THERE IS A VERSE FAR AWAY: TEACHERS' COGNITIVE STRUCTURES ABOUT THE METAVERSE

The main purpose of this research is to determine teachers' cognitive structures about the Metaverse. It is a descriptive research in a survey model. The research participants consist of 93 teachers working in public schools in the 2023-2024 academic year in Malatya, Türkiye. First, a stratified purposive sampling method was used to identify the types of schools according to the research questions. Then, convenience and snowball sampling methods were used to select the participants. The research data was collected using the word association test. Content analysis was used to analyse the research data. As a result, the themes of "form of Metaverse", "economic order", "evolution of the Internet", "Metaverse technology", "education", "possible dangers", "space", "social Metaverse" and "fallacy" were found. At the end of the research, it is recommended that studies be carried out to eliminate teachers' misconceptions and that Metaverse technologies be introduced into the education system in small steps.