As technology keeps getting better and more people join the metaverse, how will this affect education, and can it help people learn?
Living in the digital world is about a lot more than just having a personal website or a social media account. People are quickly adopting more complex digital building blocks like avatars, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and digital currencies like Bitcoin. The next step is to think about how universities, which have always combined social and educational values. and it will change to meet the needs of their audiences today. Higher education will still be important in the digital age if universities adapt to the Metaverse development services.
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What is the Metaverse, and how could it be used in colleges?
The Metaverse is a digital world where people live through their avatars. Platforms for games like Roblox and Fortnite show how the Metaverse is changing. Now that VR can do things like let you play games and go to virtual concerts, what if people went to school and learned in the metaverse?
A number of colleges and universities are just beginning to find out. VictoryXR, a company that makes content for schools and educational institutions that uses augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR). And recently announced that it will work with 10 colleges to launch “Metaversities” in the United States this fall.
Students will be able to go to digital copies of the campuses of the schools that are taking part (whether they are on campus or learning remotely). During the course, each student will get a Quest 2 VR headset to use. VR headsets will be send by mail to students who are taking classes from home. Some of the colleges that are taking part will have headsets for students on campus who want to go to class in the Metaverse. All students can use regular computers to look around a 2D version of their digital campus.
The following organizations are taking part:
- Alabama A&M University
- California State University Dominguez Hills
- Morehouse College
- New Mexico State University
- Northern Illinois University
- South Dakota State University (SDSU)
- Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC)
- University of Kansas School of Nursing
- University of Maryland Global Campus
- West Virginia University
The VR courses that would be available wouldn’t be limited to just one subject, either. SDSU has already started working on two science classes. And SWOCC is ready to offer VR classes in everything from forestry to microeconomics. With a wide range of courses, universities will be able to mimic the “in-person experience” and offer it to make even a basic general education course more interesting.
This means that students can have access to a “classroom” space 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They can use this space to access course materials and the day’s lecture at any time during the day, not just when the lecture was recorded. One of the best things about living in the digital age is how easy it is to get information. Students can get news, use social media, bank, get health care, and check their wallets online. Why not add classroom and e-Learning to this list?
Why Should Universities Consider Virtual Platform Services?
A poll by the Lumina Foundation and Gallup found that 32% of students currently enrolled in a bachelor’s degree programme. And they have thought about dropping out for a semester or more in the last six months.
Seventy-six percent of people working toward a bachelor’s degree. And who have thought about giving up say they did so because they were going through a lot of emotional stress.
Students of all ages who were not used to taking online classes were affected by a sudden change to remote learning. Among these students are those who have trouble learning, those who do their best work and thrive through physical interaction. And students who may live in unusual or complicated places where the classroom is the only place they can focus or study.
When colleges started using Zoom as a way to learn during the pandemic in 2020. And the solution was criticized right away for being boring and stressful. And which wasn’t what you’d expect from a college experience that’s getting more and more expensive.
Colleges are learning to deal with the fact that pandemic flare-ups could continue to disrupt in-person classes. This means that they need to think of a better long-term solution to Zoom classes. The metaverse could do that, and it could also give students an alternative way to live on campus when lockdowns happen.
The Perks and Risks of The Metaverse
Is the Metaverse, however, the solution to the mental health crisis in college? Or will it get worse because of the Metaverse?
On the one hand, universities have been looking for creative ways to replace boring Zoom classes. An all-in-one, interactive digital experience in which students and teachers talk to each other. And it is through avatars could be just what they need. The idea of a Metaverse opens up exciting new ways to learn in the future.
On the other hand, it is also a new area that is still being build up and is far from being done. The truth is that any new business or technology will also have new flaws. There are a lot of worries that the Metaverse could make the bad things that already happen on the internet worse, like sexual assault and mental health problems. More critics are asking the people who make metaverse platforms to be more careful. And manage the design of the Metaverse in a way that makes it safer and more open to everyone. Any university that wants to use this technology should have active safety measures in place. And a team in charge of making rules, keeping track of activity.
Takeaways
The idea of a Metaversity should wake up higher education to the fact that old ways of doing things won’t work in the long run. Even if a college isn’t quite ready to open a Metaversity, it’s clear that augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality need to be a part of their future plans for a more immersive way to learn.
