Forum is intentionally designed for everyone—researchers, educators, designers, developers, students, and institutional leaders—whether you join us live or engage asynchronously afterward. If you can join live, we’ll reflect together on where immersive learning stands today and what signals matter most.  If you can’t attend, we invite you to watch the recording and contribute your perspective through a short vision form. This conversation directly supports our recasting of the Immersive Learning Research Network as an Open Immersive Society—one grounded in shared evidence, plural perspectives, and public responsibility. • Share your 2026 vision: https://tally.so/r/kdeyde   Yes... Immersive learning is entering a consequential phase... this is the moment to help shape it—together! 6. iLRN Illuminators’ Forum — episode #6: Dialogic Immersion, Human–AI Learning Design, and the Expanding Ecology of Immersive Learning; (January 12th, 2026) - with Lisa Dawley iLRN ILLUMINATORS FORUM … the weekly scanning report of iLRN IMMERSIVE FUTURES’ State of XR & Immersive Learning 2026 effort episode #6: “Dialogic Immersion and Human–AI Learning Design” Friday, January 12, 2026 12:00pm Pacific | 3:00pm Eastern | 8:00pm UTC Forum Host: Jonathon Richter Special Guest: Lisa Dawley Co-founder (AERA SIG origins of iLRN) · Educational Technology Scholar · Human–AI Learning Design This session is the sixth episode of our weekly global scanning series for the 2026 iLRN State of XR & Immersive Learning report. Each week, we convene researchers, designers, and practitioners who are actively observing developments across regions, sectors, and technologies. The goal is to build a shared and recent evidence base for taking a Collective Expert Focused Snapshot of how immersive learning is evolving worldwide. Focus Areas: Dialogic & Reflective Immersion · Human–AI Learning Design · Open Science & Scholarly Systems · Immersive Data Visualization · Deliberative Discourse This Friday, we will contribute to shared sense-making as iLRN continues its transition toward an Open Immersive Society , connecting early immersive learning research with emerging forms of dialogic and reflective immersion. As AI systems become increasingly present in learning contexts, immersion is no longer only understood as spatial presence in mediated environments, but also as sustained engagement in iterative dialogue, sense-making, and identity work over time. Our guest, Lisa Dawley , is a co-founder of the AERA SIG where iLRN’s earliest work began (circa 2007). Her perspective offers a rare throughline from early work on immersive virtual worlds and situated learning to her current development of a Human–AI Learning Design Framework —a structured approach for understanding how learners engage with AI as dialogic partners in ways that shape reflection, agency, and meaning-making. In this episode, we will explore: • From Virtual Worlds to Dialogic Immersion: What Still Holds We will revisit early definitions of immersive learning rooted in virtual worlds, simulation, and presence, then examine what remains continuous as immersion expands into dialogic and reflective modes. • Immersion as an Ecology, Not a Category Rather than treating “immersive” as a bounded label, we will examine immersion as an ecology spanning spatial, social, cognitive, affective, and intrapersonal dimensions—each shaped by design choices and learner agency. • Human–AI Learning Design: Structure for a New Interaction Paradigm Lisa will share an open-draft version of her Human–AI Learning Design Framework and invite community input. We will discuss what the framework clarifies about attention, scaffolding, feedback, reflection, and identity in human–AI dialogue. • Contextual Signals from 2025: Open Science, Scholarly Systems, and Discourse To situate the discussion, Jonathon will briefly highlight advances observed through the 2025 scan in open science practices, evolving scholarly systems, immersive data visualization, and more deliberative forms of professional discourse—positioning dialogic immersion within a broader body of movement toward 2026 and beyond. • Design Responsibilities in Reflective and Dialogic Immersion We will examine practical and ethical implications: how learner agency is protected, how reflective dialogue is shaped, what “good scaffolding” looks like, and where risks emerge (overreach, dependency, mis-calibration, opacity). Together, these threads reflect a core reality surfaced in the 2025 scan: immersive learning is expanding in form and reach, and the field now needs language and design frameworks that can hold multiple modes of immersion with conceptual precision and practical responsibility. All are welcome to join as we continue mapping the trends, signals, and scholarly conversations that will inform iLRN’s 2026 report and the Athens conference. Jump to this episode on the iLRN YouTube Channel with the following link: https://youtu.be/vnCgLhFM8jA Dialogic Immersion and Human–AI Learning Design with Special Guest Lisa Dawley (Episode #6 — January 12, 2026) 7. iLRN Illuminators’ Forum — episode #7: Early 2026 signals, Circle of Scholars 2035 Visioning; & Field level strides in Immersive Learning; (January 30th, 2026) - with Fridolin Wild iLRN ILLUMINATORS FORUM #7 The weekly scanning forum supporting the iLRN Immersive Futures — State of XR & Immersive Learning 2026 report Episode Title: From iLRN Circle of Scholars to All: Collective Sense-making from Signal to Possibility YouTube Recording link: https://youtu.be/mDpJ-0N6A4I Purpose: To convene the global immersive learning community at a pivotal moment for the field—inviting shared responsibility, collective sense-making, and forward-looking vision in support of the 2026 State of XR & Immersive Learning effort. Date: January 30, 2026 Time: 11:00–12:00 PM Pacific / 2:00–3:00 PM Eastern / 7:00-8:00 PM UK Media: Live webinar + recording + forum (Codex comments