1 Introduction

Using a computer device, users of Three-Dimensional Virtual Worlds (3DVWs) interact with the environment or with other users in the virtual space. 3DVWs are not necessarily considered games because games could have some pre-defined rules and targets, as well as a winner and loser, whereas a 3DVW-based environment might not always have specific rules and goals. This technology includes user-created contents allowing user-defined purposes and a sense of presence and allows users to navigate and manipulate objects in the virtual environment. 3DVW technology provides opportunities for teaching, learning, innovation, and collaboration that surpass the physical and geographical limitations of the real world (Cooper 2009). According to Schroeder (2008), 3DVWs are persistent online social spaces, meaning they exist, even when their users are not connected to or logged in, rendering 3DVWs distinct from other virtual environments. Avatars also provide the opportunity for users to develop a virtual identity in the virtual environment. This virtual identity may or may not correspond to their real-world identities (Childs 2010).

Over the last decade, there has been a remarkable interest in the educational communities to utilise virtual environments for teaching and learning. Instruction designers currently are looking for innovative ways to creatively and positively affect student learning with the application of Web 2.0 tools such as 3DVWs. 3D virtual world technology currently features a wide range of pedagogical projects. It offers opportunities for a variety of organisations such as universities, schools, institutions, and educators to enhance the quality and efficiency of their teaching and learning programmes. This technology offers improved experiences for their users, especially students and instructors, skill-building, teaching and learning, group and individual consultation in a wide range of contexts.

Warburton (2009) listed several unique characteristics of virtual worlds that may have positive impacts on the teaching and learning: immersion, extended interactions, visualisation and contextualisation, exposure to content and culture, individual and collective, simulation, community presence and content creation. Virtual environments are receiving increased attention by educators due to their potential in delivering immersive and authentic teaching and learning experiences in a socially situated context (Kluge and Riley 2008). These immersive learning experiences are made possible by recent advances in information technology, including increased internet bandwidth, sophisticated graphic adaptors, and powerful microprocessors (Bainbridge 2007; Delwiche 2006).

Even though there are researches that have studied the application of 3DVWs in higher education, there are only a few studies which have focused on the impact of the application of virtual environments on students’ positive outcomes. Studies thus far have introduced a limited number of educational factors that are impacted as a result of the use of technology. For instance, Zhang and Zigurs (2009) investigated the impact of a 3DVW-based learning environment on ‘learning satisfaction’ and ‘student interaction’. Masters and Gregory (2010) investigated the impact of a virtual world on student engagement and learning.

Based on the discussions above, there is a lack of research investigating various consequences of use of 3DVW technology by higher education students, providing a bigger picture of the outcomes and relevant factors. The outcomes of application of this technology in the field of higher education require further investigation from different perspectives, and various factors should be identified and introduced to the educational community based on the requirements of today’s learners in higher education. To this end, this paper aims at investigating the outcomes of applying 3DVWs in higher education to determine the extent to which this technology is a beneficial tool for higher education and the different ways in which it affects teaching and learning. It identifies the factors necessary for successful use in higher education settings and to improve the abilities of the technology to achieve better use and positive outcomes. Thus the research question underlying this paper is:

RQ) what are the outcomes of the use of 3DVWs in higher education?

Determining factors that may be affected by applying a 3DVW environment will help designers to determine whether and to what extent a virtual environment caters to pedagogical functionality, and additionally, what changes in the study design may guide improvement. Moreover, this assists lecturers and facilitators to design courses within the virtual learning space in a way that improves effective participation and learning achievements.

The remainder of this paper is as follows. After this introductory section, the research background is explained. Next, a research design is outlined, followed by research findings. Finally, a discussion of findings is presented.

2 Literature review

3DVW is one of the promising and admirable innovations in the field of Information and Communication Technology. The virtual world is defined by Boulos et al. (2007) as ‘a computer-based, simulated multi-media environment, usually running over the Web, and designed so that users can ‘inhabit’ and interact via their own graphical self-representations known as avatars’. Billions of people are in cyberspace all over the world at any given moment, and millions currently using virtual worlds for various purposes. The majority of virtual worlds cover a broad range of uses in the entertainment, education, medical, and military industries. The increasing trend in the number of 3DVWs users is an indicator of the depth of their applicability and attractiveness.

