Like every other sector, education too is impacted by the rapid pace of technology. Education technology has and is transforming how we learn and teach. The education sector cannot be immune to the times and digital transformation is the way ahead to stay competitive and relevant.
The metaverse is one digital advance that is generating a lot of attention. It is also seeing mass adoption across all sectors- be it retail, banking, healthcare, manufacturing, etc. It is just a matter of time before the educational metaverse gallops ahead integrating all institutes in its wake to drive technology–powered education.
Benefits of Educational Metaverse and How to Access Metaverse
There is no doubt that the metaverse can captivate a student’s imagination. This increases the motivation of the student to learn vs. being forced to study and memorize dull and boring chapters. Moreover, the metaverse for education offers hands-on and experiential learning. With the help of VR labs, students can perform all types of experiments which otherwise they might not have access to.
Also Read- How to access metaverse
The metaverse can be deployed for all ages and grades. From pre-elementary to high school to even colleges and medical and engineering institutes. In fact, it is proving to be a valuable tool in corporate learning and development as well.
The metaverse is a shared and persistent mirror world. Since it is an internet technology powered by AR and VR, one would need an internet device to access the metaverse. The immersion and simulation get hyper-real with the help of AR and VR gear.
Some of the major benefits that metaverse in education can offer include the:
- Active and Experiential Learning
- Enhances visualization and knowledge acquisition capabilities
- Learning through Gamification
- No physical barriers
- Inclusive and Integrative
- Multi-sensory Learning
- Skilling and Upskilling
- Safe and Secure space
What Is an Avatar?
A metaverse avatar is a digital or virtual representation of a person. The metaverse is a shared and immersive space where connections and social interactions can take place for various purposes. An avatar can be configured to have as near a possible representation of users that enables them to carry out various activities in the virtual world. The avatar’s mannerisms, behavior, actions, and decisions can resemble their humans with the help of Artificial Intelligence technology. Or users can incorporate something very different from them. All metaverse will be populated by human-like avatars and can be customized from hair to accessories through NFTs.
Within the context of the metaverse for education, students can choose and create virtual representations. They can probably create a digital copy or twin of themselves or maybe go for a fictional digitized animal, object, or person that becomes their digital identity.
How can the metaverse for education deploy avatars?
Being present in the space
The metaverse is a shared 3-D space. The level of immersion is high and users feel as if they are present within the environment. Within the metaverse classrooms, students can feel an integral part of the environment and behave, think and act as they would do in real life. It is more immersive and natural than a video call or session.
Peer-to-Peer Learning
Students can interact with other students to learn, carry out experiments or on project work. Students can help each other to complete tasks and projects ot explain some concepts to their peers. This fosters teamwork while enhancing the learning curve.
Social Skills
Students can collaborate and share and discuss ideas with their peers from anywhere in the world.With digital avatars, many students can overcome their inhibitions if they are not comfortable in social settings. Teachers too can pair students depending on their capabilities and requirements thus fostering social bonds.
Be Versatile
Students can choose from a variety of avatars to represent themselves. For example, for a particular class, they might feel a serious and professional look would be better, whereas for another they might prefer a more informal get-up. Students can change to fit into their learning spaces. This makes them more comfortable and hence less distracted and more focused on learning.
Wrapping Up
A study conducted on avatar technology reports that avatars can help build trust and familiarity, making them effective for social bonding and networking. They are also helpful for students who face social anxiety issues to open up and communicate better. Students enjoy the process of creating avatars and that adds up to their interest to enter the metaverse for education. Avatars offer enhanced student engagement, quality interactions and empower inhibited students.
Edverse is a leading educational metaverse company working on offering customized metaverse education solutions. Edverse offers robust and design effective avatar solutions for students and teachers.
