Learning In the Metaverse

Learning in the Metaverse

"Even though it was initially marketed as a new kind of massive multiplayer online game, the OASIS quickly evolved into a new way of life."

Ernest Cline, Ready Player One

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The metaverse is here, and it is rapidly growing. You may already be familiar with VR and AR (Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality); these are both elements that help make up the metaverse. Just as a few years ago the internet, followed by cloud computing, infiltrated our pedagogy, so too will the metaverse, which prompts the question, "What will teaching in the Metaverse be like?"

Currently, the metaverse itself is still under development, it is in its infancy. It is still growing and taking form, which presents an opportunity for educators, policymakers, and digital designers to take a leading role in its evolution. In this article, I will examine how we, as educators, can prepare for the metaverse and integrate elements of it into our current teaching practices today as well as using current research to peer over the horizon and reinvent our classrooms for tomorrow.

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What is the Metaverse?

Defining the term 'metaverse' is not as easy you may initially think. Roblox, Epic Games and Adobe all use the term metaverse, while Facebook just rebranded itself with the new moniker 'Meta'. The reality is that no single person or company will not define the term metaverse. Like all vocabulary throughout history, the language we use to describe the metaverse is ever-changing. In the Forbes Magazine article Defining the Metaverse Today, Eric Redmond attempted a definition stating that the, "Metaverse is the all-encompassing space in which all digital experience sits; the observable digital universe made up of millions of digital galaxies."

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Teaching at the Dawn of the Metaverse

Thanks to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the skills needed to succeed in the global workforce are being redefined. Today's workplaces require workers to come prepared with new ways of thinking and solving problems. As the skills needed for new careers evolve, employers, governments, educational leaders and their citizens are calling for education systems to better prepare their students with future-ready skills so they will be able to get ready for jobs that still do not exist. (Brookings, 2020)

As educators, we understand that teaching and learning practices need to evolve and focus on other paradigms in which the main objective is not only the transfer of knowledge, but the development of skills and competence that will be relevant for when students will be joining the workforce.

According to the Brookings Institute research paper "Realising the Promise: How can education technology improve learning for all?" the introduction of EDtech solutions that form part of the metaverse has been identified as a potentially game-changing disruption for schools systems.

Chief amongst this thinking is the ability for teachers to use the metaverse to facilitate differentiated instruction, expand opportunities for practice, and increase student engagement. While the metaverse currently sounds like a distant possibility, the reality is the technologies that make up the metaverse are here right now and available for our classrooms. (Brookings, 2022)

The metaverse an immersive digital experience. It is the umbrella experience for the very best of digital technologies. Delivered effectively by teachers, with the science of learning and real children in mind, the possibilities for teaching and learning are limitless. Three ways you could be using metaverse technologies in your classroom today include using deep-fake tech, AR/VR and Artificial Intelligence.

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Deep-fake Tech

Deep-fake technology is the creation of a digital video (or audio file) that presents itself as an authentic human; however it is a pure digital entity. Deep-fake technology is often referenced in the media as a malicious technology where scammers can fool innocent people. Recently, Hollywood is using deep-fake technologies to alter actors or create completely digital acting performances. In the classroom, deep-fake technology has the potential to do a lot of good, especially in the area of accessibility.

Imagine a non-verbal student who, for the first time, is able to authentically participate in oral presentations. Using a deep-fake generator, students can input the text of their speech/presentation and have a deep-fake avatar do the presentation for them. This provides support for new arrival students who may still be learning the language and other students who need support with oral presentations.

Deep-fake technologies are readily available. Adobe has a fun creative example with their Adobe Character Animator tool, PodCastle is another option that allows students to input text and have a 'digital voice speak for them and create a podcast and my current go to is synthesia.io Synthesia allows you to select a digital person to read text for you, and you can alter the background and even overlay music. Here is an example I made: salakas.me/deepfake

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AR/VR in Edu

Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) are sometimes referred to as 'mixed' or Extended Reality (XR). These terms refer to immersive technologies that allow users to blend their physical and digital worlds, thus creating powerful experiences. A great number of immersive experiences will allow you to manipulate and interact with virtual objects and even with other users. It is clear that Adobe in their 2022 Whitepaper, Metaverses and other Shared Immersive Experiences, found that, "Some immersive experiences will be delivered through virtual reality and fully envelop the visitor. Others will be delivered through augmented reality and mix virtual experiences with the physical world. Still others will be delivered through the web and other platforms." (Adobe, 2022). "These immersive experiences will include metaverses — rich, persistent, shared interactive experiences with collaboration and co-creation, as well as fully functioning shared economies — along with other experiences targeted to shopping, job training, play and gaming, education, remote meetings, cultural experiences, and more." (Adobe, 2022).

While we are yet to mainstream adoption of VR hardware in schools, there is a vast array of rapidly expanding tools that teachers and students can utilise. This ever-growing list of tools and platforms can be difficult for teachers to keep track of. To support educators overcome this challenge, grassroots movements like 'The Virtual Reality Podcast'.