There is a large number of schools, universities, colleges and other pedagogical communities around the globe that pay more attention to the education aids and research tools provided by 3DVWs. They are delivering their courses in the virtual environment in the form of distance education, presentations, discussions, simulations and role-playing (Yalcinalp et al. 2012). Universities such as Stanford, Harvard, University of Texas and the University of Western Australia are just a few of the many universities that pioneered this technology and have now set up their virtual campuses where students can meet, attend classes and use learning material.

Second Life is one of the most popular 3DVW platforms used for efficient learning and teaching (Rahim and Zulkanain 2016). Over the last decade, Second Life has been widely used by educators and practitioners involved in training for various purposes (Sharma and Nazir 2018), and the number universities and educational institutions applying it in their educational settings has increased drastically.

Many researchers have studied the educational application of 3DVWs. For instance, Al-Hatem et al. (2018) used Second Life in nursing education, and their empirical study confirmes the effectiveness of Second Life in the education of nursing students at a distance. A Second Life-based nursing environment was created and utilised by Irwin et al. (2019) for three courses to develop nursing skills among undergraduate students. Second Life was used in the study of Sajjanhar and Faulkner (2019) as the learning platform for computer programming. The study found Second Life a usable environment for novice programmers to learn programming. Mauldin Pereira et al. (2018) used Second Life for first-semester students’ education to help them practise clinical reasoning in a simulated veterinary clinical setting. In another study, in order to teach research methods, Second Life was used for doctoral-level qualitative research class (Kawulich and D’Alba 2019). Gallego et al. (2016) investigated the factors that impact the successful use of Second Life in e-learning. Virtual team-based learning was implemented using Second Life in an online anatomy course to evaluate student engagement (Gazave and Hatcher 2017). A virtual laboratory experiment was implemented by Winkelmann et al. (2019) in Second Life for students of a Chemistry course. The perception of fourth-year students on the usefulness of Second Life as an educational platform was investigated in a qualitative study conducted by Linganisa et al. (2018).

3 Research design

3.1 Research methodology

This study adopts an interpretivist research paradigm and a qualitative research approach. The research method used is an in-depth study to extract the factors affected as a result of the use of technology to provide an overall picture.

Qualitative research seeks to explore a relatively exhaustive understanding of a concept rather than a shallow investigation from a sample from the population (Creswell 2005). Moreover, qualitative research explores trends in opinions to offer a deeper knowledge of the concept under study (Wyse 2011). The main reason for the choice of the qualitative approach in this study was because it focussed on exploration rather confirmation.

3.2 Environment under study

For the purpose of the current study, the research team developed a virtual island by utilising the advanced features provided in Second Life. Figure 1 shows a snapshot of the main area of the virtual island, which included four main virtual buildings, namely, computer laboratories, resource room, discussion room, and lecture theatre.

Fig. 1
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The virtual island created for this research

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3.3 Data collection

The participants of this study were selected from higher education students who enrolled in a first-year Informatics course at one of Australia’s Universities. Two data collection instruments were used for the data collection of the research, online focus group and questionnaire. This study was approved by the University Human Research Ethics Committee with the reference number ICT/06/14/HREC.

This research primarily used Virtual Focus Group (VFG) to collect qualitative data. VFG is defined by previous research (Adler and Zarchin 2002; Turney and Pocknee 2005), as an online data collection technique which is used to unify spatially separate participants into a text-based team discussion (Adler and Zarchin 2002). A VFG was run in Second Life within the virtual island developed for this study, and Second Life chat messenger was used to facilitate the VFG. Students were invited to participate in the VFG, and overall, 121 students, allowed us to use their responses in the study.

The second means for collecting data in this research was open-ended questions incorporated into students’ final report. Students were given one month to think about the questions, and they were asked to critically analyse 3DVW from various perspectives and discuss if and how they would recommend the use of 3DVW to practitioners in the higher education sector. They were also asked to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of employing 3DVW in higher education, as well as the impact of 3DVW on educational outcomes. Overall, 124 students returned their answers to the research team. To keep the consistency, only responses from those 121 students who were also participated in the VFG, were selected for the study.

