Beyond Immersion: A Systematic Review of Extended Reality and Biofeedback in Social Emotional Learning

Abstract

This is a qualitative systematic review examining the effectiveness of the combination of the extended reality (XR) technologies and biofeedback mechanisms with social-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes in school-aged learners with a specific emphasis on adolescent girls. Based on the 2020–2025 peer-reviewed literature, the review will combine the results of different educational and clinical settings and explore the role of immersive digital environments and physiological feedback systems in emotional regulation, empathy building, and metacognitive development. Instead of using a strict method such as PRISMA, they use the thematic synthesis based on the self-regulated learning (SRL) model, which is composed of the forethought, performance, and self-reflection stages to investigate the effects of technology-based interventions on emotional and cognitive learning processes. The analysis demonstrates that XR environments can support the learner presence, motivation, and perspective-taking in early goal-setting and emotional awareness and regulation in performance by real-time biofeedback. The literature however also identifies gaps especially in long term efficacy, gender specific-design, and scalability of these tools in mainstream classrooms. The review suggests that an Immersive Hybrid Feedback model is a conceptual intermediate between affective computing and educational design as an example of the potential and constraints of adopting embodied technologies into social-emotional learning.