Systematic Literature Review on Metaverse Education in Korea
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46328/ijte.5620Keywords:
Metaverse,, Education,, Korea, Systematic review, Bibliometric analysisAbstract
Recent advances in digital technology are bringing about significant changes in the concept of space. The amount of time spent in digital spaces continues to increase in people's daily lives, and rapid digital transformation has brought about various changes in our lives, culture, and economy as well as in other aspects of society. The metaverse, which blurs the boundary between physical and digital spaces, is expected to play a key role in driving the future digital ecosystem and has garnered considerable attention in the field of remote learning. As a leading country in this field, South Korea has seen a surge in metaverse education research. This study systematically examined trends in metaverse education research reported in South Korea since the outbreak of COVID-19 to identify the direction and implications of future metaverse-based education. The subjects comprised academic journal articles indexed in KCI candidate-level journals or above from 2020 to 2024 in the RISS database. Methods, subjects, educational content, and platforms were analyzed by year. The results of the analysis of a total of 337 collected documents are as follows. Research on metaverse education in South Korea began in earnest in 2022, focusing on literature and survey studies, with development and case studies gradually being conducted. Experimental and implementation studies have also continued until recently. Research has been most active in higher education, with a significant amount of research focusing on teachers, particularly pre-service teachers. The scope of research subjects and educational fields is expanding to include special education, education across generations, and vocational education. In addition, while early studies primarily utilized 3D-based platforms, recent studies have increasingly employed 2D-based platforms, suggesting that achieving educational objectives effectively is considered more important than adopting advanced technology in metaverse education. Based on these findings, this study discusses the current state and future prospects of metaverse education.
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