Metaverse-Based Learning Opportunities and Challenges: A Phenomenological Metaverse Human–Computer Interaction Study

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

After overviewing the recent development of metaverse studies and applications, and stressing its importance in the educational domain, the paper presents a complex qualitative study with 10 experts, finally singling out a list of five Challenges and Recommendation about what to do and take care of in the future concerning the use of metaverse for education.

The topic is interesting though very fashionable, the methodology of the study is quite accurate, and the results are not so unexpected. So the paper meets good standards, but it is generally not so exciting.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer

Thank you  so much for your constructive feedback. I am happy you find the topic interesting, the methodology quite accurate, and that the paper meets good standards. I did the suggested spell check.   

Reviewer 2 Report

Content-rich well-presented manuscript. Good work!

Author Response

Dear Reviewer

Thank you  so much for your constructive feedback. I am happy you find the content-rich well-presented. I did the suggested spell check. All the best   

Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript investigates challenges and opportunities for Human-centric metaverse technology in the learning sector. The author used a phenomenological research method including semi-structured in-depth interviews; essays written by participants; and a focus group discussion with 19 experts in HCI, interactive technologies, and e-learning. The obtained results indicate that the application of the metaverse in e-learning from the Human-Computer Interaction point of view is complexity task, and further in-depth research is needed.

The article title is appropriate and accurately reflects the article's content. The abstract is short, clear, and well-defined. It states the main goal of the paper. The used keywords are appropriate.

The introduction is clear and correctly written. The main goal of the study is indicated. It is also referenced with up-to-date literature sources from a suitable range of citations and covers existing relevant works. The limitation of current state e-learning and the potential benefits of metaverse-based online learning are discussed in Section 2. The literature review on the topic is thorough and covers current trends in HCI. A detailed description of the applied phenomenological methodology and the way of data collection, analysis, and presentation of the results are well described in Section 3. The research findings and their implications are discussed in detail in Section 4. Meta-education challenges and opportunities are structured in five subsections in that limitations and implications are well discussed. A summary of results and research contributions is presented in Section 5. In the last section, the conclusions of the study and future work are clear and well-written.

The manuscript content is structured correctly and contains all the relevant sections marked with subheadings. In general, the paper follows the Electronics journal’s template. The manuscript consists of 14 pages, 35 references, 6 sections, and 2 tables. 83% of all cited publications have been published in the last 5 years. The cited literature is from authoritative sources and does not need correction.

In general, the paper is formatted well and followed the Electronics journal’s template. I think that this article is suitable for the journal. Also, this study will be useful for other scientists researching Human-Computer Interaction theory and applications.

Specific comments and suggestions:

·         There are some typing errors. The author can reread all the text and correct them.

·         The term "Human-Computer Interaction" should be rewritten correctly. There should be a dash "-" between human and computer.

·         The used ";" sign should be changed with a comma in some places in the abstract.

·         The author must write all terms in the same way. "Metaverse" is written with a small first letter at line 108.

·         Table 2 needs to be reformatted. The data is arranged a bit chaotic.

·         It would be helpful if the author provided more information about the questions asked during the interviews with the respondents. This will give a clearer view of the results obtained.

·         Each of the data analysis steps, presented in subsection 3.3, can start on a new line or be ordered as numeric lists.

·         The challenges and recommendations described in Section 5 could be structured a bit better. Currently, they are described in one paragraph. The author could add them into separate paragraphs and pair the challenge - recommendation. The same can be achieved by organizing the results in a table. This will make the text easier to read.

·         The last section should be renamed "Conclusions".

Author Response

Dear Reviewer

Thank you so much for your constructive feedback . I am happy you found my article suitable for the journal and could be useful for other scientists researching the same field. I applied all your suggestions as following:

• I reviewed the paper and corrected the typing errors
• I rewrote the term "Human-Computer Interaction" correctly throughout the paper
• I replaced the ";" sign with a comma in the abstract
• I rewrote the term "Metaverse" with the same style throughout the paper
• I re-arranged the data in Table 2
• Questions asked during the interviews with the respondents were added in section 3.2 line 245
• Each of the data analysis steps, presented in subsection 3.3, started on a new line
• The challenges and recommendations described in Section 5 are now structured into separate paragraphs.
• The last section was renamed "Conclusions& Contributions"
• All modifications are marked in red using track changes