As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I mean to keep digging into the next steps of the metaverse and exploring it with you. Today, we explore the future of learning.
Remember Baby Einstein videos? Those VCR tapes meant to stimulate your baby’s brain and make her into a genius.
Now, we have the “Immersive Learning Project” headed by Mark Zuckerberg. I know, it’s unsettling linking Zuckerberg with our children’s future learning, but his company, Meta, is leading the charge with a “metaverse project.”
Much like Apple’s “Kids Can’t Wait” program which donated thousands of desktop computers to California classrooms, Meta is donating their Quest VR headsets to ten universities this fall with a $150 million program.
The ten institutions that are included in this trial are: Morehouse College, University of Maryland Global Campus, University of Kansas School of Nursing, New Mexico State University, South Dakota State University, Florida A&M University, West Virginia University, Southwestern Oregon Community College, California State University, Dominguez Hills, and Alabama A&M University. All of which are holding virtual classes this Fall.
VictoryXR is the software used for this extended reality education experience designed by Steve Grubbs. Grubbs was the chairman of the Iowa House of Representatives education committee in the early nineties and passed the state’s firsts technology funding bill for K-12 schools. His vision is to create a product that will foster a love for learning.
VictoryXR “classrooms include a library of virtual field trips—from a visit to the Grand Canyon to an Iowa farm to the Great Wall of China. These are essentially 360-degree photographs that users can step into. VictoryXR has also created about 100 other animated virtual spaces available to colleges and homeschoolers, including a ride aboard the HMS Beagle to the Galapagos Islands, a walk through the U.S. Senate chambers and the Underground Railroad Museum.”
VictoryXR is working with universities to build digital campuses that reflect their essence and recreate them as a digital twin.
In creating the campus, Grubbs’ teams use a mix of Google Earth images, photos of the institution, and architectural plans. Most digital campuses of 5-7 buildings take approximately 8-12 weeks to build at a cost of about $50,000. VictoryXR hopes to have 100 campuses up and functioning in the next year.
Each of the ten campuses participating in the Meta Immersive Learning Project, have different plans for their digital classes. Although the plan is for all students to be immersed in their learning environments, the classes are varied.
Chemistry and Anatomy classes will have students running experiments, World History and English classes will have students taking virtual field trips, Art classes will have students drawing in 3D, while “the nursing school is planning to use VR to simulate patient interactions.”
“Patients are not all the same size, shape or color, VR provides an opportunity to see patients, one behind the next, who are diverse. It presents more opportunities than you’d have with a single mannequin.”
Learning in the metaverse may seem like a huge leap, but it lends itself to a pseudo time-travel experience; like transporting oneself into a universe of the past, present, or future. It can simulate experiences to help prepare us in our jobs and in life. Most youth today are familiar with video games and sci-fi shows that portray alternate universes.
I am a big believer in this type of learning. In 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics shows an overall decline in scores for young students in both reading and mathematics. Our current education system is failing so many of our kids, imagine how introducing this new technology into the classroom will help motivate and build interest for them. I recognize that the virtual learning space will be in a state of flux for some time and has hurdles to overcome; however, I do trust that it is here to stay. With a committed and methodical R&D approach, metaverse learning can garner incredible results to help elevate our current education system and provide kids with a desire to learn at a level they have never experienced before.
Stay Curious!
~Iris Pearlman
Metaversity Is In Session As Meta And Iowa’s VictoryXR Open 10 Virtual Campuses-Forbes
