Teaching in the metaverse? Sort the mundane out first

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The internet is awash with contradicting metaverse news. It is currently being predicted that 1 billion people will be shopping, learning, being entertained, networking and doing business in this space by 2030. Inevitably Generation Alphas born in the earlier segment (2010-2024) are already teenagers and will be entering HE in just 5 years. How ready are we as teachers and learning establishments to deal with their expectations?

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Get the preparation right every time

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Talking with metaverse expert, Gary Burnett, who lectures at Nottingham University, we?both decided, pretty quickly, that some basic considerations can impact adoption by teaching staff. For instance, if a broadband connection is flaky your virtual world becomes an inaccessible world, full stop. That could have been the beginning and the end of the conversation but put two HE lecturers together to discuss the metaverse and education you’ll never get less than 45 minutes of excited and excitable conversation. This is just a segment of our discussion with more to follow next time.

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Check Access – boring but game changing

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We began by discussing eduroam. This is the secure, world-wide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community. eduroam allows students, researchers, and staff from participating institutions to obtain Internet connectivity across campus and when visiting other participating institutions by simply opening their laptop. It should be amazing but as we both agreed, its flakiness means it can cause problems and become a barrier. ?During the last semester Gary did a lot of his teaching within virtual reality from home because he couldn't be confident of a reliable connection on campus.?

‘This is crazy and part of the problem regarding adoption of ‘hungry’ tech. Until we've got a decent connection across the country we will struggle. It’s a real issue highlighted during the pandemic. Government was suddenly made acutely aware that a reliable internet connection was not a given across the UK. It caused significant deprivation for many learners during that time when schools and college premises were shut. To assume that everyone accessed learning from a level playing field was blatantly wrong. Even in London, there are still some shocking hot spots of slow connection and also a lack of appropriate equipment. Without capacity and reliability teaching within the metaverse could look like it still belongs in the sci fi genre where the term emerged.'

Gary admitted he was forced to advise his students to access his metaverse teaching sessions from home if possible, because it wasn't clear that they were going to have enough success on campus. This is a factor all educational institutions will need to factor in when discussing the mass adoption of VR for class delivery and exploration.

‘You cannot be serious?’

This isn’t all. During the summer of 2022 the social VR platform Gary chose was unexpectedly blocked by the university. ‘It took much time and effort on my part to work with IT security to provide clearance.’ When you’ve been nominated for awards for teaching this way and are garnering much interest in the press it’s rather frustrating to be blocked by your own ?educational establishment.?Of course, I understand ‘the why’ in one sense, but it does make the practice more than a little frustrating to push forward. Ironically, you end up with a situation where a module can be accessed from all over the world apart from the campus itself! This was finally resolved by the university IT team talking with Mozilla to find a solution. They were unhappy at the risk posed to the system by a social platform like Mozilla and I get it but, well, it took time and patience to resolve satisfactorily. This experience will vary from one university to another but it’s worth checking and not assuming your academic decisions will align with practical application.’

University says no!

It's obvious that teachers embracing VR in their teaching can fall victim to university wide policies and their progress can be vulnerable to process and alternative agendas. It’s worth keeping everyone in the loop very early in discussions.

‘I suppose this is another thing to consider. Until you have complete buy-in, university wide then you're going to hit roadblocks in terms of other people's lack of understanding. I think this is something that doesn't get discussed as often as it should.’

A joined-up strategy is a priority

It’s clear, early on in our conversation that we both believe that infrastructure and joined up thinking around innovation is important if growth really will move away from an item on the political agenda to become a reality. Until we consider a strategy around what the adoption of these new technologies means in every walk of life there will be roadblocks (or should that be Roblox? Ha!) Whether we are talking agritech, automation, A.I, VR, or even solar energy, until all sides collaborate there are so many disconnects it will impact negatively on progress and adoption; both aspects will be slower than they should be.

Agile work practices, organisation and thinking will overcome obstacles

However, some of the more traditional universities sometimes do struggle with wholesale change. Gary finds there are struggles, ‘I've had this quite a bit as I tried to push out my teaching more broadly beyond my modules. Often you hit issues of not wanting to be conservative but simultaneously finding the risk too great. When you’re challenging the status quo, it can look threatening. It’s a pity really because so much was achieved fast, in terms of tech adoption, during Covid but many of the ‘infill’ processes have just returned to business as usual.’

