TEACH AND BE TAUGHT

The metaverse is going to have a big influence on many parts of society, but I believe that education and training are spheres where it will find ecosystems to revolutionize the way things are done.

There are three vertices to the triangle, based on e-learning. First, there is how the metaverse will be able to help people when it comes to learning and training. Second, we’ll also have to teach the teachers, since their role is going to change. We cannot imagine how hard it will be for teaching staff when interacting with their students remotely, speaking to them directly through VR headsets, without having the proper knowledge on how to go about things. In addition, teachers will be the best people to generate new content. Finally, in order for all this to come about, we must not forget that the technology, the foundation on which the metaverse will be built, is yet to be developed.

We need to train, even without the metaverse’s help, the young people who will have to manufacture the tools, the universes, the avatars, and the relationships between all these elements over the next decade, all the while following the laws and regulations that governments put forth in terms of this new way of life.

CARRYING OUT THE TRANSFORMATION

When we talk about the possibilities of an immersive reality in the field of education, we cannot think that a simple system, methodology, or tool will cover all needs. There are studies that indicate that teaching done using Virtual Reality (VR) works up to four times faster than traditional teaching, and that students themselves trust the information they receive via this system more than that which they receive through normal classes. But this study was done with university students, and things are not the same in primary education, vocational training, and the continuing education courses that are taught at companies. The examples of activities in which this type of technology has begun to be used, a prelude to the true metaverse, have been a clear success.

At the university level, the medical field is seeing a reduction in the cost of training professionals since they are able to use very expensive medical instruments, perform open-heart operations, and practice techniques that require a specific laboratory in a fully virtual way. The good thing about the use of this technology in university settings is that universities can be the first to apply the “Learn by doing” philosophy, as they’re going to manufacture and build the metaverse simultaneously and, as technology improves, they can apply it in real time to all their study programs.

TRIAL - ERROR (OR NOT)

It’s in China where the greatest number of real experiences with primary school students are being undertaken. I dare not use the word “experiment,” but, at the moment, everything that is being done on the metaverse is, in fact, in beta mode. Studying history is no longer simply reading and memorizing important dates. It’s no longer necessary to imagine the battles or the most epic moments of humankind. Technology will allow us to visit those places and situations, with our avatar, in order to experience them in the company of other students, and not only the students in our own class, but ones around the entire globe.

The pandemic allowed the online class model to reach students of all ages. And all the mistakes that were made when implementing this online system – forced by circumstances – will be very useful for us to understand how to deploy training in the metaverse.

An important point is missing when we talk about compulsory education at early ages. In every country there are educational laws and relationship models governing teachers and students, but these are nothing like the way things are going to be in the future. A fixed educational plan, the idea of maintaining exams, and differentiating what each student is going to have to learn by a certain age, will all become obsolete in the metaverse ecosystem.

The sooner laws are adapted, or at least thought about, the sooner we’ll see a quick evolution in the technology. We hope that, at this time, the technology won’t have to wait for the permission of a school inspector to be applied in the classroom.

TO THE CLASSROOM AND BEYOND

Industry is also one of the great beneficiaries when it comes to accessing training inside the metaverse. Tool simulators will allow us to have a digital clone, a perfect replica of, for example, a factory, in which we can practice mistakes with machines without having to shut down the plant for a day and without breaking any equipment. This will allow us to learn how to repair pieces of infrastructure that are currently almost untouchable.

Selling our products in countries with different languages will no longer be an obstacle since the current language training systems are allowing for inclusion in the metaverse, making it possible for everyone to understand, in their own language, what the avatars are talking about.

The contents and the way of teaching will be nothing like it is currently done in the classroom. We may start with a more traditional model, at first, but students may feel more comfortable studying in a forest-like environment, rather than in their classroom; or they might prefer to read rather than watch a video, or see for real how projectile motion works. The teacher will have to learn to become a guide, a counsellor, a person who knows how to find and incorporate interesting content into the classroom.

LET’S NOT BE LATE TO THE FUTURE

Thanks to the tools that are currently being developed, teachers will change their roles in the classroom, becoming both teachers and students, and they’ll have a big say in how the metaverse evolves. Teachers should be the first to adopt all the technological tools, and also the ones to help us improve those tools. But, so that no one is left behind, they must gradually integrate the current educational model and the new plan. This transition will, at some point, bring the real sphere and the virtual one together, as they converge.

There is still a long way to go before all this becomes a reality, but, little by little, we’re taking small steps towards it. Now it’s necessary to ask ourselves many things. How long will it be until the metaverse ends up in our classrooms? Why haven’t we explained to teachers yet what the metaverse is and how it’s going to change everything? What are governments doing to adapt laws and educational plans to this new reality?