How can the metaverse transform learning?

Mirecka-Jakubowska: This is a very long story that dates back to the 1970s, when I attended the United Nations International School in New York. (Laughs). I learned early to be open to change. I had very good training as a substitute teacher in my first year at TASIS Hellenic International School in Greece. I went to school every morning and replaced anyone who was absent. So I taught Greek, Arabic, PE, first grade, twelfth grade, IB, high school, you name it! How did I teach Arabic when I had no idea what the individual letters looked like? I tried to be creative, use the resources around me, and empower my students. I gave the reins to my students and they loved it! That got me thinking about student-centered learning, something that wasn’t widely known back then. With that knowledge, when I moved to Jakarta International School in Indonesia, and with the help of several dear colleagues, we began to create student-centered programs.

When technology evolved in the late 1990s, first with email and then with websites, the school’s IT director said, “Believe me, you want to learn all this.” So, that’s what I did. I trusted him and even learned how to code. As technology continued to develop, he often thought: Oh, that’s something my students need to know for their future. Who is going to teach them? And I noticed Am the one who is going to teach them these skills. I integrated project-based learning and technology in many ways. I asked my English students to create movies. I asked them to create websites. I asked them to create blogs to interact through blended learning. Did we have failures? Absolutely. There was always something to improve, something that went wrong. But I would tell my students, We will learn from this. What can we do better next time?

In 2018, I attended a workshop where I spoke with a gaming app developer. We started talking about gamification and how we could use games in a different, more evolutionary way. I imagined a classroom with avatars working together on interactive projects and students could log in from anywhere. Then in 2022, I was in Singapore. EDUtech Asia conference, and as I walked through the booths, I saw that my vision had become a reality. I thought, How is it possible that someone else made my dream come true? I tried UNIVERSE there and it blew me away. I could walk between groups of students and hear all the conversations. I could stop and talk but still listen to other groups in the background. It was totally different from (video conferencing). And I knew I had to use it with the students.

How did UNIVERSE help increase student engagement and interactions for learning in a virtual environment?

I noticed during class that everyone wanted to say something. Even those students who were not normally talkative were highly engaged. Those who were normally reluctant to speak seemed to do so, perhaps because of their fascination with technology or because they might be avatars. His shyness was distant; They could try out a different personality and change their classroom interactions. They seemed to feel safe speaking among the cacophony of other voices in the background.

One exercise that worked very well was the interactive collaboration board. I placed a picture with a question on the board and all students responded with sticky notes or text. That’s a great tool for writing and thinking. And then there’s that cool button that the teacher can press and all the avatars are seated and muted. I think UNIVERSE has great potential.

What challenges did you go through during the implementation process?

Preparation involves designing the classroom. Teachers should think about how to set up classroom flow for the best experience. It takes time to navigate everything and learn the technology. It takes time to teach the technology to students. A teacher probably won’t get everything done on the first try. The adaptability, flexibility and creativity of the teacher will play a very important role in the design and implementation of a lesson in the metaverse to obtain learning results that exceed those of the traditional classroom.

For students who logged in from different islands in Indonesia, sometimes their Wi-Fi was not strong enough to transmit their voices without breaking up. But the drawbacks of the experience were mainly technical. Once we worked on what we could, students completed various tasks and activities on UNIVERSE for about 50 minutes and didn’t want to leave.

What guidance can you offer educators considering incorporating metaverse experiences into their teaching environments?

My advice is to keep an open mind. Accept the changes and accept the challenges. Some teachers are concerned about students using Chat GPT, so they say it is prohibited in their classes. This is similar to 10 or 15 years ago, when teachers said phones were banned in class; put them aside. And I said, no, bring the phones. That’s your dictionary. That’s your resource. Learn to use it wisely and manage distractions. Learning to use the metaverse wisely is something that must be put on the table with that open mind because we are never going to stop technology. technology follows its own course. We must adopt new technologies and improve them to improve learning. This is history in the making and it’s exciting to be a part of it!

To learn more about ViewSonic UNIVERSE and how it can help you meet your teaching and learning needs, you can schedule a demo with a solutions expert. here.