Metaverse applications in education: Systematic literature review and bibliographic analysis of 2010–2022

Abstract

In recent years, the use and popularity of virtual environments and 3D virtual games in education have been increasing. In addition, virtual environments where people can meet and shop have started to be preferred day by day. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic crisis has brought some changes in the education system. The environments in which teaching takes place have rapidly changed to cover a broad audience. In this case, different situations arise in the design process of the virtual learning environment made in the Metaverse environment. In this chapter, a systematic and bibliometric analysis of the concept of the Metaverse and the gamification applications created in virtual world environments associated with this concept in virtual environment design has been carried out. In this study, a systematic review of the use of Metaverse environments as an educational environment, the preferred techniques, and the criteria considered was carried out and was completed in seven stages. PRISMA guidelines were used as the reporting method. Within the scope of the research, only applied research is carried out in the field of education, including the concepts of “Virtual World”, “Second Life”, “Multi-user virtual environments (MUVE)”, and “Social MUVE”, in the databases of ERIC, Web of Science, Tr Index for the years 2010–2022 were included. In the first stage, 342 studies were accessed, and 52 studies that met the selection criteria were included in the analysis. The articles were examined in the context of the title, abstract, keyword, method, type of application used, application area, and findings. In this context, the literature was reviewed, the studies in the last 10 years were examined, and the historical development of the Metaverse, its applications in education, and suggestions for future studies were presented.