Vocational College Students' Familiarity With Metaverse Technology

With the rise of the metaverse concept and its expanding applications in education, metaverse technology offers new possibilities for innovating teaching and learning models. However, despite its promising prospects, large-scale implementation in educational practice remains in its early stages. Students’ awareness, acceptance, and understanding of potential risks associated with this emerging technology have become critical factors influencing its effectiveness in terms of empowering learning. Particularly, metaverse technology relies heavily on user data to deliver personalized experiences, raising significant concerns about data privacy and security risks. Therefore, this study employed snowball sampling to invite vocational college and vocational undergraduate students to complete an online questionnaire, yielding 1,003 responses (valid response rate: 95.6%). After confirming the reliability and validity of the data, descriptive statistics, t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to assess students’ expected beliefs regarding metaverse technology-enabled learning. The study evaluated their familiarity with the technology, perceived data leakage risks, and attitudes toward its use. Comparisons were also made based on variables such as gender, academic program, affiliation, usage experience, and usage frequency. Finally, corresponding policy recommendations are proposed based on the research findings.