How Metaverse will transform Education forever

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the education sector as approximately 1.6 billion students from 192 countries, or 91 percent of the world’s student population, have experienced educational disruptions.

As we all know, this disruption led to online education hastily emerging as an important new platform. However, approximately 29 percent of young people worldwide, about 364 million individuals, are not online. In many ways, the digital divide is now wider than ever. We do, however, have an opportunity to ensure that the integration of emerging technologies is further accelerated and that online delivery becomes an integral component of education. This should, in theory, lead to more inclusive and creative pedagogical solutions.

ENTER METAVERSE – SET TO SHAPE LEARNING

Earlier this year 2021, amidst the pandemic wave, the term Metaverse crept into our lives – and it won’t let go. In this context, the prefix ‘meta‘ means beyond and ‘verse’ refers to the universe. Tech companies use the word to describe what comes after the Internet. Metaverse is simply a hyper-realistic, immersive and interactive shared virtual space where humans are represented by avatars (digital versions of ourselves) with the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology. In this virtual world, you can get together with friends and family, work, learn, shop and much more.

What is the Metaverse?

The metaverse is a virtual world in which users, represented by an avatar, can shop, socialise, take part in leisure activities – and learn. Its development has become a priority for many tech companies, including Facebook (which recently changed its company name to Meta) Microsoft, and the whole Silicon Valley bunch.

6 CORE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE METAVERSE

1. BOUNDLESS – As a 3D virtual space, the metaverse eliminates all types of barriers, physical or otherwise. It’s an endless space where there are no limits to how many people can use it at the same time, what types of activities can take place, what industries can enter it, etc. It widens accessibility more than current internet platforms.

2. CONSISTENT – A metaverse can’t be unplugged, reboot or reset. Users can enter it freely at any time, from anywhere in the world, and in doing so there’s always continuity to their experience. A metaverse will evolve over time based on the shared contributions of its users, like the content and experiences designed by them.

3. DECENTRALIZED – The metaverse isn’t owned by a corporation or a single platform, but by all of its users, who can also take control over their private data. Blockchain technology is a big part of this (more details later on) because it ensures that all transactions within a virtual world are public, easily tracked and safe at all times.

4. IMMERSIVE – Whether you’re using a VR headset, AR glasses or just your smartphone, you’ll be able to enter a new level of immersion and interactivity, where all human senses are more fully engaged and users feel more present in their experiences. As a highly realistic space, the metaverse will also have the capacity to adapt to its users who can directly influence, for example, its environments, objects, colors, lighting, and more.

5. VIRTUAL ECONOMIES – Metaverse participants are able to engage in decentralized virtual economies powered by cryptocurrency (like Sensorium Galaxy’s very own SENSO. This includes marketplaces where users can buy, sell and exchange items like digital assets like avatars, virtual clothing, NFTs and event tickets.

6. SOCIAL EXPERIENCES – The beating heart of the metaverse boils down to its users. Every participant in a virtual world takes part in co-experiences and helps co-create the future of the metaverse through user-generated content, from virtual creations to personal stories and interactions with AI-driven avatars.

In a recent video presentation, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined the ways in which the metaverse would supposedly revolutionise life. Education was a key focus. Learning would become an immersive experience.

By donning glasses or a headset, students could virtually “teleport” to any place or time. They could bring any object – a planet, a human organ, a car engine – to them to learn about it.

Some aspects of the metaverse have already made their way into a few universities, but the real revolutionary potential of the metaverse lies in how it allows for further impact and profit to be made in higher education. As my recent research on digital technologies and higher education shows, these developments may further monetise the student experience and exploit the work of academics.

Now that technological organizations like Microsoft, Facebook, now called Meta and many others have announced their involvement in the race to deliver Metaverse solutions, these solutions will equip internet users with the ability to be at any place in the world at any time in the form of avatars. Through Metaverse people will be able to visit, shop, play games, and interact with any part of the world without leaving their homes. Users also have the opportunity to attend business meetings, conferences, and even lectures anywhere in the world. Virtual reality headsets like Meta’s Oculus VR headsets are infrastructures these technology companies are building for this incredible possibility.

The world has recorded several forms of educational tourism, a situation where foreign students have to leave their countries to other countries of the world to pursue higher educations. Educational tourism remains one of the biggest forms of tourism and this is made possible through various scholarship programs and incentives students from developing countries receive from developed countries. For students who are unable to secure such scholarships, migrating to other countries for the sake of education can be a really expensive venture as they have to worry about the high cost of tuition, accommodation, feeding, and other logistics.

Metaverse could actually be a lasting solution to such huge educational expenses. Already many institutions in thrive countries abroad have offered online degrees and courses that can be taken remotely. The metaverse presents an opportunity where students can actually have all the experience of being in the class without physically leaving their country of residence.

