Ethical Issues with Extended Reality Technology in Schools and how Teachers can respond to these in STEM Education

Extended reality (XR) is a relatively young set of commercial technologies including virtual, mixed and augmented reality. While research on the pedagogical efficacy of XR in schools is emerging, the ethical implications of these technologies in classrooms is not well understood. This is despite risks related to the developmental stages of students, health and safety, and concerns about data practices in XR hardware including privacy risks. This chapter situates the ethics of XR for schools within a human rights framework and outlines the risks of the technologies for schools. It then provides two examples of teacher practice, drawn from Australian middle school STEM classrooms. The first example illustrates curriculum design to educate students on risk associated with biometrics in XR technologies. The second example demonstrates how teachers can implement practical strategies to mitigate potential harm when using virtual reality with their students. The chapter concludes by highlighting key considerations for schools considering the integration of XR into classrooms.