How Will Metaverse Transform Education?

There was widespread adjustment to the educational process worldwide because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of the virus, teachers had to come up with new ways to make students' learning more interesting and immersive. 

The restrictions brought about by the pandemic got us thinking that emerging technologies will have an important role to play in the future of education—this includes looking into the Metaverse. After all, when a student shows interest in and enthusiasm for the material being presented, much of the battle is already over.

A Vision

Imagine that you are in the middle of the classroom, surrounded by students who are all looking at a timeline that is projected on the floor. The learners step toward the year that the giant cursor is pointing to, ready to move backward and down into the year 1333 BC in Ancient Egypt. They will now enter a new reality.

All of a sudden, the background changes to a sandy landscape with pyramids in the distance. They can see with their own eyes how rich and complicated life was in ancient Egypt. With the teacher acting as the guide, the students move their avatars and begin to examine their surroundings in a careful and inquisitive way. 

The metaverse gives us this kind of deep, transferable learning through a hybrid, guided play environment.

Re-imagine Learning with Metaverse

The metaverse of the future is likely to have full support for augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the connections needed to link all worlds. In fact, in its most democratic form, anyone will be able to make a space and join a user-created global community where they can share their games or goods with the world.

Virtual simulations that are part of the Metaverse can help keep students safe. The integration of the metaverse in science class, for example, can allow students to repeat an experiment as many times as they like and at their own pace. They won’t need to be concerned about real-world hazards like potential fires in laboratories or being physically exposed to their lab partners’ experimentation mishaps. 

As the metaverse is being built, it is very important that scientists, educators, and developers work together to create fun, immersive, and collaborative experiences that are good for children and families.

Can Schools Afford VR Headsets to Access the Metaverse?

With all of its benefits, the metaverse will definitely change the way education is done, speed up learning, and make the current system more advanced, innovative, and useful. However, if a school already has a limited budget, adding virtual reality seems unlikely.

Virtual reality headsets aren't cheap, and even though they are getting cheaper, there are still a few problems that need to be fixed before they can be widely used in K-12 settings. 

But even if you don't have a VR headset, you can still access and experience most metaverse environments with a laptop or tablet by downloading software or going to the website link.

While the metaverse environment is still being developed, it is important to note that the virtual reality experience should not be perceived as a replacement for in-person activities. We wouldn’t want our students to spend all their time online.