The Potential of Metaverse Technology in E-Learning: Case of Engineering Students

Metaverse technology integrates virtual and augmented reality, has significantly impacted many industries, and opened up new opportunities for educators and learners alike. This article focuses on its potential to transform e-learning, especially in engineering education, and highlights the importance of understanding engineering students' attitudes toward adopting new technologies. This study sheds light on the potential of e-learning in general, and the metaverse in specific, to engage and motivate students. We conducted a quantitative online survey (n=120) to collect data from engineering students. The analysis of collected data explores and evaluates the students' awareness and acceptance of the metaverse in e-learning. Our results demonstrate that engineering students have a good awareness, a positive attitude, and motivation towards using new technologies and highlight a good opportunity for the metaverse to enhance engineering students' online interactions and participation compared with traditional e-learning methods. We have identified several challenges and opportunities in using the metaverse in e-learning, including the need for new competencies, specialized hardware and software, and data privacy and security concerns. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research, emphasizing the benefits, e-learning's potential, and challenges of the metaverse in e-learning.