VR-Driven Pedagogies: Empowering Ethical Digital Societies Through Augmented Reality Training Ecosystems

This paper explores VR-Driven Pedagogies as a transformative approach to cultivating ethical behaviours in digital societies through integrated Augmented Reality (AR) training ecosystems. By leveraging immersive virtual reality simulations and AR overlays, the framework addresses pressing ethical challenges such as algorithmic bias, data privacy violations, misinformation spread, and cyber exploitation that undermine trust in networked environments. The proposed ecosystems combine constructivist learning principles with experiential role-playing, enabling learners to navigate complex moral dilemmas in simulated digital scenarios that mirror real-world interactions. A mixed-methods methodology validates the approach, demonstrating significant improvements in ethical awareness (35% uplift), decision-making agility (28% faster resolutions), and behavioural patterns, with sustained retention over six months. Theoretical foundations draw from virtue ethics and situated cognition, emphasizing awareness, agency, and accountability. Results highlight VR’s depth for emotional immersion and AR’s real-time contextual nudges, outperforming traditional pedagogies by threefold in engagement. Implications extend to scalable educational reforms, policy-driven compliance training, and resilient digital citizenship. Limitations include accessibility barriers and cultural biases, with future directions focusing on AI personalization, cross-reality collaborations, and societal impact metrics. This work provides a blueprint for empowering ethical digital societies amid accelerating technological disruption.