Pavithra is currently pursuing Ph.D. in Statistical Quality Control. Prior to joining Great Lakes, she has 10 plus years of work experience in various industry domains including statistical quality control, solution authoring for US/UK textbooks, tutoring statistical software including Minitab, “R”, SPSS, for engineering students. Her areas of interest include Analytics and statistics. She has completed a six month residential program in Business Analytics from SSN College in collaboration with IBM.
A profound transformation has happened in the education industry since the Covid-19 lockdown. It all started from online classes in platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google meet in 2020. Online classes are now the new norm and they are opening the doors to an innovative new age. With Metaverse as the future, experiential virtual learning technologies are essential in enabling students to participate in intensely interactive live classroom sessions as the pandemic is still going on.
We are seeing big changes in how people engage and meet in the virtual world as a result of technology. It is also creating new opportunities for parents, teachers and children to connect and communicate while staying safe. The tools for the virtual world and blended learning models give students and teachers more freedom to pace the curriculum, hold meetings and enhance real-world learning experiences even when they are not on campus.
In order to take advantage of new learning opportunities as Metaverse is becoming a reality in the mere future, it is essential to adopt new digital infrastructure. Students from all over the world can now develop advanced skills, upscale their knowledge and understanding while lowering their dependence on physical infrastructure. We owe a big thanks to artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality for making this to happen.
While social media and gaming giants are investing profoundly in Metaverse, the two major players as of now are the social media giant Facebook and the online game site Roblox. The metaverse enables teachers to not only design a more immersive learning environment but also to serve as a model for effective classroom management. No matter where they are in real life, teachers and students can connect in the virtual world using their virtual reality headsets. For individuals who are prepared to look for it, this capability can result in more favourable education.
A persistent parallel reality offers countless possibilities with a significant capability influence on education. Let us think about one of the probable virtual reality teaching space. Conceive a lecture hall full of learners who are enthusiastic to learn about history. These learners are placed all over the world and their educator leads a travelling lifestyle who continuously explore new places to rise the historical knowledge to students by explaining clearly.
The visual potential of a metaverse environment makes the teacher and the students to meet virtually. Teachers can show the learners in a realistic 3D environment whereas in the normal mode of teaching they can only discuss their results with the class. Curious children will no longer be forced to sit idle in a sterile learning space. Instead, students might become motivated about mastering the subject and acknowledgement goes to the power of virtual worlds.
The field of education will undoubtedly undergo a transformation because of the Metaverse coming into picture. The challenge is whether we can provide deliberate and suitable possibilities that are genuinely instructional in this novel and exciting situation as designers, policymakers, educators and parents.