3.4 Data analysis

Braun and Clarke (2006) defined thematic analysis as ‘a method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within the data’. It is a data analysis technique which helps to describe how ideas and opinions about a concept sitting in a data set relate to each other (Lemke 1990; Chapman 1993; O'halloran 2008). Ata (2014) states that thematic analysis ‘involves identifying key concepts, formalising and developing themes’. Upon completion of data collection, a 6-phase thematic data analysis procedure, introduced by Braun and Clarke (2006), was used for analysing data. Figure 2 shows all the six steps involved in the analysis of the collected data.

Fig. 2
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The process of data analysis - adapted from Braun and Clarke (2006)

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4 Results

Figure 3 demonstrates a graphical representation of the results of the thematic analysis by presenting the consequences of the use of 3DVW on students’ outcomes in the higher education context. As can be seen from the taxonomy, 18 factors relevant to positive outcomes of the use of the technology were extracted as consequences and were categorised into eight categories. Table 1 demonstrates the percentage of students supporting each of the identified factors in each category. The following sections present each category of factors, and define and explain each factor by providing sample quotes from data.

Fig. 3
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Schematic representation of outcome factors resulting from the use of 3DVW

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Table 1 The percentage of participants supporting each positive outcome
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4.1 Satisfaction

Adapted from Astin (1993), student satisfaction is defined by Alruwaih (2015) as ‘the student’s perceived value of his or her educational experiences at an educational institution’. Based on the above definition, for the purpose of the current study, student satisfaction is defined as ‘the students’ perceived value of their educational experiences through a 3DVW-based virtual environment at an educational institution’. Using 3DVWs as a means for teaching and learning will be positively associated with student satisfaction. Based on the result of data analysis, it appears that the ability to develop a distance learning programme in a three-dimensional virtual environment and use of that medium by higher education students play a crucial role in determining student satisfaction. Six participants believed that using this technology has increased their satisfaction. Table 2 shows a summary of the ‘Student Satisfaction’ category.

Table 2 Summary of Student Satisfaction
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4.2 Retention

According to DeVilbiss (2014), retention is ‘the process of retaining or continuing to enrol students at the same institution from one semester to the next and from one year to the next’. In line with DeVilbiss (2014) and based on the study by Berge and Huang (2004) about student retention, in the current study, retention is defined as ‘continued student participation in a 3DVWs-based learning programme for another course in addition to the current course’. Identifying and implementing various institutional approaches can contribute to substantial student retention among higher education students. Using new technological approaches in educational programmes is one of the major measures for increasing retention among higher education students. According to the results of the current study, using the virtual world technology in a higher education programme may have a positive impact on the students’ tendency to enrol in other 3DVW-based courses during their education. Four participants in the VFG stated that it is beneficial to use this technology for other courses and disciplines. It can be concluded that the use of this technology is positively associated with student retention. Table 3 presents a summary of the ‘Retention’ category.

Table 3 Summary of Retention
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4.3 Connectedness

Two outcome factors comprised the category named ‘connectedness’: social connectedness, and universal connectedness. Social connectedness has various definitions in the literature. For example, Melsness (2014), Ijsselsteijn et al. (2003) and Lam (2012) defined social connectedness as ‘the feeling of being in touch with another person’. Jdaitawi (2015) defied social connectedness as ‘the relationship of an individual with the society’. In this study, social connectedness is defined as ‘the degree to which a student has a feeling of being in touch with other students and the instructors’. 3DVW is a part of a large group of Internet-based applications known as social media and could play a crucial role in social interaction of its users. They authorise their users to interact with other users in real-time (Kaplan and Haenlein 2009). Due to the outstanding real-time communication facilities of 3DVWs, they make interactions very pleasant and delightful.

A variety of socialisation activities can be held within the virtual environment leading to a higher level of student interactions. By applying this tool, students are persuaded to participate in a variety of activities such as social awareness, intercultural communications, and public and extracurricular activities. Fifty-five students stated that applying the technology in higher education can create a higher level of social connectedness among higher education students.

