You most likely have been hearing more about the metaverse recently, the 3D virtual reality universe! The Metaverse will revolutionize education, and as an educator, I view the metaverse as a complimentary digital tool to the teaching-learning process, I think it will revolutionize the way we do education!

The Wall Street Journal reports that between 2018 and 2021, the combined revenue from virtual reality enterprises has risen from $829m to $3.5b, and the prediction is that the revenue will continue to sharply rise to $4.8b by 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased focus on the immersed environment of virtual reality and the metaverse, and currently, 40% of the top 1,000 corporations in the US are using virtual reality for office space. Education is paying attention to the virtual reality space, with several metaverse campuses already in development.

So, what is the metaverse? And what is its place in education?

The metaverse is a huge virtual network space that allows people to interact with one another on the Internet, in 3D. I have recently begun to experience the metaverse myself and I finally now have the opportunity to “teleport” to different places. It is like walking into a school with many classrooms, or a museum with different exhibits and experiences. I have teleported from one virtual place to another – all 3D spaces, all very close to reality, if not closer than I had expected! The metaverse isn’t just about socializing and game playing it goes beyond entertainment and I can create virtual workspaces, homes, and experiences.

Even though the technology is in its infancy it is still amazing to use and experience. When I am in the virtual world with my headset on, I can be there alone or with someone else, I can be there with a group of people who can all see my nonverbal gestures, and I can see theirs. We can talk back and forth in real-time and socialize or work together. The tools within the virtual workspaces are amazing, the ability to move around, draw mind maps, work on whiteboards, share computer screens, and much more, make a complete working environment very real-and dare I say it, in some cases where tools are not available in the “real” world, even better!

Adopting a digital virtual life and becoming familiar with all it has to offer is an important step to take to begin to learn the skills necessary to navigate this new and immersive world. AI and supercomputers will only increase the ability to function and conduct business within a virtual arena, so jumping in and embracing these new tools will help us to develop the fundamental skills we will need. Much like when we moved from DOS to Windows, (yes, I was there), when we began to use a Mouse (I was there too), and when we began to use the internet, there were folks who were hesitant to adopt and adapt to those technologies, thinking they were a fad. As I began to teach social media ten years ago, that too was considered a fad, not necessary for the business world. But, here we are today, all of those things are major daily pieces of our personal and professional lives! Think of this, our experience on the web and on social media will soon be very different because of the influence of the metaverse!

During my experience as a Career Technical Education administer, I soon learned how difficult it was to provide up-to-date and industry-standard instructional resources in a timely manner due to space constraints, and cost constraints. In these fiscally challenging times, with decreasing enrollments, and growing workforce supply demands, we are constantly seeking new ways to meet those challenges and best serve the students’ needs. I think that embracing Virtual Reality as a method of instruction will help with equipment costs, space constraints, and facility costs, and will naturally add to the student experience! There are Universities and Colleges currently embracing the VR space, teaching and learning continue to evolve.

So in between my working life, and teleporting all around the globe and space, I am exploring how best to develop an immersive virtual reality classroom to expand my ability to prepare students for the technical skills that will be required of them to function in the workplace/educational setting of the very near future! More to come….