open) Note: Special Report on iLRN Circle of Scholars' annual Delphi survey Host: iLRN CEO Jonathon Richter, Ed.D. Original Description: We brighten up the iLRN Illuminators’ Forum this Friday with Episode #7 —  part of our ongoing global scan for the State of XR & Immersive Learning. This session is structured deliberately around collective sense-making: • Signals — a short opening scan of recent developments shaping immersive learning • Vision — a featured presentation from Dr. Fridolin Wild, sharing insights from the iLRN Circle of Scholars’ Vision 2030 Workshop • Translation — a second scan volley that brings those ideas back down to practice, implications, and open questions for the field The goal isn't prediction, but orientation: how emerging signals, long-range scholarly thinking, and grounded dialogue anchored in evidence can better inform what we choose to build next—together. Let's build for good. Let's scan, envision, & build together! 🗓 Friday, January 30, 2026 ⏰ 11:00am Pacific · 2:00pm Eastern · 7:00pm UK 🎙 Illuminators’ Forum – Episode #7 🎓 Special Guest: Fridolin Wild As always, this is an open, inviting conversation for researchers, educators, designers, and practitioners across disciplines and regions. 8. iLRN Illuminators’ Forum — episode #8: Accessibility as Infrastructure, Interoperability Governance, and the Structural Future of Immersive Learning; (February 13, 2026) – with Noah Glaser iLRN ILLUMINATORS FORUM #8 The weekly scanning forum supporting the iLRN Immersive Futures — State of XR & Immersive Learning 2026 report Episode Title: Accessibility as Infrastructure: Governing Interoperability and Designing for All  - (If access fails at the platform layer, who is actually excluded?) YouTube Recording link: https://youtu.be/SRWJ4d7dsxg Friday, February 13, 2026 10:00am Pacific | 1:00pm Eastern | 18:00 UTC Forum Host:  Jonathon Richter Special Guest: Noah Glaser , Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Learning, Teaching & Curriculum — Learning Technologies & Design , College of Education & Human Development, University of Missouri and iLRN Doctoral Colloquium Chair for multiple conferences Purpose To convene educational leaders and immersive learning professionals around a structural shift in the field: Accessibility is no longer a downstream accommodation. It is becoming a design baseline — a systems requirement shaping interoperability, governance, and institutional strategy. Evidence of these structural frictions is visible across multiple layers of immersive delivery pipelines — from hardware and platform architecture to content design, identity systems, analytics, and institutional procurement frameworks. This episode situates accessibility within platform architecture, co-design philosophy, and emergent cultural practice — advancing disciplined sense-making in support of the 2026 State of XR & Immersive Learning report. Media Live webinar + recording + Codex forum discussion Narrative Frame Across education, access barriers are rarely singular. They are structural: Platform incompatibility and data portability gaps Hardware and bandwidth limitations Content design and interaction mismatches Identity and profile fragmentation Institutional procurement and policy constraints Immersive systems that do not account for these variables risk exclusion by design — a pattern documented in accessibility research across XR modalities and instructional contexts. Addressing these barriers systemically has become a Learning Engineering challenge, rather than a human sociotechnical one. XR accessibility scholars note that barriers can arise in  content development, assistive technology support, hardware deployment, and instructional integration cycles unless deliberate design frameworks are applied.( RTL Berkeley ) The 2025–2026 iLRN signal landscape identifies a clear shift: Accessibility is moving from accommodation to canon. Not as rhetoric. As infrastructure. Special Guest Noah Glaser University of Missouri Dr. Glaser brings design research experience in immersive learning systems, video games, AI, and VR grounded in interdisciplinary inquiry and practice. His work spans educational interventions that support cognitive, engagement, and identity-based variability across learner populations.( College of Ed & Human Dev ) In this session, he will help frame accessibility not as an add-on, but as baseline design logic , particularly where co-design models engage creators with diverse lived experience as design contributors — not merely subjects of study. Glaser's work co-designing with people of varied abilities and perspectives is demonstrative of reflexive design practices that scale and work for the whole learning population. This approach aligns with emerging inclusive design frameworks that treat accessibility as a systems outcome rather than a compliance hurdle. Questions we will explore include: What does it mean to embed accessibility in the architecture of learning ecosystems? How does one go about co-designing with varied groups without disrupting traditional production pipelines? What evidence suggests that generalized access barriers appear at multiple levels of XR delivery? This conversation invites research-informed dialogue without scripting conclusions. Signal Volley #1 Interoperability & Platform Governance Accessible learning collapses when platforms don’t interoperate. Fragmented identity systems, credential silos, and inconsistent assistive configurations degrade learner continuity. Governance questions follow: Who ensures continuity of learner access across systems? How do standards bodies and institutions align around interoperability? What procurement policies reinforce or undermine inclusive ecosystems? Accessibility at scale requires interoperable architecture supported by shared standards — not isolated feature add-ins. Signal Volley #2 (2025 Trend) Innovation in Unregulated Spaces XR tools now appear in