Universal connectedness is defined as ‘the relationship of an educational institution with international educational communities’. Universal connectedness is the next logical step in terms of social technology. Global connectedness can be achieved through a set of educational, cultural, and technological structures and processes to create international relationships. Social media such as 3DVWs play a significant role in communicating between people, organisations and countries creating a wide range of valuable opportunities for students and pedagogical institutions across the globe to communicate with one another. Application of 3DVWs in the higher education setting makes networking a possibility allowing instructors from across the globe to collaborate, share and create joint learning programmes, benefiting the students so that they are exposed to a wide variety of opinions, cultures and sources. The universities are able to engage students from around the world where face to face collaboration between students could be placed in an online setting which would give greater access to quality resources. Thirty-four students emphasised that using this technology in higher education can lead to universal connectedness. Table 4 shows a summary of the ‘Connectedness’ category.

Table 4 Summary of Connectedness
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4.4 Environment impact

Bauer et al. (2013) defined perceived environmental-friendliness of a brand as ‘the consumer’s evaluation of the degree to which a brand causes negative environmental impact throughout its whole life-cycle’. In the current study and based on the above definition, environmental-friendliness is defined as ‘the degree to which using a 3DVW in higher education has a positive environmental impact throughout its application cycle’. Expanded thoughtfulness regarding environmental changes has obliged businesses to look for green alternatives. The reduction of carbon footprint is an obligation for organisations, governments and instructive establishments from around the world. By implementing distance learning programmes in order to reduce the need for travel and meeting, educational institutions can save a large number of carbon pounds from entering the environment. Despite the fact that energy is consumed for powering computers and electronic devices, the environmental impact is insignificant by comparison. It is clear that decreasing the number of in-person classes and replacing them with virtual classes will reduce harmful impacts on the environment. According to Roy et al. (2008), there is a significant distinction in energy consumption and emissions between the traditional learning and distance learning in course-related travel, campus site impacts, residential energy consumption, computing, and paper and print consumption.

Twenty participants in the study considered 3DVW technology as an environmentally friendly technology and believed that using this technology in education could have a tremendous and positive effect on the environment. Table 5 shows a summary of the ‘Environment Impact’ category.

Table 5 Summary of Environment Impact
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4.5 Positive learning outcome

Two factors comprise the category ‘positive learning outcome’: enhanced learning performance, effective learning. Young et al. (2003) defined learning performance as ‘students’ self-assessment of their overall knowledge gained, their skills and abilities developed, and the effort they expended in a particular class relative to other classes’. In the current study, enhanced learning performance is defined as ‘the degree to which students feel they achieved an increased level of learning performance’. According to the results of data analysis, students believe that using the 3DVW technology in their course contributed to better learning performance in comparison with traditional learning. Many factors, such as promoted active collaborative learning and engagement, can come into play, which ultimately leads to increased learning outcomes for higher education students when a new technology is used in their pedagogical programme. This factor can be measured by a comparison between traditional classroom learning and 3DVW-based learning among students. Twenty participants in the study considered the role of using 3DVW technology in students’ enhanced learning outcome.

Based on the study of Mwamwenda and Mwamwenda (1987), effective learning is defined as the type of learning that students achieve when they learn the course material based on their needs. According to Smith (1998), effective learning is defined as learning that requires students’ involvement in the course material. In this study, effective learning is defined as ‘the degree to which a student learns course material by spending minimum time on the study’. Some of the participants in the current study believed that the way this technology presented learning material visually was very helpful for them to learn faster than the traditional classroom. Four students reported that 3DVW-based learning environment helped them to learn the concepts effectively with no more attempt or wasting time, and led them to achieve effective learning. Table 6 shows a summary of the ‘Positive Learning Outcome’ category.

Table 6 Summary of Positive Learning Outcome
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4.6 Skill development

Three factors comprised the category named ‘skill development’: social skill, technological skill, and professional skill. Hersen and Bellack (1977), defined social skill as ‘the ability to express both positive and negative feelings in the interpersonal context without suffering the loss of social reinforcement’. Based on this definition, social skill is defined as ‘the ability of students to express their feelings in an interpersonal context, both positively and negatively, without suffering the loss of social reinforcement’. As explained earlier, as social media, 3DVWs can play a crucial role in developing social skills among university students. A variety of socialisation activities can be held within the virtual environment leading to a higher level of student interactions. Using this technology, other than its educational benefits, can lead to social development among higher education students. Fifty-five participants in the study advised that applying the technology in higher education can help to develop a higher level of social skill among higher education students.

