Does the metaverse education application platform have the potential to transform learning form in educational institutions in the future?

Abstract

Rapidly evolving Metaverse technology has provided significant benefits in online education in recent years. The creation of the Metaverse Education Application Platform marked a significant advancement in the world of virtual reality technology, allowing participants to experience and interact in a realistic manner similar to that of the real world. Although this platform has many special features that can help improve the quality of learning in educational institutions, it has not been widely used because it is still a novel concept for students, teachers and educators. Because empirical studies on user adoption of Metaverse technology in Vietnam, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, are limited, the current study fills a research gap concerning the Metaverse Education Application Platform. The target objects are the younger generation, who are the most ready to use technology and the internet, and for whom technology has become a part of their daily lives. To predict the factors affecting the intention to use Metaverse as an effective learning aid, this study combined the TAM and PPM models together with the TRA and TPB theories. The survey was conducted on 217 students currently studying in Ho Chi Minh City in January and February 2023. After checking and filtering the data, there are 201 valid samples remaining for the analysis in Chapter 4. The research methods used included Cronbach's Alpha test, EFA, Pearson's correlation test and Multiple linear regression analysis. The research results show that there are six factors that positively affect the intention to use the Metaverse Education Application Platform include Habit (HB), Situational Teaching (ST), Social Influence (SI), Learning Convenience (LC), Personalized Learning (PL) and Task - Technology - Fit (TT) in descending order of impact. Meanwhile, no correlation was found between the Intention to Use (IU) and the three factors Social Needs (SN), Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease Of Use (PE). Although the study is limited in terms of space and sample size, the findings and implications fill the research gap in the field of Metaverse in Vietnam. Therefore, further studies will overcome this limitation and provide more convincing evidence.