- 2024Design
- 2025Implementation
Background
The rapid digital transformation of the economy has increased demand for advanced digital, technical and transversal skills, particularly in vocational education and training (VET) and other practice-oriented learning pathways. While Extended Reality (XR) technologies – encompassing Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) – are increasingly used in industry to support training, simulation and innovation, their systematic integration into education and training has remained limited. In Slovenia, as in other EU countries, teaching practices and educator competences have not yet fully adapted to the potential of immersive technologies to support skills development, active learning and work-based learning environments.
Objectives
The project aims to diversify and supplement traditional teaching content by introducing advanced technologies. It aims to provide training and materials for primary and upper secondary school teachers to support the integration of XR technologies into the teaching process. It is planned that six learning laboratories will be established for learning about and testing XR technologies.
Description
The TeachXR 2024-2026 project supports the research, piloting and deployment of XR technologies—covering virtual, augmented and mixed reality—in primary and upper secondary schools. It provides structured professional development for teachers through training programmes, workshops and mentoring activities focused on developing XR-based learning content and applying immersive technologies in classroom practice.
As part of the implementation, learning laboratories are established to offer hands-on access to XR equipment and applications. These laboratories enable teachers and other participants to experiment with technologies, test educational use cases and further develop their competences. Designed to remain operational beyond the project’s lifetime, the laboratories contribute to the sustainability of XR solutions and support the continued adaptation of teaching practices to evolving educational and labour-market needs.
The investment is part of the measures of the Slovenian Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and is implemented through the public call for proposals"Development Project – Virtual, Augmented, and Extended Reality in Education No. 303-35/2024."
The partners of the project are the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering (lead partner), the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science, the University of Maribor,...
The TeachXR 2024-2026 project supports the research, piloting and deployment of XR technologies—covering virtual, augmented and mixed reality—in primary and upper secondary schools. It provides structured professional development for teachers through training programmes, workshops and mentoring activities focused on developing XR-based learning content and applying immersive technologies in classroom practice.
As part of the implementation, learning laboratories are established to offer hands-on access to XR equipment and applications. These laboratories enable teachers and other participants to experiment with technologies, test educational use cases and further develop their competences. Designed to remain operational beyond the project’s lifetime, the laboratories contribute to the sustainability of XR solutions and support the continued adaptation of teaching practices to evolving educational and labour-market needs.
The investment is part of the measures of the Slovenian Recovery and Resilience Plan, which is financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and is implemented through the public call for proposals"Development Project – Virtual, Augmented, and Extended Reality in Education No. 303-35/2024."
The partners of the project are the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering (lead partner), the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science, the University of Maribor, Faculty of Education, the University of Primorska, Faculty of Management, the Slovenske Konjice–Zreče School Centre, the Novo Mesto School Centre, the Ljubljana Electrotechnical and Computer Science Secondary School and Gymnasium, Markovci Primary School, the Slovenian National Centre for Vocational Education, and the Institute of Contemporary History. External partners and experts also participate in the project, including colleagues from Radio and Television Slovenia and specialists from Joanneum University (Austria), CWI – the National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science (the Netherlands), and Northeastern University, Boston (USA).The budget is EUR 848 600 00.
Active work on the project started in August 2024 with a kick-off meeting in Ljubljana, where the groundwork for the launch of the educational workshops was laid. One of the first project activities was the lecture of prof. dr. Pablo Cesar, who delivered a hybrid lecture in Ljubljana entitled ‘A Path Towards Volumetric Video Conferencing’, presenting current research developments and practical applications of immersive communication technologies.
As part of the project’s knowledge-sharing activities, a guest lecture by an international expert was organised. In January 2025, Prof. Dr. Aron Seitz from Northeastern University (Boston, USA) delivered an online lecture entitled ‘Using Neuroscience Insights to Support Learning and Teaching and the Development of Educational XR Technologies’, which attracted a broad professional audience both online and on site. Recordings of both lectures remain available to future participants in the project’s training programmes.
In the same year, a multidisciplinary team of 25 educators and specialists was established to explore the pedagogical potential of XR technologies. Through four in-person workshops, the group identified key competence needs and priority areas for teacher training and proposed new topics for professional development. These proposals were subsequently translated into structured training programmes now available to teachers in primary and lower secondary education.
By October 2025, a total of nine training sessions had been delivered across Slovenia, involving 130 participants (101 unique individuals). To ensure accessibility and regional coverage, the training sessions were hosted at various partner institutions. The completed training topics included introductory and advanced modules covering XR use in education, such as initial familiarisation with XR technologies, 360° virtual tours, 3D modelling and programming XR solutions.