Bulankulama et al. (2014) defined technological skill as ‘the knowledge and proficiency in a certain specialized field in which include: engineering, computers, accounting, or manufacturing’. For the purpose of the current study, technological skill is defined as ‘the knowledge and proficiency that students achieve in the field of computers’. By working with 3DVWs, students are compelled to achieve specific skills in computers including software, Internet, graphical design and so on. This technology may also help students to learn new techniques in gaming, computer programming, digital designing and computer graphics. Twenty-one participants in the study believed that using 3DVWs in higher education can improve their technological skills.

Professional skills in the current study are defined as ‘the knowledge and proficiency that students achieve in accordance with their future career and professional field’. Learning 3DVW technology has the potential to provide the students with new skills that can open a realm of opportunities for their future career. Due to the popularity of 3DVWs, there are career possibilities for the graduates who are familiar with the technology, know how to use it, operate it, develop it and so on. Ten participants considered using 3DVWs as a way to achieve professional skills in the area, which can help them to start a new career after graduation. Table 7 shows a summary of the ‘Skill Development’ category.

Table 7 Summary of Skill Development
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4.7 Engagement

Four factors comprise the category named ‘engagement’: course engagement, student engagement, class stimulation, student attendance. Sun et al. (2014) defined engagement as ‘the extent to which a learner is cognitively, emotively, and behaviourally involved in or committed to a learning activity or goal’. In line with the above definition, course engagement is defined as ‘the degree to which students are cognitively, emotively, and behaviourally involved in or committed to learning activities related to an enrolled course’. According to the results of data analysis, there is a direct relationship between using 3DVW technology and students’ engagement with the course. A wide range of entertaining activities relevant to the course material and students’ involvement with the course while they are in fun and enjoying the environment, establishes a positive relationship between the technology and the course. Forty-one students argued that using 3DVW technology as a platform for presenting their course increased the level of engagement in the enrolled course.

Cleary and Skaines (2005) defined student engagement as the ‘the active involvement, commitment and sense of belonging that dictates the time and effort students devote to educationally purposeful activities’. For the purpose of the current study, student engagement is defined as ‘the active involvement, commitment and sense of belonging that dictates the time and effort students allocate to the educational activities related to their higher education discipline’. Students believe that not only do 3DVWs play a crucial role in their course engagement, but it can also be very significant in engaging them with their learning and purposeful study activities. Eighteen students mentioned that using this technology increased their willingness to actively participate in the activities relevant to their studies, and encouraged them to allocate more time and effort regarding their education and discipline.

Class stimulation in this study is defined as ‘the degree to which students are involved in activities while attending a class’. 3D virtual technology can be used by a university to provide higher education students with an online area to meet, collaborate, interact and discuss topics in relation to their courses in an exciting way within a virtual environment, promoting stimulation and experiential learning. This technology helps students to be involved in various activities such as group discussions while they attend in the classroom virtually, contributing to a higher level of class stimulation. Three students in the open-ended question reported a direct relationship between using a 3DVW technology and class stimulation.

Student attendance in this study is defined as ‘the number of students attending a classroom virtually’. According to the results of data analysis, it can be concluded that using 3DVW technology in a higher education programme has a positive effect on increasing the class participation rate. As the technology brings convenience for students such that they can virtually attend class and from a distant location while reducing travel troubles, increased student attendance can be achieved. Twenty-four participants in the study reported that using this technology can have a significant impact on the number of students attending every session of the classroom. Table 8 shows a summary of the ‘Engagement’ category.

Table 8 Summary of Engagement
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4.8 Learning style

Four factors comprise the category named ‘learning style’: self-paced learning, supervised learning, interactive learning, and self-organised learning. Alonso et al. (2008) defined self-paced learning as ‘an interactive mode of learning over the Internet that each learner does on his or her own, at his or her pace and in his or her time’. In the current study, self-paced learning is defined as ‘the ability of students to learn course material in a flexible way at their own pace’. Courses offered in 3DVW platforms provide students with the opportunity of re-reading the resources until they understand the course material. At the same time, they are able to adjust the schedule and learn at their own pace. This is a highly advantageous way of learning as it provides the students with a more flexible approach to their learning, whilst granting them access to multiple tutors, discussion rooms, and resources. This form of learning helps students with learning disabilities more because they need repetition. For instance, students are able to pause the videos or presentations, re-watch them until they understand the concept. Students believe that 3DVW-based learning as a self-paced learning method could produce positive outcomes in terms of impact on learning. Sixty-three students stated that using the 3DVWs in the higher education setting can contribute to self-paced learning.

