Innovative technological solutions in virtual nuclear education

The need for researching nuclear learning- related processes in different countries, formal and non- formal education contexts and age groups, has been continuously growing. The plethora of didactic and technological solutions to create virtual nuclear education products often misleads educators. Our study aims to categorize and map out the existing scholarly concepts and online examples of nuclear education and virtual tours, from which to commission further reviews by identifying gaps in the research literature and virtual solutions. The findings from the review of the articles accessed in Springer Link, Scopus, Taylor & Francis, and ACM mono and multidisciplinary scholar databases and online portals, apps, and games on nuclear learning– related topics showed the difference in the concepts on nuclear education, nuclear information, and nuclear technologies for diverse scientific fields. Literature analysis has revealed a gap between modern technologies and methods of teaching and learning in formal and non- formal education contexts. Research showed that the integration of technological progress into teaching processes could be challenging. Mature educational technologies and methods may not adequately address the needs of individual learners and society. The findings, illustrating the complex nature of virtual reality solutions and virtual tour technologies applicable to online nuclear education, nuclear information, and nuclear technology studies, covering topics of empirical scholar research, online and smart solutions, allowed us to construct a framework of serious gaming for non- edutainment purposes, incorporating learning and playing tools, motivators, and educational strategies. Our research gives insights into nuclear tourism route construction, proposing a technology acceptance model, suggesting storytelling, virtual navigation, human spatial behavior, digital and human factors, and tools and technologies research as the key topics of further empirical research and offering online tours, mobile apps, and 360 videos as technologies to facilitate virtual learning, impact learning outcomes, and raise nuclear literacy. While proposing to use serious games and tours for virtual nuclear education, we see some limitations. In nuclear education settings (formal and informal), these technologies are mainly adapted to the learner generation who accept technology. Still, some learners find it difficult to immerse in virtual activities and experience a difference between virtual and live guided tours. For educators, the biggest challenge is not only to create virtual materials on nuclear education in the text format but also, together with computer scientists and engineers, to develop virtual narrative, immersive games, simulation apps, and other types of virtual reality solutions. For nuclear scientists, the biggest challenge remains the communication of scientific information in a learner-friendly format