Design of Serious Games for Blended Learning: Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality?

Blended learning has become a popular teaching and learning approach, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, because it integrates different learning modalities, such as face-to-face instruction, online learning, and self-paced study, to create a more engaging and effective learning experience for students. One of these learning modalities is serious games, which gamify the learning experience to further enhance students’ engagement and improve their learning outcomes. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are two technologies that can be used to create serious games for blended learning. Deciding which technology to use in the design of a serious game can be challenging. This paper provides an overview of the current trends of using VR and AR on serious games for blended learning purposes and examines the considerations to be taken into account in designing such a serious game, which are expected to be useful to practitioners adopting VR/AR and gamification in blended learning environments.