Supervised learning is defined as ‘a method of learning in which instructors can keep track of students’ activities, and participation and progression in a course during a semester’. Due to the ability of recording and logging activities within a virtual environment for every user, educators can evaluate each student’s participation in the virtual programme since they can simply go back and review the students’ series of activities in relation to the course. It would be easy for tutors and lecturers to keep track of student progression and results, as everything is recorded as a log. Teachers now have a platform by which to communicate, follow progress, set targets and update content all in one online environment. Seventeen participants in the study reported that using the virtual world as a means for education can result in supervised education, contributing to a better learning outcome.

Interactive learning is defined by Kooiman and Jentoft (2009) as ‘a process in which participants learn from each other and from each other’s learning’. For the purpose of the current study, interactive learning is defined as ‘a process of learning in which students learn from each other and from interactive resources’. As an interactive platform, 3DVWs create an environment where students are encouraged to collaborate, interact and discuss the course material. Through a deeper level of interaction and engagement with the subject matter, virtual world technologies provide students with an educational experience that could not otherwise be attained through the sole use of formal education. Within the virtual environment, students are given the opportunity to have group discussions, where the class can engage with each other in a virtual room, and everyone is given the opportunity to be a part of the discussion about a selected topic chosen by the teacher. Students are given the opportunities to get consultations from teachers where they are able to ask any questions they might have. Furthermore, the possibility of providing interactive media and resources within the virtual world help students to go through the material independently based on their own pace of learning and understanding. Sixty-two participants considered using 3DVWs in higher education as a way to contribute to an interactive learning style.

Self-organised learning in this study is defined as ‘a personalised way of learning by using course material without a need for an instructor’. 3DVWs, as an immersive technology, facilitate building a virtual Self-Organised Learning Environment (SOLE) with a social orientation where students are persuaded to create their own and personal learning paths and perform their own learning activities. This environment allows students to capture ideas, create and share knowledge, socialise and learn from each other. Interactive resource material can be provided in the virtual environment along with guidelines to encourage students to carry out activities that teach them the concepts of the course. In this method of education, there is no need for in-person teaching by a teacher or instructor, and rather, there are virtual teaching method as well as various materials and activities provided in the virtual environment with supervisors to supervise the activities being carried out. Therefore, by performing the activities in a self-organised manner, students will learn the concepts on their own under the supervision of a teacher or instructor, and the classes will be conducted virtually. Eight participants in the open-ended question reported that the technology could provide possibilities of creating a virtual SOLE. Table 9 shows a summary of the ‘Learning Style’ category.

Table 9 Summary of Learning Style
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5 Discussions and conclusion

According to the results of this study, 18 positive outcomes were identified, which can be resulted from the use and user acceptance of 3DVW technology in higher education. Table 10 represents these factors. To best of our knowledge, the factors indicated by * are identified in this study and have not been investigated or identified previously in the literature pertaining to this field of research.

Table 10 Consequences of user acceptance of 3DVWs in higher education
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According to the findings, students in this study reported a high level of satisfaction with 3DVW-based learning. Students who actively engaged in this technology and accepted the technology as a platform to implement teaching and learning programmes for them were generally satisfied with their educational experience. The students’ feedback from the virtual focus group and the open-ended question indicated a general level of satisfaction and contentment with the technology and the learning experience they had with it.

Findings show that there is a positive relationship between user acceptance of 3DVW technology and retention. This means that when higher education students adopt this technology, they are more likely to participate in other courses offered in a 3DVW-based virtual learning environment. This is, to some extent, related to the students’ satisfaction with the technology. When they are satisfied with the technology in one course, they prefer to enrol in other courses with the same technology.

