Exploration for Educational Application of Metaverse: Focusing on Implication for Use in English Education

Abstract

Purpose: As the non-face-to-face situation triggered by COVID-19 continues for a long time, the desire to experience a sense of reality and realism even through an online virtual environment is increasing, and the metaverse is emerging as an alternative in the field of education. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the meaning of metaverse, which has become a hot topic in recent years, from an educational point of view and to suggest the possibility of its application in English education. Method: The social and cultural paradigm of the 4th industrial revolution has brought many changes to the education field and is now expanding into a new area with the metaverse. In this study, what kinds of studies and use cases are related to the recent metaverse in Korea, and what are the types and characteristics of the metaverse that are mainly used. In addition, I would like to examine the characteristics that appear in the application process of educational activities using the metaverse reported in this study, how these characteristics can be grafted into English and teaching and learning activities, and what advantages there can be. Results: As a result of analyzing this from the educational aspect, positive factors of metaverse such as an increase in the educational presence and class participation, alleviation of anxiety, immersive learning, and interest and motivation were selected, focusing on the implications for use in English education. It showed potential for use as a tool. As such, it is judged that the metaverse can play an important role at the center of the future English education that is rapidly changing due to the non-face-to-face situation and the 4th industrial revolution technology. Conclusion: The metaverse can overcome the sense of physical distance, and if the existing metaverse platform is used to the maximum to configure a space suitable for the purpose of learning and provide content, a qualita-tive teaching and learning space can be provided. In the future, based on this study, we expect various types of empirical research to examine the effectiveness by selecting a metaverse platform suitable for the purpose and target of English class and designing an actual class space.