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2016 was proclaimed the ‘year of virtual reality' (VR) - without any significant breakthrough in its adoption again. The missed opportunity for success, however, could be an important indication that we concentrate more on the social forces and challenges this technology entails. The present paper focuses on a specific field in VR, that is, on educational VR. Although international research work on educational VR has been fuelled by emerging platforms since the middle of the 1990s, its diffusion and adoption have been significantly lagging behind what technological forecasts and expectations predicted. While scientific research has proven that the effects of educational VR on learning are generally positive, conditions such as its cost, inefficient infrastructure, the digital divide(s) and lack of skills, among other factors, hinder its flexible integration into pedagogical strategies. The paper aims to introduce the definitive theoretical framework and research topics of educational VR, casting light upon the methodological connection between educational VR and forms of learning, designing educational VR and its present challenges. Recent studies and surveys concerning the adoption and use of educational VR by teachers, instructors and professors will also be discussed in order to provide a more realistic description of the state of educational VR in global and Hungarian contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]