In terms of the relationship of the use of this technology with learning outcomes, two factors were identified: enhanced learning performance, and effective learning. Due to the possibility of implementing a variety of teaching and learning methods, of experiencing a wide range of facilities and activities, of generating positive emotions experienced during the virtual learning, engaging in simulation-based learning, and promoting student engagement, and so on, using the technology can lead to enhanced learning outcomes in comparison with a traditional classroom. Students reported enhanced learning achievements in comparison with traditional learning sessions. Additionally, the capability of the technology to present the course material in a variety of forms enables students to spend minimal time in order to learn the course-related concepts in comparison with a traditional classroom. The course material can be presented effectively and interestingly so that students can easily learn the concepts rather than only reading the topic in a written or pictorial format. We called this ‘effective learning’, and according to the participants of the study, it was positively affected as a result of the use of or engagement in 3DVW-based learning.

Applying 3DVW technology in higher education as a tool for implementing distance learning also has a positive impact on our environment. Decreases in student, teacher, and staff travel, campus residential energy consumption, paper and print consumption, and so on, contribute to a significant impact on the environment and reduce the carbon footprint. Therefore, it is believed that the use of 3DVW can have a positive relationship with a factor called environmental-friendliness.

Using 3DVW in a higher education setting, in addition to enhancing learning objectives, can lead to skill development among students. Three types of skill development can be achieved: social, technological and professional. This technology, as a kind of social media, is a convenient tool and is an immediately gratifying way to connect with others. By using this technology, students lose their in-person interactions to a large extent. However, they have new options available to communicate and interact with others within social media. These new ways of communication can help them to learn different social skills. They also are able to learn various ICT and computer-related skills. Working with this technology helps them to learn new techniques related to the Internet, software, digital graphics, programming, and game design. Additionally, learning the technology can provide new professional and career opportunities for students after graduation, as currently, a large number of organisations, government agencies and companies all around the globe have started using this technology for different purposes, and there is a need for new experts in these technologies.

From the point of view of connectedness, there are some consequences related to the adoption of 3DVWs in the higher education sector. First of all, as mentioned earlier, this technology is part of a large group of Internet-based applications known as social media which allows students to be connected socially to not only other students and instructors but to family, friends and other people active in the virtual worlds. Secondly, the technology opens up a realm of opportunities for students, instructors and institutions to connect to other educational institutions all around the globe and provide networking opportunities for academia; this was called ‘universal connectedness’ in this study. Thus, utilising the technology in higher education settings contributes to social and universal connectedness.

According to the findings, applying 3DVW technology in higher education can lead to four types of student learning styles: self-paced, supervised, interactive and self-organised learning. As described earlier, self-paced learning is initiated and directed by the students themselves. They can take as much time as they need to learn a concept and are able to learn at their own pace, and not stress over deadlines and class schedules. As instructors can keep track of all students by seeing the logs, they can easily monitor students’ progress and activity participation in educational programmes. This supervision can help instructors to evaluate students regularly and encourage them to participate in and enhance their learning achievements. Interactive learning is another consequence of using the technology in higher education. Within the virtual learning environment, students can learn from each other and from interactive resources. By collaborating, interacting, consulting and participating in discussions, they can easily enhance their learning. The environment is always online, and users can connect anytime to find other online students/tutors/teachers with whom they can discuss issues or to whom they can send messages. Finally, since this is a self-organised learning environment, this technology minimises the need for educators and teachers. The variety of learning materials provided in the learning environment leads students to learn the concepts step by step in an organised manner without having the need for a human educator.

In terms of engagement, using 3DVWs also has some positive outcomes. Course engagement is increased when the course is offered in the virtual learning environment. When students are involved with the technology, or with activities within the virtual environment and other features of the technology, they are automatically engaged in the course in which they are enrolled and the concepts presented in the course. Similarly, their involvement in the 3DVW-based learning activities also increases their level of engagement in the educational activities relevant to their discipline. 3DVWs also helps students to actively participate in the class activities. Because they know that they can be supervised every time by their teachers, and all activities and progress can be recorded in the virtual environment, they have to increase their participation in the class activities, thereby contributing to a higher level of class stimulation. This stimulation is also beneficial for increasing the class attendance rate. Attendance in this study is considered as virtual attendance. The technology brings convenience to students as they can attend in the classroom from a distant location, and since it reduces travel troubles, more students are able to virtually attend in the classroom.