Developing a Taxonomy and Metadata Schema for 3D Assets in the OEXR Library

This white paper presents the development of a comprehensive taxonomy and metadata schema for cataloging 3D assets in the Open Educational Extended Reality (OEXR) Library. Created through the Resource Collaborative for Immersive Technology (RECITE) and supported by a multi-institutional National Science Foundation grant, this work addresses the critical need for discoverability, pedagogical alignment, and interoperability of open 3D models in educational XR environments.

The taxonomy provides a hierarchical classification system aligned with STEM, health sciences, arts, workforce, and technical education domains, while the metadata schema extends established standards (Dublin Core, LRMI, Schema.org) to capture the unique technical and instructional characteristics of 3D/XR content. The framework is informed by community input from educators, instructional designers, and technologists, and is designed for extensibility, accessibility, and integration with learning management systems and XR platforms.

Key outcomes include a discipline-aligned taxonomy, a customizable metadata schema, and a roadmap for future development—enabling more effective organization, search, and reuse of immersive learning resources. This work serves as a foundation for further research and implementation in digital asset management for open educational XR content.

Developed by the RECITE team (St. Cloud State University, CA2VES, CAST, Clemson University, EARTh, Motlow State Community College, Somerset Community College) under NSF ATE grants #2331451–#2331455. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. For more information, visit recitexr.org.