As educators, our focus should not necessarily be on the array of emerging brands and software incarnations but on the pedagogical purpose of why we incorporate immersive technologies into our curriculum. As Greg Kulowiec says, "To move beyond pure novelty in education, Virtual Reality needs to shift from a platform of pure consumption, to one of creation & immersive storytelling" (Make XR, 2017). This aligns with the writings from thought leaders like Sam Cawthorne who challenge us to extend the idea of storytelling into a more nuanced 'storyshowing'. "Storytelling has been shown to be one of the most effective methods of persuasion, motivation and inspiration, yet the disconnect remains — you're still only telling. To truly influence people, you need to go deeper than that — you need to show them your story. By inviting your audience in, you connect on a much deeper, more emotional level; you bypass the brain and connect at the root of what it means to be human, leaving a profound impact on their entire outlook." (Cawthorne, 2022)

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AI – Artificcal Inteligence

An integral part of any immersive educational metaverse will be Artificial Intelligence (AI). As a society, we have begun to see the subtle integration of AI (Artificial Intelligence) into our daily lives. We know the Netflix AI helps us pick a movie we may like and facial recognition AI helps us lock our phones but what does the emergence of artificial intelligence and machine learning in education look like?

The fact is that artificial intelligence in education grew by 47.5% between 2017-2021 according to the Artificial Intelligence Market in the US Education Sector report. (2021). This means that just as AI has been discreetly integrated into our everyday activities, so to has AI been implanted into education tasks. AI personalises online games and digital learning journeys. This is evident when a digital activity corrects its difficulty to match the ability of the student and ensure that any work they face is pitched in the student’s zone of proximal development. These immersive experiences that help teachers tailor personalised learning experiences for their students are demonstrations of the immersion that students will experience in an educational metaverse.

Technology companies rely on AI to make tasks more user friendly in the classroom environment. The AI that sits in Microsoft Sway allows it to grab text from a Word document and process it into a web-based Sway presentation. The much loved Canva tool supports students by aligning text and images in real-time to support the creative process of publishing, the list is endless. However, in a metaverse scenario, the teacher will use AI like a digital teacher’s aide. The AI will be able to identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses in a topic set by the teacher and adjust the learning task accordingly. It will simultaneously provide feedback to the teacher. The data in this feedback will be both individualised and representative of the whole class. This will allow the teacher to provide targeted, explicit instruction laser-focused at the point of need. Additionally, the AI can support the student outside of conventional school hours, providing flexibility with hybrid learning allowing growth and development to occur when and where the student needs it.

Personal assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home already have the immersive technology inbuilt to enhance accessibility. Being about to translate and explain tasks or have written text read out loud means many students who found some task exclusionary can be fully engaged in learning. The challenge on this front is not the emergence of the technology but the societal and legislative expectations., said Peter Leonard, Professor of Practice for the School of Information Systems & Technology Management and the School of Management & Governance at UNSW Business School recently highlighted that, “ the models and data architectures (of AI tools) were not designed for privacy and for security by design as the default.” (UNSW, 2022). This is particularly relevant in the education industry, where we are particularly focused on student privacy and protecting the personal data of minors. Genuine political leadership is required to balance the safety and security needs of education with the potential benefits that

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Preparing for the Coming Years

David Thornburg's work in, 'From the campfire to the Holodeck' examines the role that classroom design plays in amplifying the impact of technology. Thornburg argues that “The adoption of new standards is not enough. Fundamental changes in teaching strategies take a long time to adopt … Engagement is the key objective. With the goal of creating environments that engage challenged learners and provide opportunities for flow. (Thornburg. 2013). As technology enhances the teaching and learning experience, particularly through a potential educational metaverse, we need to examine and re-evaluate the physical design of our modern classrooms and strive to ensure that pedagogy drives the degsin of modern learning spaces.

Even the Australian Research Council agrees that the best innovative learning environments, “start with the teachers talking about what sort of teaching and learning they want to see, and building the space around that, as opposed to architects having to solve both pedagogic and design issues by themselves.” (Australian Research Council, 2019).

As we move towards teaching in the metaverse, it becomes immediately apparent that the physical solutions revolving around classroom design and practicality become an essential aspect of purposeful future planning.

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Conclusion

As the metaverse evolves and begins to take shape this is vital that, "scientists, educators and developers co-construct engaging, immersive, and collaborative opportunities that are good for children and families. Understanding how to support learning goals through harnessing the power of active, engaging, meaningful, socially interactive, iterative, and joyful contexts will transform flashy and fun digital experiences into truly educational ones with true social interaction at their core." (Brookings, 2022). One of the lessons that we all collectively took away from teaching and learning during the pandemic is that social and emotional interaction is a non-negotiable element of a child's education. With this knowledge fresh in our minds we need to ensure that these elements are built into the metaverse and our future digital pedagogy from the dawn of learning in the metaverse.

References:

Adobe. (n.d.). Metaverses and other shared immersive experiences. Retrieved from https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/cc/us/en/metaverse/metaverse-whitepaper-and-immersive-experiences.pdf

Cawthorn, S. (n.d.). Storyshowing. Sam Cawthorn. Retrieved from https://www.samcawthorn.com/storyshowing

Cline, E. (2020). Ready player one. Century.

Hackl, C. (2021, September 3). Defining the metaverse Today. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathyhackl/2021/05/02/defining-the-metaverse-today/?sh=a2b9e6c64485

Hirsh-Pasek, K., Zosh, J. M., Hadani, H. S., Golinkoff, R. M., Clark, K., Donohue, C., & Wartella, E. (2022, March 9). A whole new world: Education meets the metaverse. Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/a-whole-new-world-education-meets-the-metaverse/

Kulowiec, G. (n.d.). Make XR. FutureWe. Retrieved from https://futurewe.org/makexr

Poth, R. D. (n.d.). Rachelle Dene Poth FETC by the Virtual Reality Podcast. Anchor. Retrieved from https://anchor.fm/the-virtual-reality-podcast/episodes/Rachelle-Dene-Poth-FETC-ea81hs?