Remember all the hype about the metaverse in education?
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Just two years ago, a 3D virtual realm for education seemed imminent. To signal its massive investment in the VR space, Facebook changed its name to Meta and launched TV commercials showcasing classes taking place in the new immersive world. Several college campuses have begun building replicas of their real campuses in VR spaces, partly with funding from Meta. The think tank released a report on how to best use VR spaces for education. (EdSurge receives philanthropic support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, co-owned by Meta's CEO. Learn more about EdSurge ethics and policies here and supporters here.)
The rumor has all but died down. This is especially true when it comes to the idea of setting up a shared virtual space like the one imagined by the science fiction writer who coined the term metaverse.
So what happened to the early education experiment in the Metaverse, and what do people watching the space think is next?
To find out, we spoke to two experts on this week's EdSurge Podcast. These are the same people who appeared as guests two years ago at the height of the metaverse craze. The guests are Greg Heiberger, associate dean for academic and student success at South Dakota State University, and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, professor of psychology at Temple University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
“It’s actually okay for a lot of rumors to go elsewhere. Because it doesn't help us focus on the shiny object… Because it helps us focus on what’s really important to us,” says Heiberger. Meta creating a campus with VR.
But he admits there are downsides.
“What's heartbreaking is that there was money. Money was flowing directly from Meta into education. And that tab was pretty well closed, and I think that's a tough thing to do,” he says.
Hirsh-Pasek points out that there have been important developments in VR, even if they haven't received much attention. For example, she praised Apple's recently released Apple Vision Pro. Apple Vision Pro solves an important challenge for technology by choosing to allow users to see the outside world even while wearing a headset, she says. Testing her device, she said she felt truly immersed in a demo that made users feel like they were walking among dinosaurs. “But you’re basically watching an Imax movie,” she said of the device’s benefits. “And we need more for education. We need interaction. And it has to be social.” Her current emphasis is on devices that are “built for entertainment,” but her “dream” is that more social aspects could be added later.
Both experts still see important applications of VR in education and concepts like the metaverse emerging to provide students with more experiential learning. And they are calling on technology companies to seek input from educators and education researchers as they continue to develop the hardware that would make such virtual worlds possible.
Hear their experiences and predictions in this week's episode. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts, or use the player on this page.