As part of the project implementation, two innovative educational tools were developed. ‘Tracing Radio Kričač’ is a 360° virtual tour combining cultural heritage, history and electrical engineering to present educational content through immersive XR experiences, based on the historical underground radio station that operated in occupied Ljubljana during the Second World War. ‘LingoVerse’ is an interactive XR platform for foreign language learning, primarily German, which uses virtual environments and simulated dialogues to enhance learner engagement and comprehension.
Throughout 2025, the project maintained strong visibility through social media activities, promotional videos and photo documentation. Project partners also presented project outcomes and demonstrations at a range of public and professional events, including the Audiofestival, Radio Krka, the National Cultural Bazaar, the ‘Languages in Education’ conference, and several information days and digital education workshops held across Slovenia.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Education
Target groups
Education professionals
- Teachers
- Trainers
- School leaders
- Adult educators
Thematic categories
Modernising VET infrastructure
This thematic category looks at how VET schools and companies providing VET are supported to update and upgrade their physical infrastructure for teaching and learning, including digital and green technologies, so that learners in all VET programmes and specialities have access to state-of-the-art equipment and are able to acquire relevant and up-to-date vocational and technical skills and competences. Modernising infrastructure in remote and rural areas increases the inclusiveness of VET and LLL.
This thematic sub-category focuses on establishing and upgrading to state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, equipment and technology, such as computers, hardware, connectivity and good broadband speed that should ensure quality and inclusive VET provision, especially in blended and virtual modes. It also includes specific measures to remove the digital divide, e.g. supporting geographically remote or rural areas to ensure social inclusion through access to such infrastructure for learning and teaching. It also includes support measures for learners from socially disadvantaged backgrounds to acquire the necessary equipment.
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
This thematic sub-category is about the way learners learn, how the learning is delivered to them, and by what means. Programmes become more accessible through a combination of adaptable and flexible formats (e.g. face-to-face, digital and/or blended learning), through digital learning platforms that allow better outreach, especially for vulnerable groups and for learners in geographically remote or rural areas.
This thematic sub-category focuses on developing and updating all kinds of learning resources and materials, both for learners and for teachers and trainers (e.g. teachers handbooks or manuals), to embrace current and evolving content and modes of learning. These activities target all kinds of formats: hard copy and digital publications, learning websites and platforms, tools for learner self-assessment of progress, ICT-based simulators, virtual and augmented reality, etc.
Teachers, trainers and school leaders competences
Competent and motivated VET teachers in schools and trainers in companies are crucial to VET becoming innovative and relevant, agile, resilient, flexible, inclusive and lifelong.
This thematic category comprises policies and practices of initial training and continuing professional development approaches in a systemic and systematic manner. It also looks at measures aiming to update (entry) requirements and make teaching and training careers attractive and bring more young and talented individuals and business professionals into teaching and training. Supporting VET educators by equipping them with adequate competences, skills and tools for the green transition and digital teaching and learning are addressed in separate thematic sub-categories.
The measures in this category target teachers and school leaders, company trainers and mentors, adult educators and guidance practitioners.
This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of initial and continuing professional development (CPD) for VET educators who work in vocational schools and in companies providing VET. VET educators include teachers and school leaders, trainers and company managers involved in VET, as well as adult educators and guidance practitioners – those who work in school- and work-based settings. The thematic sub-category includes national strategies, training programmes or individual courses to address the learning needs of VET educators and to develop their vocational (technical) skills, and pedagogical (teaching) skills and competences. Such programmes concern state-of-the-art vocational pedagogy, innovative teaching methods, and competences needed to address evolving teaching environments, e.g. teaching in multicultural settings, working with learners at risk of early leaving, etc.
This thematic sub-category is in line with the EU policy focus on the digital transition, and refers to professional development and other measures to prepare and support teachers and trainers in teaching their learners digital skills and competences. It also covers measures and support for them to increase their own digital skills and competences, including for teaching in virtual environments, working with digital tools and applying digital pedagogies. Emergency measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic also fall into this sub-category.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET as a driver for innovation and growth preparing for digital and green transitions and occupations in high demand
- VET as an attractive choice based on modern and digitalised provision of training and skills
Osnabrück Declaration
- Resilience and excellence through quality, inclusive and flexible VET
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). TeachXR: The use of augmented reality in education: Slovenia. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2025 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/49915