contexts where regulatory frameworks never anticipated them — informal learning networks, decentralized creator platforms, AI-XR hybrids. When innovation outpaces governance, access norms become platform-dependent and variable. Institutions must decide how to engage — and what norms to advocate for — in environments where standards are emergent or absent. Signal Volley #3 (Early 2026 Horizon) Emergent Cultures & Plural Ontologies Immersive environments cultivate distinct participation norms and micro-cultures that shape engagement patterns, interaction heuristics, and shared meaning-making. Accessibility intersects here too: Whose interaction norms become default? How does design encode cultural assumptions? What new ontologies are forming in XR spaces that influence learning pathways? Educational leaders require cultural literacy alongside technical foresight. Why This Episode Matters For immersive learning professionals, the question is not whether accessibility is important. The question is whether it is treated as: Retrofit or baseline Architectural logic or feature Governance responsibility or optional practice Institutional performance metric or compliance checkbox Accessibility as infrastructure aligns with interoperability, procurement policy, platform governance, and quality assurance. It is not a special-interest issue. It is a systems design issue. 🗓 [Insert Date] ⏰ 11:00am Pacific · 2:00pm Eastern · 7:00pm UK 🎙 Illuminators’ Forum – Episode #8 🎓 Special Guest: Noah Glaser This forum convenes researchers, designers, institutional leaders, and practitioners committed to disciplined collective scanning and responsible field-building. 9. iLRN Illuminators’ Forum — episode #9: The Role of The Learning Sciences in the Immersive Learning community (March 20th, 2026) – with Eileen McGivney Guest: Eileen McGivney, Northeastern University & 2025 iLRN Circle of Scholars member iLRN ILLUMINATORS' FORUM ... the weekly scanning report of iLRN IMMERSIVE FUTURES’ State of XR & Immersive Learning 2026 effort https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx6KLmBFGnw Forum Host: Jonathon Richter Special Guest: Eileen McGivney, a scholar of learning, media, and emerging technology whose work examines how educational innovation, digital environments, and cultural context shape meaningful learning experiences. She brings a timely perspective to immersive learning through her attention to research quality, educational design, and the broader conditions that influence learning across formal and informal settings. This session is the ninth episode of our (mostly) weekly global scanning series for the 2026 iLRN  State of XR & Immersive Learning report. Each week, we convene researchers, designers, and practitioners who are tracking developments across regions, sectors, and technologies. The aim is to build a shared and recent evidence base that helps the immersive learning community take a collective expert-focused snapshot of how the field is growing and changing worldwide. Focus Areas: Learning Sciences · Research Quality · Emerging Educational Technology This Friday, we turn directly to a central question for the field: what role should the Learning Sciences play in shaping immersive learning as an emerging multidisciplinary community of research, design, and practice? As immersive learning expands across higher education, workforce training, cultural institutions, and industry, there is growing need to distinguish between novelty and meaningful contribution. This episode asks what it would look like for the field to remain grounded in evidence about how people learn, how environments shape attention and action, and how design decisions affect outcomes. Our guest, Eileen McGivney, offers an important vantage point for this conversation. Her work helps illuminate how educational technologies become meaningful only when they are connected to sound pedagogical reasoning, thoughtful design, and a clearer understanding of the social and institutional conditions in which learning takes place. In that sense, this conversation helps move immersive learning beyond enthusiasm alone and toward a stronger foundation for quality, relevance, and cumulative knowledge-building. We will explore: • The Learning Sciences as a foundation for immersive learning: How theories of learning, motivation, cognition, and social interaction can help immersive learning mature as a field rather than remain a loose collection of tools, experiments, and isolated innovations. • What counts as meaningful evidence in immersive learning: How researchers and practitioners can better assess quality, identify durable contributions, and avoid overstating claims about impact when technologies are evolving quickly. • Emerging educational technology trends and their implications: Which adjacent developments in AI, digital platforms, and interactive media are reshaping the conditions for immersive learning, and what these shifts suggest for the next phase of the field. • Research, design, and community formation: How the immersive learning community can strengthen its shared language, standards of quality, and collective capacity by staying attentive to the insights and methods of the Learning Sciences. Together, these themes help clarify why the Learning Sciences are not peripheral to immersive learning, but one of its core foundations. They also help frame the kinds of questions that must guide iLRN’s global scanning effort as we work toward the 2026 report and continue building the field with greater rigor and coherence. All are welcome to join as we continue mapping the trends, signals, and scholarly conversations that will inform iLRN’s 2026 report and the Athens conference. Jump to this episode on the iLRN YouTube Channel with the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx6KLmBFGnw The Role of The Learning Sciences in the Immersive Learning community with Special Guest Eileen McGivney