RESUMO
Access to sociodigital experiences is constantly expanding, driven by the development of immersive technologies that capture the public's interest. These technological advances present a hypnotic nature, sparking curiosity, creating new experiences, and providing opportunities for expanding access and inclusion. This article aims to highlight the characteristics and requirements necessary for the development of creativity in new virtual environments, with a focus on the metaverse, a three-dimensional and interactive virtual space that offers users the sensation of existence within this environment. The study centers on the following question: what are the essential characteristics for an immersive environment to promote the development of creativity in its users? Understanding how technologies influence creativity is crucial to driving innovation, the progress of contemporary sciences, and education. This research analyzed various approaches and strategies for the use of the metaverse and immersive virtual environments to promote user creativity. Through an integrative literature review, practical characteristics that contribute to creativity in previous studies were identified. The results highlight the presence of common characteristics, organized into a model of articulation of the sociodigital analysis categories for creativity with potential for application.
RESUMO
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected global educational systems, especially in developing countries. Therefore, governments and educational administrators have adopted contingency measures to maintain the functioning and the sustainability of their national educational systems. These measures involved the use of technologies and have enabled a significant amount of teachers to continue working with their students around the globe. This article aims to analyze the perception of Ecuadorian teachers about the contingency measures taken at the governmental and institutional levels while facing the COVID-19 crisis. Also, several aspects regarding the teachers' perceptions about their technological skills, access to electronic devices, and implications of teleworking in their mental health and performance are also analyzed. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 3,183 Ecuadorian teachers working at all levels of education. An online questionnaire which obtained a reliability of 0.84 in Cronbach's Alpha was used. The results show that despite the high levels of uncertainty, most teachers agreed with the measures that had been taken by the Government, the Ministry of Education as well as their institutions and reported feeling comfortable with teleworking. However, the lack of technological resources in rural areas and the lack of trust in the effectiveness of online classes are aspects that need to be analyzed before considering the viability of long-term online education in Ecuador.