Privacy, identity, and fairness: Unpacking ethical influences on metaverse adoption in university learning

IF 5.7 Q2 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS

Computers and Education Open Pub Date : 2025-09-24 DOI:10.1016/j.caeo.2025.100292

Mousa Al-kfairy , Meera Alalawi , Saed Alrabaee , Omar Alfandi

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Abstract

As immersive technologies like the Metaverse continue to reshape higher education, it becomes increasingly vital to examine the ethical dimensions shaping student engagement with these platforms. This study investigates how university students perceive privacy, digital identity, informed consent, and algorithmic fairness in Metaverse-based classrooms, and how these perceptions influence their trust and behavioral intention to adopt the technology. A quantitative survey was conducted with 310 university students, all of whom had prior exposure to virtual learning platforms. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS 4.0, the study found that Metaverse Ethical Dimensions (MED) significantly influence both Trusting Intention (TRI) (

β

= 0.740, p < 0.001) and Intention to Use (IU) (

β

= 0.573, p < 0.001). Additionally, TRI partially mediates the relationship between MED and IU (

β

= 0.206, p = 0.001). These results highlight the central role of ethical design and user trust in promoting the adoption of Metaverse-based classrooms.

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隐私、身份与公平：揭示大学学习中伦理对虚拟世界采用的影响

随着像Metaverse这样的沉浸式技术继续重塑高等教育，审视影响学生与这些平台互动的道德维度变得越来越重要。本研究调查了大学生在基于metaverse的课堂中如何感知隐私、数字身份、知情同意和算法公平性，以及这些感知如何影响他们的信任和采用该技术的行为意愿。对310名大学生进行了一项定量调查，他们之前都接触过虚拟学习平台。通过SmartPLS 4.0使用偏最小二乘结构方程模型（PLS-SEM），研究发现，meta伦理维度（MED）显著影响信任意图（TRI）（β = 0.740, p < 0.001）和使用意图（IU）（β = 0.573, p < 0.001）。此外，TRI部分介导了MED和IU之间的关系（β = 0.206, p = 0.001）。这些结果突出了道德设计和用户信任在促进采用基于metaverse的教室中的核心作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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Computers and Education Open

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