EDUCATION – POWERING IMMERSIVE EDUCATION

6 Ways the Metaverse Can Positively Impact Learning and Capability Building

1. Learn and connect in an immersive virtual campus

Before and during COVID-19, learning had already begun to move from physical classrooms to more virtual and blended spaces. The metaverse facilitates an immersive campus life, where learners wearing VR headsets enter the virtual campus or university to learn, explore, and socialize. In this digital space, for example, learners can delve into different learning pods, visit libraries and breakout rooms, meet coaches and counselors, and hang out with peers.

2. Enhance real-world skilling in Virtual and Hybrid environments

The metaverse provides experiential, embodied skilling opportunities using real-world scenarios and high-pressure situations, where you can make mistakes without consequence. When well designed, it combines VR with data science and spatial design to improve learner engagement, confidence, and application.

3. Explore different worlds through visualization and storytelling

Visualization and storytelling are two hallmarks of a metaverse learning experience and much needed today after the profusion of boring Zoom experiences during COVID-19. Through VR technology, learners can step into an entirely different world or into another person’s shoes. For example, health care leader DaVita builds patient empathy by using an interactive, multi-sensory first-person story.

4. Build human capabilities in interpersonal or difficult situations

Training staff for soft skills, such as communication, leadership, listening, and empathy is hard to achieve and also measure. The metaverse facilitates this by immersing learners in real-world conflicts and allows them to practice their soft skills in a safe environment, for example, having sensitive or difficult conversations with employees or customers.

5. Improve accessibility for people with disabilities

The metaverse holds promise to improve educational and social access for people with disabilities. For example, an immersive environment offers young adults with special needs, autism, and social interaction issues the ability to improve their interpersonal and job skills, such as visiting a mall or grocery, shelving products at a store, or loading goods in a truck. Through VR apps, they can practice skills and interact with others in a safe environment without feeling overwhelmed or anxious.

VR can also help those with mobility or anxiety issues to improve their quality of life. For instance, the Starlight charity uses VR technology to give pediatric patients the chance to “escape” the walls of their hospital room and be transported into another world. Through VR goggles, they experience playing soccer, hanging out with friends, or visiting faraway places.

6. Increase data capture on learning performance

Using the metaverse to create immersive learning experiences allows organizations to collect hitherto untapped data to gain insights into learner behavior to track progress, identify gaps, and continuously improve the learning experience. Useful data on learner actions includes usage, performance, attention and engagement, sentiment, and predictive analysis. Teachers can also play a more active role in collecting data and analyzing lessons on the effectiveness of such environments for learning. For instance, hand movements are tracked in Pfizer, Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb’s pharma sims. If users cross their hands or angle them the wrong way under the biosafety cabinet, the sim immediately provides feedback and starts over. Every digital footprint can be measured and a dashboard of telemetry data can provide actionable insights to improve the simulation experience.

The metaverse literally means “life” after the internet. Early applications of this new way of learning include virtual campus activities, 3D simulations, and gamified activities. This is only the start—through this technology there are boundless opportunities to reimagine and democratize education in novel ways.

OUR BRANDS ALL THE TRENDING SHOPS FOR YOU