The Metaverse is among the most searched term on google, as people have been trying to understand this virtual space and if it actually worth the hype it is getting.
The metaverse as discussed earlier is a virtual space that enables users to create or build their virtual environment to their taste. It also allows interaction from all round the world.
With the metaverse, there is no boundary to interaction and communication, as people from different parts of the world can easily connect together and interact more than any other available methods of interaction.
We can conclude by saying that the metaverse is an immersive recreation of the real world.
The hype around the metaverse has made a lot of people discover the real opportunities(potentials) in the metaverse (metanomics).
CVS, an online drug store saw a real opportunity in the metaverse and is currently preparing for it.
Eventually if the metaverse goes mainstream, how will your business fare with it?
Today we are going to discuss how the metaverse could help the Educational Sector.
Metaverse and Education
Our normal Educational settings involves the teachers and students coming together to learn in the real world. Think of a situation where students can stay at home, and with the help of their (VR) virtual reality headset, can be able to plugin and learn in a virtual space. That virtual space will be more advanced and learning and practical can be done in there.
The metaverse environment presents limitless possibilities in learning if it can be afforded, as it is a 3D space, so we can’t just learn , but also practice real practice.
The metaverse will remove the sitting at a place boredom of real classrooms to a more exciting and immersive virtual learning environment.
Teaching and Learning Process in the Metaverse
The metaverse is a flexible environment, so the user, at this point, the teacher can tune his metaverse depending on his/her teaching syllabus. The part involving practical will be tuned too with 3d abilities to enable interactive learning.
This may sound like a dream or fiction, but currently we have games where with VR, you create your virtual fighter as you wish and combat with it. That’s exactly how the metaverse is.
Apart from gaming, Roblox has enabled another feature called Roblox classroom where, a teacher and his/her students can log into and participate in a real or virtual world.
In this case, the teacher can sit in the classroom with his/students and both of them can connect to the virtual world. The teacher with the help of the virtual space, can show them a 3D representation of a location or practical depending on the course, but they will make use of the real world for communication purposes.
So Roblox virtual classroom is an example of the metaverse educational sector, just that the mainstream metaverse education will have the communication and practical being done on the virtual space maybe with VR headsets.
Physics or Chemistry practical can be simulated in the metaverse with a real effect in the virtual space, allowing students perform from home in all parts of the world.
How will the metaverse work in education?
The metaverse will work with good technological setup. The educational sector won’t only require full immersion of students in a virtual world. It will have to balance the physical method and a virtual method. To achieve this, the whole realities of technology will be needed at different learning section. This means that, the reality device to use will be determined by the job or activity to be done.
Now let’s look at the realities needed in the educational metaverse.
The following realities will be needed in the education metaverse;
Virtual reality: This reality is a full immersion of the student into a virtual world for a particular practical or tour. If subject is about history, or to show the student about something that is not really visible, we can use the virtual reality tools. In the process, a VR headset can be worn to show the student a replica of a real location, and it will look absolutely real to the student. If it’s like atoms or elements that are not visible, the virtual reality tool can be put on, your simulate a virtual feeling of how atoms behave.
Augmented reality: This doesn’t fully immerse the student, it tries to balance the real world with some virtual effects. This will be used when VR tools are not needed, or when you need to combine two praticals that need both realities.
Mixed reality: Just like the name, you can mix the VR and the AR together to achieve a particular purpose. This is made possible through the MR reality. For instance, you can use an AR tool to picture something in a real laboratory, instead of going to another virtual world fully.
Limitations in metaverse education
No matter how nice the metaverse sounds on paper, there might be downsides to it.
The metaverse learning might not be affordable by all students in the world, because of financial issues or any related causes.
Secondly, a physically impaired person will not participate in the metaverse, like a deaf or blind person will not enjoy the feature of the metaverse.
Lastly the metaverse might be too addictive to children who utilize it for entertainment and learning processes, because a lot of their time will be put towards the metaverse. This has the tendency to cause addiction and neglect of the real world.
Read Also: Advantages and the disadvantages of the metaverse.
Conclusion
The metaverse has been making rounds online, its better to prepare for it by aligning your current to it so you wont be caught unawares.
Although some renown personnel’s like, Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk and Twitter’s CEO, Jark Jorsey don’t believe in the metaverse as they feel it doesn’t worth the hype.
