Immersive Learning in Distance Higher Education: The Moderating Role of Student Ethics on VR-Supported Learning Experiences

This study investigates how students’ heterogeneous prior experiences with Virtual Reality (VR)-supported learning relate to their overall learning experiences in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) at Universitas Terbuka Jayapura in Papua, Indonesia, while examining the moderating role of student ethics. Although immersive technologies are increasingly recognized as powerful pedagogical tools, empirical evidence regarding their effectiveness under varying student behavioral standards remains scarce in remote regions. Underpinned by experiential learning theory and the technology acceptance model, a quantitative explanatory design was executed with a purposive sample of 374 active students. Data analysis was performed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. The empirical results reveal that VR-supported learning is positively and significantly associated with student learning experiences. Furthermore, student ethics is positively linked to learning experiences and, more importantly, positively moderates and conditions the strength of this relationship. Visual slope analysis confirms that students with higher ethical standards derive substantially greater cognitive and emotional benefits from immersive technologies. The structural model demonstrates high explanatory power (R2 = 0.738, Adjusted R2 = 0.736) and substantial in-sample cross-validated predictive relevance (Q2 = 0.524). Theoretically, this study offers a valuable contextual contribution by providing the first empirical test of an ethics-moderated immersive learning model within a low-infrastructure ODL setting in Eastern Indonesia. Practically, these findings offer strategic guidance for educational administrators in ODL institutions to simultaneously invest in advanced technology and cultivate digital citizenship to ensure sustainable and equitable higher education in geographically isolated perimeters.