Metaverse Technology-Based Educational Program and its Effectiveness on Developing Digital Future Skills and Enhancing them Among University Students

This research aimed to design an educational program based on Metaverse technology and measure its effectiveness on developing digital future skills and enhancing them among university students in KSA. To achieve this purpose, a random sample of (40) preparatory-year students from King Faisal University in Al-Ahsa was selected, along with (6) students from the research group for a case study. The research employed a descriptive method to design the program, develop its materials and tools, an experimental method with a quasi-experimental design to measure effectiveness, and a case study approach to enrich the research with qualitative data. Quantitative data were collected using a cognitive test for digital future skills, a performance observation checklist, and a measure of attitudes. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interview questions. The quantitative results revealed a statistically significant difference at a significance level of (0.0001) between the mean scores of the experimental group in the pre-test and post-test for the cognitive test, observation checklist, and attitude scale. The practical significance, measured using eta squared, indicated a large effect size for the program on the cognitive test (0.721%), moderate on the observation checklist (0.611%), and large on the attitude scale (0.966%), confirming the program's effectiveness on developing digital future skills and enhancing attitudes towards learning them. The qualitative results also confirmed the role of the program in developing digital future skills. Keywords: Educational Program, Metaverse Technology, Digital Future Skills.