The metaverse in education: Definition, framework, features, potential applications, challenges, and future research topics

Introduction

With the COVID-19 pandemic declared in 2020, humanity was forced to live in a society being non-face-to-face with each other (Koo, 2021; Kye et al., 2021; Kim et al., 2022; Lee et al., 2022). In particular, a range of activities in the physical world has transited into the virtual world. Telecommuting, online meetings, distance learning, online shopping, etc., have become a natural part of human life. As a result, the human need to expand the boundaries of the physical world has been accelerated, triggering the yearning for a more advanced virtual world (Suzuki et al., 2020). Owing to the breakthrough of VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), AI (artificial intelligence), blockchain, etc., the metaverse, a 3D digital space with collapsed virtual and real boundaries, has provoked increasing attention. It has been recognized as the next generation of the Internet (Hwang and Chien, 2022), which is about to dramatically change how we interact with the world.

2021 was known as the first year of the metaverse (Zhang et al., 2022a). As global metaverse research is flourishing, the metaverse has been touted as a future education trend, with great potential (Choi and Kim, 2017; Dwivedi et al., 2022; Gartner, 2022; Guo and Gao, 2022; Hwang and Chien, 2022; Park and Jeong, 2022; Park and Kim, 2022; Rospigliosi, 2022; Shin, 2022; Tlili et al., 2022). The presence of the metaverse usually couples with multiple new technologies (Kang, 2021). However, the previous literature rarely discussed the metaverse from the perspective of education but focused much on the metaverse-related technologies in education separately. As an emerging item, the majority of educational researchers might be unaware of what the metaverse is, its components, and its application in the educational field. Therefore, this research paper aims to review several representative articles to give a clear view of the metaverse in education, including its definition, framework, typical features, potential applications, challenges, and future research issues. The main contributions of this paper include the following points:

• The origin, definition, and typical features of the metaverse are discussed with the perspectives taken from state-of-the-art studies.

• A detailed framework of the metaverse in education is proposed, along with the discussion about features of metaverse-based learning compared with in-person classroom learning and screen-based remote learning.

• Potential applications, challenges, and future research topics of the metaverse in education are presented.

The remainder of this paper is arranged as follows: In section 2, we introduce the visions of the metaverse, including its origin, definitions, and shared features. In section 3, discussions are provided to define “the metaverse in education” and a framework of the metaverse in education is proposed; moreover, the features of metaverse-based learning are compared with in-person classroom learning and screen-based remote learning. In section 4, potential applications of the metaverse in education are described with reasons and cases. Section 5 mainly discusses the challenges of the metaverse for educational purposes. Finally, a variety of research topics related to the metaverse in education for future studies is proposed in Section 6. We hope that, via this paper, researchers with both computer science and educational technology backgrounds could have a clear picture of the metaverse in education and provide a stepping stone for future studies.

Origin, definition, and features of the metaverse

Origin of the metaverse

Metaverse is a compound word combined with “meta-” (beyond; transcending) and “verse” (the root of “universe,” cosmos; the whole world), which denotes a new virtual universe created beyond the real world. The term “metaverse” was first coined in the 1992 cyberpunk science fiction novel Snow Crash written by American novelist Neal Stephenson (Stephenson, 1992; Joshua, 2017). In this novel, humans could freely access a 3D space that reflects the real world through digital agents (avatars) and interact with each other. Over the next three decades, the metaverse concept was more vividly depicted in science fiction movies, such as Ready Player One, Lucy, and The Matrix (Zhao et al., 2022). At that time, the metaverse envisioned by films, could not come into being in reality. In this decade, the rapid progress of emerging technologies, such as wearable devices and three-dimensional (3D) photography, has helped people to get access to the virtual world. In March 2021, The sandbox game Roblox was listed in New York under the halo of “the first stock of the metaverse”; in October, Facebook proclaimed its rebrand scheme and changed its name to “Meta.” Since then, extensive efforts have gradually been carried out by countries across the world to make it a reality. This sleeping “lion” was truly awakened.

