The Potential of a FrameVR.io Metaverse Environment to Enhance Cognitive Engagement, Reduce Digital Burnout, and Develop Creative Writing Skills

Drawing on a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with intact undergraduate EFL classes (enrolled N = 73; complete-case N = 70; 35 FrameVR.io/metaverse, 35 control), this study examined whether a FrameVR.io browser-based social 3D creative-writing intervention enhances cognitive engagement and creative writing performance while reducing digital burnout. Over six weeks (90 minutes/week), both groups addressed comparable creative-writing objectives, differing primarily in learning ecology (FrameVR.io immersive, avatar-mediated collaboration vs. conventional classroom tasks). Primary effects were estimated using ANCOVA models predicting each posttest outcome from group while adjusting for the corresponding pretest score; heteroscedasticity-robust (HC3) standard errors were used, and Holm-adjusted p values controlled familywise error across the three confirmatory outcomes. Adjusted posttest means favored the FrameVR.io group for cognitive engagement (Δ_adj = 28.34, p < .001, partial η² = .928) and creative writing performance (Δ_adj = 8.23, p < .001, partial η² = .866), and indicated lower digital burnout (Δ_adj = − 24.52, p < .001, partial η² = .773). Creative-writing scripts were scored by trained independent raters blinded to group and timepoint, strengthening internal validity for performance assessment. Semi-structured interviews with metaverse participants (n = 18) converged with quantitative results, attributing benefits to immersion, collaboration, and idea visualization while noting intermittent technical friction. Interpretation is tempered by restricted score variability in some posttest measures and the nonrandomized intact-class design; replication with delayed posttests, item-level validation, and exposure metrics (e.g., time-on-task) is recommended.