Table 3.

Characteristics of the metaverse, and merits and shortcomings in its educational applications

Metaverse characteristics	Merits	Shortcomings
New social communication space	Even in the case of school closures due to coronavirus disease 2019, students can socially connect beyond the limitations of reality.	When forming a relationship with others, one forms a relationship centered on play that is weaker than the interaction in the real world, and privacy problems occur due to the collection and processing of various personal information.
High degree of freedom	Expanding student autonomy in the learning process by providing experiences from content consumers to creators	Due to the high degree of freedom, platform administrators cannot predict all the actions of users, and they can be exposed to various crimes due to the virtual space and anonymity of the metaverse.
Through virtualization high immersion	By providing a new experience that transcends time and space, it is possible to increase student interest and immersion to expand students’ active participation in learning.	It can cause identity confusion, escape from reality, and maladaptation to the real world for students whose identity has not been established.