Definition and features of the metaverse

As a new term, researchers discussed the metaverse with broad insights. In 2007, the Acceleration Studies Foundation, a metaverse research organization, took the first step to put forward the metaverse roadmap and propose the metaverse is a fusion of both virtually-enhanced physical reality and physical-persisted virtual space (Smart et al., 2007; Kye et al., 2021). In light of the two axes: ‘augmentation versus simulation’ and ‘intimate versus external’, four scenarios were categorized in the metaverse roadmap: augmented reality, lifelogging, virtual worlds, and mirror worlds. This was the early idea of the metaverse under limited technology. After that, differing metaverse descriptions have been reported with the advancement of virtual technologies. Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his schemes to build Facebook a “metaverse”: an embodied online world where people can present themself, work, play, and socialize with avatars, often in the form of headsets or glasses (Bobrowski, 2021; Zuckerberg, 2021). Similarly, Roblox founder David Baszucki (Jeon, 2021) defined the metaverse as a place that combines high-fidelity communication with a new way to tell stories borrowing from mobile gaming and the entertainment industry. Center for Journalism Studies of Tsinghua University (2021) reported that the metaverse is a created internet application and social form fused with the virtual and real world; it is shaped by integrating many types of new technologies: XR (extended reality) to provide a real and immersive experience, digital twins to map the real world, blockchain to construct credit system, economic system, and exchange system, etc.; it realizes the close connection of the social, economic, and identity systems in the virtual and real world, and allows the user to content production and edit in the metaverse. In this case, the definition of the metaverse seems not to reach a consensus, and there is no single, unified entity called the metaverse; rather, some applications conceive the metaverse with some of its possible features.

In the early 2000s, multiuser role-play game communities such as Second Life (released in 2003) and World of Warcraft (launched in 2004) began to draw the attention of millions. They were what are now being called antecedents of the metaverse; however, they were not hit the bull’s eye in the years since (Wiederhold, 2022). In recent years, several online games or social networks continuing that trend have regained widespread popularity. The hottest mentioned one is Roblox, a sandbox game under the user-generated content (UGC) mode where users can create their own virtual world and enjoy real-time interaction with other players. At the same time, assets can be generated through game development and item sales to other players. As mentioned by David Baszucki (Jeon, 2021), there are eight fundamentals of the metaverse: identity, social, immersive, low fiction, variety, anywhere, economy, and civility. In addition, ZEPETO is the most representative social network application from South Korea, with close to 200 million worldwide users in 2020 (NAVER Z Corp, 2022). In ZEPETO, everyone can customize their unique avatars through selfies and dress-up, and use their virtual identities to interact with others remotely through body movements, voice calls, and taking snapshots; not only that, users are allowed to generate revenue by making and selling AR fashion items. It is reported that the world-famous female Kpop group Blackpink’s virtual fan signing event has been held at ZEPETO with surpassed 30 million users’ participation, and the avatar performance has exceeded 40 million views. Scholars indicated such digital games are prototypes of the metaverse with typical features (Hwang and Chien, 2022; Prieto et al., 2022). In this respect, the metaverse is more than so-called digital games or social networks in a conventional meaning, and some peculiarities need to be taken into account. Accordingly, the shared features of the metaverse can be synthesized and summarized as follows:

Collection of technologies

As the studies reported (Center for Journalism Studies of Tsinghua University, 2021; Kang, 2021; Shen et al., 2021; Sparkes, 2021; Lv et al., 2022; Park and Kim, 2022; Prieto et al., 2022), the metaverse is not merely a new entity for VR or AR, but a collection of a set of emergent technologies like 5G, AI, VR, AR, digital twins, blockchain, holography, or IoT (Internet of Things). The technological framework might be built for specific realms such as entertainment, commerce, education, etc., and their components and functions can be different according to the needs.

Convergence of the virtual and real world

This is the basic feature of the metaverse. As the metaverse roadmap stated, the metaverse is a fusion of virtually-enhanced reality and physical-persisted virtual space (Smart et al., 2007; Kye et al., 2021), that is, the metaverse includes both the items mapped or augmented from the real world and the creations produced in the virtual world. The gap between the virtual and the physical world will be narrowed or even eliminated in the metaverse, which enables the user’s experience in the metaverse more immersive, multi-sensory, and close to authentic.

Rapid and free access

With the support of high-speed networks such as 5G/6G, users can use smart wearable devices (e.g., headsets or glasses) to enter the metaverse world instantly without being constrained by either time or location (Ayiter, 2019; Prieto et al., 2022). From this point of view, it realizes free and rapid access for users by switching between the real world and the virtual world remotely and seamlessly.

