Bridging Sustainable Higher Education and Metaverse During the Post-pandemic Era: Highlights from a Multiple Case Study

In the last years, technological solutions have been applied in a massive way in the educational system to face the unexpected challenges due to the spread of Covid-19, leading to increased efforts in the development and spread of sustainable education. However, in the new post-pandemic situation, although it is evident how essential it is to ensure a sustainable education, little attention has been paid in bridging between thought-provoking technological tools and the educational sphere, such as the possible applications of the metaverse in the Higher Education system. Starting from these considerations, the main purpose of this paper is to contribute to the recent debate on the new applications of the metaverse in the higher education system with a particular focus on sustainable education development. To meet this research question, this study is based on a qualitative investigation approach that follows the Multiple Case Study model. In meeting this aim, three international companies active in the field of the application of the metaverse in the higher education system are analyzed. The findings highlighted the metaverse’s potential to offer technology-enhanced learning in a sustainable way. However, some criticalities in terms of barriers to technology and democratization of technology (social sustainability) and digital skills (human sustainability) have emerged. In this sense, the study offers several insights, potentially capable of generating useful implications for both researchers and professionals in both the educational and IT sector.