Meta-In or Meta-Out of Students with Special Needs: A Systematic Review on the Use of Metaverse in Special Education

Metaverse in education has gained increased attention recently with its advantages of providing immersive experience, connectivity, virtual collaboration, and personalized experience for improving teaching and learning. Although metaverse technologies have the potential to serve learners in different grades, there is a need to reveal the potential of metaverse in special education. This chapter applied content analysis to identify the trends, areas of concentration, the metaverse technologies and tools used in disability in education research. The findings indicated that the problem of equal access is still prevalent in most of the studies and this problem can only be resolved when metaverse platforms and devices are designed and developed based on the recognized needs and expectations of learners with disabilities and inclusive participation of all stakeholders. This chapter highlighted some of the challenges that face the application of metaverse in special education such as technological, pedagogical, psychological, accessibility, communication, and inclusion challenges, with future recommendations and opportunities for enhancing metaverse practices with diverse learners.