Use of XR technologies to bridge the gap between Higher Education and Continuing Education

This paper describes an initiative that brings together the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), its student representative body Student Democracy (SDSN), and the Dresser-Rand AS (D-R) engineering and manufacturing company (now called Siemens Oil and Gas) with the objective of creating modular 1-ECTS eXtended Reality (XR) learning packages (LP) created to build a continuum between the shop floor and the classroom. These LPs will not only be offered as part of standard USN bachelor and master programs, but also as continuing education for D-R employees. XR and other cloud technologies are used to create innovative education and training content, and at the same time to help close the gap between the classroom and the shopfloor, by enabling USN academic staff to interact live with company trainees during on-the-job training, and by enabling industry experts to interact live with students in USN classrooms.