Can you imagine taking a class of students to Greenland to study climate change without leaving the classroom? Can you imagine standing at the bottom of the ocean and teaching marine biology as fish swim all round you? Can you imagine shrinking to a size where you can explore a human body from within?
In the near future, you may not need to imagine, as the metaverse will have arrived. The metaverse has become an exciting buzzword since Mark Zuckerberg made a rebrand of Facebook in October 2021, re-naming it Meta. The metaverse will allow XR (extended reality) - encompassing VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) - technologies to take us out of our physical surroundings and place us…anywhere, with the use of headsets and consoles.
For higher education, the metaverse could be mind-blowing. Anything could be built, like a metaverse school, to a virtual sports arena, to a dangerous war zone that the students can safely learn about, via their VR headsets. Lessons plans can be adapted to feature an immersive experience in a 3D landscape. Physics can be taught within live simulations. Role-plays can be carried out during ‘actual’ historic events.
Yet, the teacher and student relationship will still stand, with their communication remaining very much real and important. Virtual reality can add to traditional models, but not take its place. Educators need to work out how and when to use VR and AR, reaping its benefits of excited and engaged students. Currently, this technology is not suitable for long durations of use, so a 45-minute lesson cannot be based around the metaverse alone.
“Students caring about what you’re teaching them is the holy grail,” according to Felicity Jenkins, a business blogger at Write my X and 1 Day 2 write, “and what better way than to make them experience your subject emotionally – and at first hand? But XR should only be used in the right circumstance i.e., when a real-life situation or field trip would be too dangerous, or counter-productive, expensive, or impossible. The metaverse is not going to replace your entire day in school!”
Here are some more specific guidelines for educators when considering how the metaverse will look for them and their students.
Keep your leaning goals in mind
It could be useful to imagine how XR could better a learning experience or a class in school rather than just simulating it. Think about how you could use it to supersede your practical limitations. “Imagine you want to teach about tides, for example,” according to Bobby Ferris, a journalist at Origin Writings and Brit Student, “and you live in a completely landlocked part of the country, far from any ocean. XR could take you and your students to the beach and give you the full immersive experience. If you live close to a beach, however, real life will always be your better option.”
Which technologies will take you to the metaverse?
Consider exactly what technologies your students will need to get them to the metaverse, and how feasible it will be for you to access these technologies. It may be initially over-ambitious to think about creating your own new XR content, which is challenging, but there’s a good guide out there, the Educational VR Applications Database, from Stanford University, which is a great place to start familiarizing yourself with what’s new.
What do you expect from the metaverse?
Learning outcomes can be difficult to measure even in the traditional classroom, so how will success be measured in a virtual curriculum? Technology should only be considered in the frame of what benefit it will bring, and how it can enhance the student experience.
Even the thought of the metaverse can seem overwhelming at this point in time, but if it’s on the horizon then we can already imagine what it might look like, and how we can use it to enhance the world of education. The metaverse could revolutionize both classes and student experiences, and open our eyes to a whole new world. Just watch this space.
A business development manager at Write my coursework and Thesis writing service, George J. Newton is ready to embrace the metaverse, as long as he can bring his dog. He also writes on technology for Next Coursework.