Recent developments in technology have introduced new tools, such as virtual reality, into the learning process. Although virtual reality appears to be a promising technology for education and has been adopted by a few schools worldwide, we still do not know students’ and educators’ opinions, preferences, and challenges with it, particularly in relation to preschool education. Therefore, this study: (a) analyzes the preferences of 175 children aged 3 to 6 years regarding traditional teaching compared to enhanced teaching with virtual reality and (b) captures educators’ perspectives on virtual reality technology. This evaluation of virtual reality took place in 12 Greek preschool classrooms. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection. Specifically, regarding the qualitative data collection, the study included semi-structured interviews with the participating educators, oriented by 2 axes: (a) preschoolers’ motivation and engagement in virtual reality activities, and (b) virtual reality technology prospects and difficulties as an educational tool in a real class. Regarding the quantitative data collection, specially designed questionnaires were used. Bootstrapping was utilized with 1000 samples to strengthen the statistical analysis. The analysis of the students’ responses indicated a statistically significant difference in preference in favor of virtual reality enhanced teaching compared to a traditional method. Statistically significant differences were also observed regarding gender. Furthermore, based on the educators’ answers and comments, difficulties were encountered initially but eventually, virtual reality was regarded as an effective approach for educational purposes. However, concerns arose among educators as to whether this technology could adequately promote preschoolers’ cooperative skills.

技术的最新发展将虚拟现实等新工具引入了学习过程。尽管虚拟现实似乎是一种很有前途的教育技术，并且已被世界各地的一些学校采用，但我们仍然不知道学生和教育工作者对此的看法、偏好和挑战，特别是在学前教育方面。因此，本研究：(a) 分析了 175 名 3 至 6 岁儿童对传统教学与虚拟现实增强教学的偏好，(b) 捕捉了教育工作者对虚拟现实技术的看法。此次虚拟现实评估在 12 个希腊学前班教室进行。采用定量和定性相结合的方法来收集数据。具体来说，关于定性数据收集，该研究包括对参与的教育工作者进行半结构化访谈，以两个轴为导向：（a）学龄前儿童参与虚拟现实活动的动机和参与度，以及（b）虚拟现实技术作为虚拟现实技术的前景和困难。真实课堂上的教育工具。在定量数据收集方面，使用了专门设计的调查问卷。使用 1000 个样本进行 Bootstrapping 来加强统计分析。对学生反应的分析表明，与传统方法相比，对虚拟现实增强教学的偏好存在统计上的显着差异。性别方面也观察到统计学上的显着差异。此外，根据教育工作者的回答和评论，最初遇到了困难，但最终虚拟现实被认为是一种有效的教育方法。然而，教育工作者担心这项技术能否充分提高学龄前儿童的合作技能。