Metaverse in Education

The education sector has undergone notable changes in the recent past. Educators have switched their teaching methods to digital smart classes which create an engaging environment where they can learn concepts better.

Online learning has become mainstream now and the credit goes to the pandemic as the education sector is totally focused on integrating fascinating technologies into academic curricula such that learning becomes more fun and engaging.

Forget those days when students imagined textbook scenarios relying on explanations given by their teachers. Today, we are participants of a digitally connected world, where concepts like metaverse manifest themselves through real world use cases. In such a case, it is not hard to imagine what transformative outcomes this network of virtual worlds called the metaverse can bring to the global education system. In this insight, we will dive deep into the relation between the education system and the metaverse, and realize how the former leverages the power of the metaverse.

Metaverse

A three-dimensional virtual world that combines aspects of social media, online gaming, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to create a platform where users can interact virtually is considered as the metaverse. It is a real-time ecosystem that overcomes the limitations of geographical boundaries to offer valuable services to users.

It can offer you great services which are categorized as impossible in the real world. It offers a space for socializing, learning, gaming, entertainment, working and various business opportunities.

Application of Metaverse in Education

Metaverse can benefit education sector in several ways and they are:

Virtual 3D classrooms

With the evolution of online schools and colleges, students have started to witness a gap between immersive physical classrooms and virtual ones. This gap can be bridged with Metaverse by creating 3D virtual classrooms where students can virtually interact with their classmates and teachers. Students from any location can be a part of this metaverse-powered learning structure and deliver much beyond what a physical classroom does.

Digital learning

Smart classes enhanced students’ learning with video projection on numerous subject topics. The metaverse intends to make these classrooms smarter by allowing students to fully involve in such videos, helping them experience all the content more effectively. It also provides a space for them to experiment, fail and learn from their failures in all the subjects that demands practical experiments. Even physical classes can depend on such 3D virtual learning to achieve desired learning outcomes.

Interdisciplinary learning

The metaverse can break down barriers between subjects and advocate interdisciplinary learning. It enables teachers to mingle traditionally discreet subjects like science and mathematics, offering an engaging and integrated learning experience while exhibiting the real-life applications of various theories.

Virtual campus

Students can take part in extra-curricular activities like sports and arts in a virtual setup with the metaverse. Various fun activities like engaging in music or mathematics club, similar to physical campus activities can be performed by the students. Also, they can walk around their virtual campus right from the comfort of their home.

Creating simulating real-life situations

Learning with metaverse proves productive, fundamentally because this virtual space can engage students by replicating real-life situations, conducting scientific experiments, showcasing prototypes and even enter a documentary video. We might witness subject-specific 3D spaces in the future created to assist students’ learning and also helping teachers to explain the subject content better.

Bringing awareness

The metaverse can be used in classrooms in order to bring awareness in social issues such as pollution, famine, or climate change to invoke the humanitarian interests among children. For instance, students can be shown a documentary on poverty in Burundi or famine in Somalia to help them understand how it affects the people living there. With such an approach of teaching, students will not just carry theoretical knowledge but also a deeper insight backed by emotional understanding of instances happening around them.

Virtual tours

There is a huge difference between reading about a place or a country in the classroom and then immediately traveling to that place. This is not feasible in the real-world but the metaverse implements such possibilities by offering virtual worldwide tours. By giving the opportunity to the students to travel to any place of their choice in a virtual setting within minutes, the metaverse helps broaden their worldviews and expand their horizons.

Events and people

Prominent figures or people of knowledge and wisdom can be invited by educators in the virtual world of the metaverse in order to help students learn about their various life experiences. They can attend engaging lectures, conferences and symposiums. Several events like fests and exhibitions can also be organized to help them refresh their minds.

How can some subjects make use of the metaverse?

Geography — Astronomy and Geography students can explore the different layers of the earth or the solar system or the constellations through the hyper-realistic visual experience offered by a metaverse.

History — Metaverse has the potential to recreate any specific historical era such that students could learn about it in an immersive way. For example, students can witness the French Revolution as if it is happening live.

Art — Paintings by famous artists can be closely analysed by students within the metaverse and be inspired to create their own digital artwork.

Literature — A novel or a story can be recreated in a metaverse, where students can enter and watch the scenes as they reveal, allowing them to understand the story and relate to the characters better.

Science — Metaverse allows students to experiment in a virtual setup facilitating laboratory activities. For example, they can anatomize a virtual cockroach to learn the anatomy of insects or even conduct experiments on Newton’s weight, mass and gravity or any other important concepts.

Benefits of the Metaverse in education

An immersive learning experience

Metaverse can engage students in a 3D world of imagination where their peers can be viewed and interacted with and also the 3D objects around them, just like in a physical classroom. Be it the modern age or prehistoric stone age, learning through metaverse can virtually transport students to several historical periods, eliminating the need for imagination. Needless to say that it would be amazing to learn about the voyages of Columbus and discovering the 15th-century America.

Gamification

Metaverse teaches concept better because it is engaging and through gamification, it is the process of integrating something with game elements to encourage better user participation. Gamification through metaverse combines both learning and entertainment to increase student participation and engagement where they have to accomplish fun tasks. This inspires students to keep learning and complete their assignments on time.

Hands-on practice

In a real-world setting, hands-on practices can be difficult and risky while metaverse is redefining the conventional means of education by engaging students in hands-on practices. It helps students to grasp theories and sharpen their skills to prepare them for real-life endeavors. Students can conduct unsafe explosive experiments or do complex surgeries within a metaverse without putting someone’s life on risk.

Life-like learning

Life-like ecosystems are offered by Metaverse classrooms that motivate students to interact with their peers and surroundings. Educators can take students to various life-like scenarios in a metaverse where they can participate in activities and then they can discuss their learnings and findings.

Improved learning speed

Employees in VR-enabled courses can learn four times faster than in the classroom environment. The kind of immersive experience brought on by the metaverse’s engrossing hands-on practices, 3D elements, gamification, and fun activities can keep learners a step ahead. Furthermore, metaverse learners feel less distracted, as they can grasp subject topics better through 3D simulations that completely engage an individual’s attention and vision.

The Future of the Metaverse in Education

Ever since Facebook was rebranded to Meta, the term metaverse has been able to draw massive attention. It has inspired the interest of top businesses and brands that have already initiated investment in various metaverse projects. It is true that the concept of metaverse is also crawling into the academic field, its possibilities in the education sector are yet to be explored fully.

In order to increase students’ access to learning through technology and various startups and prominent schools, Meta has invested $150 million through Meta Immersive Learning, exploring the scope of metaverse education as a hope for the future.

With its countless benefits, the metaverse will undoubtedly accelerate learning, renovate the education system, and restructure the existing system into a more innovative, relevant and advanced one.