A New Type Of School Run: How Could The Metaverse Change Education?
See you later, school run. Playground moms and packed lunches? Boring! There’s a new education center in town – a new virtual town, that is, set to run education.
That’s right: the metaverse is the new classroom. Now, don’t worry – we’re not actually implying we should pull kids out of school, or shove headsets on them and force interactions and friendships into virtual realms. (That makes a good headline and garners a few outrage clicks, but that’s about as far as it goes.) Education in the metaverse isn’t even necessarily just about children’s education. Instead, think new forms of learning, international opportunities, and a whole new ecosystem.
So if we’re not interested in replacing school with the metaverse, what exactly are we talking about here? How could the metaverse change education? Can the metaverse transform the world of ed tech…. Or is it that same thing?
Read on as we learn a little more about what the metaverse classroom might mean and speak to two movers and shakers pioneering education initiatives and solutions in Web 3.
What is the metaverse?
First things first: the metaverse isn’t yet built. It’s not fully formed, although parts of it are functional, to an extent.
There’s a lot of marketing hype – and dollars – invested in selling the concept of a metaverse, but it’s still rather hard to define. Meta’s rather soulless avatars haven’t helped the general public’s perceptions, and many are rightly skeptical. But bear with us.
Rather than referring to a specific type of technology, the metaverse is more a group of technologies, and a shift in how we interact with those technologies. Think virtual realities, which are seamless and interoperable – worlds that blend the digital and the physical with ease. The metaverse is part of Web 3: another “catch-all” term that incorporates cryptocurrencies and NFTs within this futuristic ecosystem.
Yes, it still sounds a bit vague. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be transformative. A recent report by Deloitte predicted the metaverse could generate an additional $800 billion to $1.4 trillion to Asia’s GDP per year by 2035, growing into a market worth up to $13 trillion annually by 2030. That’s a pretty big industry – with a shedload of potential.
How can the metaverse change education?
It’s not the sexiest of applications, but through blockchain – the technology that powers the entirety of Web 3 and therefore the metaverse – education administration could be totally transformed.
“With digital credentials and decentralized verification, blockchain provides a secure way to record and share student data from one unified source, rather than thousands of separate unverified repositories,” said Aaron Rafferty, CEO of BattlePACs, an NFT project that aims to increase political participation and promote civil conversations, particularly by empowering young people.
“Blockchain-based applications could automate administrative tasks, such as processing student applications and tracking progress towards degree completion. Students would have control over their own data, and could share their transcript with employers with the click of a button.
“Educators could use blockchain to create and manage digital resources, such as textbooks and course materials. They could also receive real-time feedback from students on the quality of their teaching all in a secure and decentralized manner.”
Is the metaverse the future of education?
Education isn’t just about college courses and high school certificates. To understand more about the potential of the metaverse for other forms of education, Meta Hollywood sat down to chat with Dr. Robert Masson, neurosurgeon and CEO of eXeX, a company that has developed software to use in the operating room via VR headset and AR technology.
MH: Hi, Dr. Masson! Thanks so much for chatting with Meta Hollywood! Can you explain a little about eXeX? How does it work in practice to educate health care professionals?
Dr. Masson: I would argue that education has tiers. First exposure, [then] proficiency, expertise, mastery, and ultimately transcendence.
Health care especially deserves this perspective. eXeX helps surgical teams unfamiliar with a surgeon or procedure have a real-world visual guide to organization, tool placement, and a sequence of steps. It helps teams best support the surgeon they are assisting.
MH: Wow. This is a pretty insane real-world utility…
Dr. Masson: The proficient assistant can use the advanced features to assimilate more sophisticated information about materials in and around the body, implants, and time management. This accelerates mastery – which allows for non-verbal communication [and] the best possible team outcomes, as well as the elimination of waste. Ultimately, it gives us the opportunity for transcendence.
MH: What’s transcendence?
Dr Masson: Transcendence is effortlessness of workflow, and the power of machine learning, which helps the team develop smarter and better performance-optimizing sequences and techniques.
Ultimately, it’s about pushing health care forward.
MH: It sounds like Web 3 technologies could represent a real step forward for medical education. Would you say you agree?
Dr Masson: Exactly. Society benefits from all aspects of this lifelong education continuum, and for the motivated learner, the process is exponentially accelerated.
MH: Broadly, how do you think the metaverse could transform education?
Dr Masson: The metaverse can transform education by providing a visual structure and framework for accelerating proficiency, mastery and evolution of learning.
It can offer real-world learning enhanced with visual cues and information, which clearly enhances the immersive experience required for mastery of a skill or technique.
MH: Do you have any predictions for the future of health in the metaverse? A medical crystal ball?
Dr Masson: The decentralization for Web 3 has value to health care – if data is made more readily available. You could study the results of patient information in a compartmentalized open architecture.
Human implicit bias still exists, but much broader applications of medical data could be available. Also, the surgical metaverse will deeply change the way operating rooms function, and will strengthen the value and identity of the surgical team who can adapt to their facilities.
MH: Ed tech has been on the rise for some time – we all started learning virtually during the pandemic, for instance. How does this differ?
Dr Masson: Edtech is leading the charge toward the synthesis of the metaverse and education!
MH: Are there any downsides to medical education, and education in general, growing in Web 3? If so, how can we mitigate that?
Dr Masson: As with all tools, they can be abused, used out of context, and depended on as a substitute for actual learning.
This is where we are building our software suite in ways where continuous education is implicit and ever-evolving. We’re eliminating the chaos, waste, and dysfunction of what we call “first exposure procedural introduction” – where every surgery is a first event without orientation of the user.
MH: Finally, what impact do you think Web3 technology may have on traditional schooling?
Dr Masson: Used properly, Web 3 can make education more efficient and more exciting. It can accelerate the learning curve of foundational material – allowing more time, clarity, and focus for deep learning.
Featured image by Arthur Krijgsman on Pexels
