Metaverse: The New Door Of Teaching

Sai Krishna VK Sep 16, 2021

The concept of virtual reality—of humans interacting in computerized, digital environments—has been in existence for over twenty-five years now. Sci-Fi's vision of the future was that people could interact with augmented virtual reality. The idea was that devices could be miniaturized and worn naturally; allowing people to interact simultaneously with augmented physical reality as it exists and an immersive virtual reality in whatever form or shape we imagined it.

That vision looks to be finally coming true with the advent of the Metaverse and it promises to completely change how a classroom & pedagogy can be learnt.

Although computer scientists and researchers have been working toward this target ever since other areas of evolution in virtual environments have progressed more swiftly. The explosion of the Internet and social media a service connect an ever-growing population through online communities and is poised to now completely change education and how students can learn.

When learning and gaming collide

In the last decade, environments were often used for Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games or specialized simulations created by professional developers. With the progress in computational power, internet access, speed, and graphical 3D recreations are possible on any ordinary home computer. We are starting to see in the virtual world’s emanant behaviours that rival the outbreak of creativity, innovation, and engagement seen in other web-based media. Very soon, you'd be playing a game of Fortnite or Roblox as much as solving homework in the 3D virtual environment with your friends and even an instructor.

Higher education institutions can benefit from many of the same cost-saving techniques as businesses. Virtual worlds hold enormous promise for providing a platform for faculty, staff, and students to interact in an environment that can be entirely flexible to accommodate different needs. How would teaching change if students had ready access to professionals and experts in their native environment?

If all of this sounds a little too fanciful, or a little too futuristic, consider that many of these exercises are already taking place for unusual projects, in prototypes and rough experiments. Just as in the early 1990s no one could predict how fully the Internet would become integrated into our day-to-day lives; it is difficult for many people today to imagine how quickly the real world and virtual worlds may become entwined. But the rapid spread of web-based technologies should serve as an example of how quickly these changes can take place.

In a time when our modern educational system is under fire for being disconnected from the real world, from legitimate experiences that will lead students to real academic achievement, making educators see virtual worlds as a tool that might help instructors connect students to the real world through the technology of Metaverse. Part of this fascination comes from the various affordances of the platform: it gives students the ability to play, practice, pretend, be creative and artistic, and do things that they don’t or can’t or can’t yet do in real life. But virtual worlds move beyond authentic learning. If we see virtual worlds as sitting within a rising ecosystem of web and social media technologies that enable many learning styles, with many opportunities for information, direct contact with real-world practitioners, and self-directed learning, perhaps we can learn to clout this technology in ways that will enable the kind of personal sovereignty that deepens a student’s sense of investment in the outcome- a key to helping students become enduring learners.

The Metaverse, like the Internet in general, is changing the way we access and experience information and the way we can access and connect with each other. Few college/university presidents or CIOs currently prefer the exploration of virtual worlds. Within the next three to five years, a higher education institution without a virtual world’s presence will be like an institution without a web presence today.