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Rehearsing the Real: AI, XR, and Performance Under Pressure; (December 26th, 2025) iLRN Illuminators Forum — episode #4

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

  1. Opening Framing (5–7 min)
    • Context for the 2025 global scan and how this episode fits the report pipeline
  2. Featured Dialogue (25–30 min)
    • Moderated conversation with Dr. Alkhayat connecting expertise to global signals
  3. Additional 2025 Trends (15–20 min)
    • Two scan-derived trends to broaden the picture (the two pillars above)
  4. 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.

  1. Where are you seeing the most credible movement from “training content” to performance rehearsal in immersive learning?
  2. What design choices matter most when performance is evaluated under pressure (timing, feedback, fidelity, social presence, agent behavior)?
  3. What should count as evidence in these contexts—performance metrics, physiological signals, qualitative indicators, or a hybrid?
  4. How do we distinguish “supporting communication” from shaping behavior in organizational settings?
  5. What ethical lines are becoming harder to see as AI agents become more persuasive, adaptive, and embedded in learning environments?
  6. What seems stable across regions in 2025, and what appears culturally or infrastructurally contingent?

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