Emerging Technologies
H. Abbasi; E. Zaraii Zavaraki; M. Nili Ahmadabadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The current research was conducted with the aim of investigating the use of new Metaverse technology in teaching and learning in order to develop, facilitate and apply it in education. The research problem was how to make real impossibilities possible in teaching and learning ...
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Background and Objectives: The current research was conducted with the aim of investigating the use of new Metaverse technology in teaching and learning in order to develop, facilitate and apply it in education. The research problem was how to make real impossibilities possible in teaching and learning intuitively and the role of metaverse in this field, the success rate of educational research and their scientific and research reasons for using metaverse in education. In the studies, the goals, variables, methods, results and challenges regarding the use of metaverse in education were investigated.Methods: The research was conducted using a systematic review method. The statistical population (research field), the content required to conduct a systematic review, included valid scientific and research articles. The statistical sample was selected using a targeted method and 23 items were selected from among 127 articles. The criteria for entering the research cycle included the full relevance of the article title to the topic of Metaverse, the newness of the publication year, publication between 2020-2023, the validity of the indexed publication and site, the validity and adequacy of the article reference, the use of correct research methods and its relevance to the topic, that was teaching and learning. The criteria for excluding the article from the research process included the lack of subject relevance, the low research rank of the publication, the publication year not being new, the topic being repetitive, languages other than Persian and English. The keywords used were metaverse, teaching and learning in Persian and English, and the articles were searched in reliable domestic and foreign databases.Findings: The research showed that Metaverse was effective in teaching and learning, despite being new and the limited development of its technological dimensions. In response to the questions, the most prominent goals of research related to the use of metaverse in education, providing a clear definition of metaverse, applications of metaverse in education, presenting the model, determining challenges, describing the characteristics and methods of use, legal requirements, analyzing attitudes and the role of artificial intelligence in metaverse were determined. The leading countries in this field were Korea, China, America, Spain, Taiwan, and UAE. The research methods used were survey, descriptive, experimental, content analysis, modeling, and systematic review. The statistical population of most of the studies were students and the variables were general learning, educational content, user satisfaction, and metaverse framework. Also, the main tools used in the selected studies were questionnaires, interviews and tests. The number of experimental studies in education was seven. The main findings of the research included providing a technical framework, improving interaction, creating deep and meaningful learning, increasing motivation, creating creativity, personalized learning, situational training, and creating new educational opportunities. The challenges were related to the nascent nature of the technology, the effect of technical capabilities on the results, technological limitations, ethical issues, health threats, high costs, content production problems, lack of experts, and lack of access to everyone.Conclusion: The emergence of the metaverse should be practically considered from 2021, but its effective capabilities and abilities in education have been confirmed by most studies, and it is predicted that the metaverse would bring a bright future for teaching and learning and can be used to facilitate and accelerate the realization of educational goals. Therefore, to improve the current situation, it is necessary to a) develop instructional design patterns based on metaverse, b) design and present a content production model for Metaverse, c) design, formulate, and standardize the design principles of teaching and learning environments based on metaverse, d) develop the principles and method of implementation, technical development and support of Metaverse, e) design principles and evaluation methods of educational programs based on metaverse, and f) prepare the legal and ethical charter of metaverse educational environments. Among the limitations of the research, we can point out the lack of experimental researcg, the lack of evolution of applied technologies in the metaverse, and the limited range of studies. It is suggested that by using Metaverse technology, education should be transformed from classroom to virtual world and its effect on different dimensions of education and learning should be researched.
e-learning
K. Taghipour; F. Mahmoodi; M. abbasi; M. Mohammadi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Digital Divide refers to inequality in information and communication technology (ICT) which refers to inequality between the people who have access to digital technology and information and those who have very limited access or no access at all. Considering the fact that the ...
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Background and Objectives: Digital Divide refers to inequality in information and communication technology (ICT) which refers to inequality between the people who have access to digital technology and information and those who have very limited access or no access at all. Considering the fact that the Iranian education has entered the field of providing instruction in Corona pandemic conditions without having the necessary preparations and planning, examining the digital divide and knowing how to implement the instruction in these circumstances can improve the quality of instruction in schools. Accordingly, the current study was conducted with the intention of evaluating the amount of digital divide in the second secondary school education of Tabriz city in the condition of COVID-19 pandemic and identify the factors affecting it.Methods: The descriptive survey research was used. The study population included all teachers and students of second secondary school education of Tabriz city in the second semester of the academic year of 2019- 2020 who were randomly selected using cluster-random sampling method in three schools from each of the five educational districts and the 12th grade class from each school. The data were collected using the questionnaires of Hosseini et al. (2013), Gregg (2016), Zarei Zavaraki and Salemian (2015). The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts in this field. The reliability of the questionnaires was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient for Hosseini et al. (2013), Grieg (2016), and Zarei Zavaraki and Salemian (2015) questionnaires which were calculated to be 0.796, 0.86, and 0.92, respectively. Multivariate Analysis of Variance, independent T-Test and Friedman Test were used to analyze the data.Findings: The results showed that there is digital divide between the teachers of the five educational districts of Tabriz city only in the amount of access to ICT and the amount of the usage of computers during the day. However, there is a significant difference between students in five educational districts of Tabriz city in most dimensions of digital divide, access to ICT, the usage of computers during the day and the year, and the level of their skills in using ICT. Teachers, as compared to students, have more access to ICT in most educational districts of Tabriz, but students' attitudes, skills, and their usage of ICT is better than those of the teachers in most districts of Tabriz city. According to the results related to the effective factors on the digital divide from the perspective of the teachers, the shortage of technical, financial, and economic equipment, cultural, motivational- educational weakness, and the shortage of management and planning infrastructures have been identified as the most important and effective factors on creating the digital divide in second secondary school of Tabriz City.Conclusion: According to the findings, the digital divide is evident in the second secondary school education of Tabriz city. It is essential that the Ministry of Education, in addition to equipping schools, sets up ICT centers in the disadvantaged areas for better access of teachers and students to ICT, as well as providing ICT-related skills training courses.
Technology-based learning environments
H. Moradimokhles; J. Heydari; V. Salehi; N. Pouti
Abstract
Interaction element is one of the elements influencing the learning in e-learning environments. This study aimed to compare the effects of computer-based and web-enhanced learning environments on six elements of interaction (student-student, student-teacher, student-content, teacher-teacher, teacher-content ...
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Interaction element is one of the elements influencing the learning in e-learning environments. This study aimed to compare the effects of computer-based and web-enhanced learning environments on six elements of interaction (student-student, student-teacher, student-content, teacher-teacher, teacher-content and content-content) in the process of Occupational Health course.The study was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design with a control group. The population of the study included all students of Public Health at Asadabad Faculty of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2015-2016. Of these, 60 students were selected through a random sampling procedure and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (30 per group). The first group (control) was taught in a computer- based and the second one (experimental) was taught in a web-enhanced learning environment. The materials and instruments included instructional multimedia and the questionnaire of assessing six levels of interaction with 60 questions in likert scale. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the gathered data. The results showed that there were significant differences between computer-based and web-enhanced learning environments on six elements of interaction (p<0.05). In other words, web-enhanced learning environment is more effective on the six interaction elements in comparison to computer-based learning environment.