What are the Benefits of the Metaverse to Education and Learning?

1. Metaverse could drastically reduced education cost

With the invention of the metaverse today, the high cost of gaining a degree from an international institution will be significantly reduced as students all over the world would no longer need to worry about the huge cost associated with migrating to other countries. Automatically, migration costs like Visa application fees, plane tickets, accommodation, and feeding are simply eliminated through the use of the metaverse. In the metaverse, students will be able to receive lectures directly from the comfort of their homes while having the experience of a physical class. This means a single avatar (human) can move between spaces – such as an online shop and a lecture hall, and this is already happening.

2. Metaverse could revolutionize remote learning

During the COVID-19 pandemic, while the world was on standstill, the world appreciated the importance of remote learning, virtual meetings, etc. The pandemic proved that learning does not always have to be carried out in a physical space. With the incorporation of virtual learning in the academic sector, physical learning space will be decongested. The metaverse will help to reduce the number of students that show up in a class physically.

3. Metaverse could reduce racial discrimination

One of the biggest challenges for students who migrate to other countries for educational purposes sometimes is having to deal with racial discrimination. Well not in all cases, but more times than a few, some form of discrimination ensues. While racism still appears to the world as a thing of the past, immigrants still surfer these racial discriminations daily in famous countries of the world. The Virtual learning option available in the metaverse creates an opportunity that helps foreign students feel safer.

The metaverse also throws a challenge on to Universities all over the world that opens doors to foreign students for studies. These universities have to develop virtual infrastructures foreign students can take advantage of through technology. This means that Universities have to build realistic virtual communities that would foster intercultural relationships amongst students.

The idea of having metaverse optimized for distance learning seems promising and exciting at the same time, however, it doesn’t come without its challenges. For students in third-world countries or developing countries, the challenge of adequate internet infrastructure may be a major problem. Slow internet, expensive data subscription, and low bandwidth are challenges that may appear to jeopardize these efforts. Other challenges that may threaten the use of metaverse for learning also include the problems of cyber fraud and identity theft. We believe technology companies building these infrastructures have measures in place to cater to all these. The metaverse project is a very useful technology for learning. Its advantages, in the nearest future, will surpass all disadvantages it may present. Educational institutions across the world should begin having discussions that will foster the viability and sustainability of virtual learning within the education sector.

4. Metaverse could transform Academics into Edutainers

Academics might become edutainers, working with developers to create experiences for students. The future for university lecturers might lie in self-employment, providing tailor-made learning experiences for a range of customers.

It will be possible for money to be transferred between the metaverse and reality. Students may find that their learning can be paid for in a variety of new ways. This might be buying a virtual seat in a lecture hall with a particularly entertaining animated professor, converting a qualification earned in the virtual world into a real-world certificate or paying fees in bitcoin.

Ultimately, the metaverse might result in the end of some traditional forms of university education. Rather than attending a single bricks-and-mortar institution, students might flock to the cyber-physical realm instead. In the metaverse, they could learn from virtual experiences provided by a range of global universities.

5. Metaverse could marry learning and gaming

In the last decade, environments were often used for Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games or specialized simulations created by professional developers. With the progress in computational power, internet access, speed, and graphical 3D recreations are possible on any ordinary home computer. We are starting to see in the virtual world’s emanant behaviours that rival the outbreak of creativity, innovation, and engagement seen in other web-based media. Very soon, you’d be playing a game of Fortnite or Roblox as much as solving homework in the 3D virtual environment with your friends and even an instructor.

Higher education institutions can benefit from many of the same cost-saving techniques as businesses. Virtual worlds hold enormous promise for providing a platform for faculty, staff, and students to interact in an environment that can be entirely flexible to accommodate different needs. How would teaching change if students had ready access to professionals and experts in their native environment?

Metaverse augmented reality technology online platform tiny person concept. Virtual futuristic social media connection with 3D tech and new innovative digital world opportunities vector illustration.

A full-fledged metaverse might be years, if not at least a whole decade away. There are still plenty of technical hurdles to overcome, starting with the fact that the world doesn’t have an online infrastructure that could sustain millions (or even billions) of people using the metaverse at the same time. Adding to that, uninterrupted and reliable internet connection is a key building block of the metaverse because a glitchy, ‘loading’ virtual world scenario is a far cry from what a bona fide metaverse is supposed to look like. But technology like 5G and edge computing is still under development, and is currently unable to meet the demands of a complex infrastructure like a metaverse. There are also other issues associated with data privacy and security. Only time will tell when stepping into the first true metaverse will be reality – but when you do, I’ll see you there.

Who’s ready for the coming education disruption by Metaverse?