XR technology is still making inroads into higher education. The integration of a technology into higher education often lags behind the broader adoption of that technology in society at large. In part this is because requirements for a technology to be useful as an educational technology are different from and more specific than the requirements of the general consumer market. But the consumer market, of course, includes students and faculty and the campus community generally. Only a small percentage of students have access to a VR headset, but of those who do, a majority own it. Furthermore, sales of XR headsets have been increasing for several years. There are also very inexpensive options for headsets that require a smartphone, which nearly all students and faculty own. Use of XR on campus may be relatively rare now, but institutions of higher education must prepare for the not-too-distant future, when it will be ubiquitous.

The research question for this project was: What factors influence institutional deployment of XR technology? This study found that the adoption of XR on campus is strongly influenced by the way XR comes to campus, specifically whether it is adopted first by faculty for their own uses or promoted by institutional leadership. Faculty uses of XR take time to emerge as a community of interest builds on campus. Where there is institutional support, however, XR can be deployed as part of a special initiative or integrated into existing service offerings. Either way, XR deployment requires able staffing and commitment by institutional leadership.

Higher education has a long history of deploying new technologies. This digital transformation is having a profound impact across all kinds of institutions of higher education. XR holds the potential to be a game changer, but it must be closely linked to an institution's services, practices, and values.