It's true that when the status quo is challenged there can be lots of push back.

We both believe that when there's a certain acceptance of innovation it seems to be framed in the context of things that people are used to. Legacy thinking has always affected how we view the future. Just think of the icons we used on early computers all based on historic images like an historic telephone for calls and floppy disks as save icons. It is poor practice to resort to looking at the future through a legacy lens, but it happens often.

What’s the priority really?

‘A good example’ says Gary ‘is the use of VR headsets. The decision makers may see headsets as a way of creating some memorable experiences while offering an excellent tool for Open Days. So, the immediate thought is to create a VR lab where the headsets live. To me, it seems totally bizarre to contemplate a physical lab with a load of headsets in it as the only way forward here. But I've seen this approach time and time again being suggested. Then when I say I want some headsets and I'm going to give them to the students who will access their learning from wherever, most likely their bedrooms, and they also don't need to be on campus to experience the session, that's extremely challenging to perceived wisdom and expectations. Suddenly the opportunity to look ‘cool’ to students and parents in an Open Day disappears but the student experience improves exponentially when they have the chance to use the headsets daily in their unique virtual world. So, it seems like a non sequitur to suggest that a teacher, working in the metaverse would want students to come to a lab to then go to a virtual space together!’

Escher would love this conundrum

‘Yes, it’s fine if they come in for one off session to use a particular application that's in VR or to do something related to a particular module or a project or something. OK, yes, they've got a place or hub they can use. However, if students are coming to campus to participate in a synchronous metaverse experience in avatar form then it’s madness if they come to a specific physical space to then go to a virtual space. It makes no sense and can cause all kinds of problems. Even something seemingly trivial, but highly annoying, like sound bleed affects the experience in a lab or seminar room.’

It does seem that if you win the case the problems don’t simply disappear.

‘If the decision is made about the purchase of headsets for independent use off campus who’s checking them in and out, or storing them, disinfecting them, making repairs and general maintenance? No lecturer can manage that alone. What happens when bits get lost and how do we manage inbuilt obsolescence? They are your starters for ten. Right now, different generations of headsets have different capabilities and power. These things can be tricky to manage. Also, technology is changing rapidly and of course we must consider the sustainability angle. Already I know that around 10-12 of the headsets I’m responsible for won’t be used next year, and this obsolescence is something we need to consider. However, we cannot overlook this because I know it was hard work for students this year, because their headsets weren't powerful enough for what they wished to achieve.?So, although these learnings appear mundane, in one sense, they do shed light on some of the considerations that individuals, departments and the organisation itself should consider before embarking on teaching and VR. It’s about cost, reputation, access, viability but it’s also about equipping students with contemporary skills for the world they will inhabit. Despite everything we’ve discussed it isn’t a reason for not being part of this revolution.

Then of course there is the issue of motion sickness which some students experience. I think this may disappear as headsets are improved but right now it is a severe problem for some. Therefore, I’ve found it’s good to design the experience to work on a desktop/laptop computer as well as through a headset. There is certainly an access and participation issue right here.'

I wondered how Gary approached the ‘inappropriate use’ and ‘duty of care’ issues with respect to the institution. We decided that it’s not dissimilar from university laptops being used to access dubious websites and one way around this would be to ask students on these courses to come with their own headset as part of their equipment. However, this should not stop us from moving forward. After all, it is important for people to gain knowledge of how to manage aspects of this new landscape. We know that behaviours are changed through knowledge and regulation doesn’t solve the original behaviour patterns. Experience is important. This of course sheds light on some interesting scenarios. This module that I’m teaching concerns VR and the human factors that affect engineering design issues. It’s very popular. Before COVID it was a final year option/ postgraduate module and typically attracted about 30 students. It now has 122. It’s risen exponentially. I used to teach it as a traditional lecture/ seminar approach and now I have a couple of in person sessions at the beginning and then everything after that is done in my virtual teaching space. Even managing headsets for everyone is a challenge. However, the surveys completed suggest that students are much more engaged in the sessions, and they felt they learn more and were better able to express themselves and communicate. So there are a lot of positive aspects to this but you do start thinking about how this all scales up ultimately, and how it's going to fit the university model moving forward.

In Part 2 we’ll look at the thorny issue of avatars, virtual worlds, creating learning experiences and more.