Digital identity

Instead of a static image, in the metaverse, each user could customize his/her unique digital identity in the form of an avatar (Davis et al., 2009; Dionisio et al., 2013; Park and Kim, 2022). The construction of the digital identity is more user-defined and more advanced than before, for instance, it could edit the details of the avatar’s face (Wei et al., 2004), body (Kocur et al., 2020), and even facial expression (Murphy, 2017). It is the surrogate identity of users in the virtual world which reflects the user’s persona and represents the ego in the real world. In addition, avatars can be manipulated and controlled by users with the help of real-time tracking technologies (Saragih et al., 2011; Genay et al., 2021). In this case, the living 3D representation of users (i.e., digital identity) plays an important role in ownership, interactivity, embodiment, and socialization in the metaverse world.

Immersive and multisensory experience

In the metaverse, the vivid and colorful virtual scenes modeled by technologies can deliver users a deep feeling of immersion (Shin, 2022; Zhao et al., 2022). With the aid of technologies such as sensors, VR, AR, or IoT, users are allowed to interact with the created virtual items or the items projected from the real world through moving, manipulating, or clicking, thereby greatly motivating users’ multiple senses (Koo, 2021; Jovanović and Milosavljević, 2022; Park and Kim, 2022). Just as an “embodied Internet” proclaimed by Mark Zuckerberg, the metaverse will enable people to have authentic, immersive, and multimodal experiences as if they are in the real world or even more than the real world (Bourlakis et al., 2009; Nevelsteen, 2017; Jovanović and Milosavljević, 2022).

Decentralized and editable content

Compared to the former Internet mode where the content was limited to specific groups like the developers, the metaverse entitles every user rights to edit or create content with a virtual nature that involves changing its properties, position, or orientation. Just as conceived by Roblox or Facebook (Jeon, 2021; Zuckerberg, 2021), users can create almost everything they can imagine. Additionally, players are also allowed to co-create or modify others’ shared content (Taylor and Soneji, 2022). More significantly, users can own and run their own digital properties, and the security technologies, such as blockchain, can ensure their personal properties be safe and traceable (Vergne, 2021; Min and Cai, 2022; Vidal-Tomás, 2022).

In light of the above discussion of the metaverse, we, therefore, conceptualize the metaverse as a 3D digital space mixed with the real and virtual worlds, which runs off a lot of limitations (e.g., time, location) of the physical world. It allows users to engage in a variety of activities (e.g., working, learning, training, socialization, transaction) through avatars and interact with the other players and the virtual objects, as well as provides opportunities for users to edit the contents. Users can also enjoy richer, more immersive, and more embodied experiences than ever.

Definition, framework, and features of the metaverse in education

Definition of the metaverse in education

As indicated by scholars, education is one of the most significant applications of the metaverse with great potential in the coming future. We believe that the presence of the metaverse can be served as a new educational environment (Suzuki et al., 2020; Prieto et al., 2022; Rospigliosi, 2022); therefore, the metaverse in education can be regarded as an educational environment enhanced by metaverse-related technologies which fuse with the elements of the virtual and the real educational environment. It enables learners to use wearable devices to enter the educational setting without being limited by time and locations and allows them to use digital identities to have real-time interactions with different forms of items (e.g., avatars, intelligent NPCs, or virtual learning resources). As a result, they can feel present as if they are in a real-world educational setting. From this standpoint, it can be seen that applying the metaverse in education can unlock a variety of fantastic learning experiences for learners.

The framework of the metaverse in education

In previous literature, Kang (2021) proposed a metaverse framework with potential core stacks, including hardware, compute, networking, virtual platforms, interchange tools and standards, payments service, content, service, and assets, as well as introduced its reasons in brief. However, there are no further explanations for the implementation of the metaverse in detail. Park and Kim (2022) divided the metaverse into three essential components (i.e., hardware, software, and contents) and three approaches (i.e., user interaction, implementation, and application) for the metaverse in a general meaning. Some other scarce proposed work of the metaverse in education is from Hwang and Chien (2022). They discussed the roles (i.e., intelligent tutors, intelligent tutees, and intelligent peers) in providing educational services and potential applications of metaverse for educational settings from the perspective of AI. However, the metaverse is not developed by single technologies, such as AI, but integrated with massive technologies. Caring for the few studies that have discussed the metaverse for educational purposes, hence, according to the viewpoints collected from the research papers, we propose a framework for the metaverse in education. As depicted in Figure 1, we shall describe the framework of the metaverse in education and dive into its key components in this section.