Visual Analysis of Virtual World Research in Education from 2013 to 2022

The virtual world provides a novel context for teaching and learning where teachers and students can engage in activities such as lecturing, discussion, and collaboration virtually without the restriction of space. In this study, visual analysis software CiteSpace was used to analyze the literature related to the web of science database in the past 10 years (2013–2022), aiming to provide an overview of the virtual world research in the field of education, and reveal key research patterns and trending features. The research findings revealed authors, regions, journals, and references with significant contribution. Additionally, keyword co-occurrence, burst terms, and a timeline map were generated to identify key hotspots in this research field.