Target

2 days ago

By Nick Clegg, President of Global Affairs at Meta

Digital technology has changed education in the last two decades. I’m in my fifties, but when I was in college, the most technologically advanced thing in the classroom was the pocket calculator. Now iPads and other tablets are part of our daily lives. Museums and galleries around the world have integrated touch screens and interactive elements into their exhibitions. Apps like Duolingo have brought language learning to smartphones. The fact that all of this is commonplace today is a testament to how quickly we integrate new technologies into our lives.

But 2D technology has its limits. While distance learning tools have allowed the wheels of education to keep turning during a pandemic, anyone with teenagers can attest that it’s often a frustrating experience. It’s hard to keep them busy for long, hooked up to a flat screen. They lack a vital sense of presence: interacting with their peers and teachers in the common room.

The Metaverse is the next evolution of the Internet, and it’s this sense of presence that sets it apart. It includes a number of technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) headsets, which transport us to a whole new environment; augmented reality (AR) glasses, which will one day project computer-generated images onto the world around us; and mixed reality experiences, which combine physical and virtual environments.

Presence is important. For most of us, learning is social: we learn from and with other people. And from the experience of other people. It is as much about interacting and debating as it is about assimilating information. Academic studies have found that VR can positively improve understanding, knowledge retention, student engagement, attention span, and motivation. I think it’s something we all understand intuitively. It’s much easier to remember things when we do them than when they tell us.

That’s why the possibility of learning in the metaverse is so exciting. Instead of telling students what dinosaurs looked like, we can have them walk among them. Entire scientific laboratories can be built, filled with equipment that many schools never dream of. Medical students will be able to practice complex surgeries without risk to their patients or themselves.

This is not science fiction or wishful thinking, this is something that has already happened. One example that emerged at a roundtable I joined with educators and academics in London last week was of a school that built a digital version of the Globe Theatre, the Elizabethan circular theater where Shakespeare’s plays are staged, and set out on its own. annual show on its famous stage, completely virtual. Young people won’t be in the same physical space as their peers or traveling to London, but they will be able to collaborate and learn how Shakespeare’s plays were co-created.

At Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, biomolecular chemist Dr. Muhsinah Morris teaches her students in a virtual lab—a digital twin of her university’s chemistry lab. In this virtual lab, students can conduct experiments as if they were there in person. Morehouse found that students studying in VR scored an average final exam score of 85, compared with an average of 78 for those who were physically present to 81 for those studying using traditional online methods. They also saw an increase in student attendance and engagement.

One theme that recurs at the round table is equity. Left behind and being left behind by children from poorer backgrounds compared to children from better opportunities backgrounds is a complex issue that I faced repeatedly when I was Deputy Prime Minister of the UK. This educational gap is global, as demonstrated by OECD Program for Assessment of International Studentshe thinks the poorest students are at a disadvantage compared to the richest around the world.

It’s not hard to imagine an opportunity to break free from time and geographical constraints. Universities in disadvantaged areas will be able to collaborate and get support from other parties far away. An extraordinary teacher can teach in an underserved school 100 miles away. School systems with teacher shortages in certain subjects can hire teachers to teach classes from wherever they are located.

It also opens opportunities for ambitious students to learn from people they may not have access to locally. A student from Ohio may attend a seminar led by a professor in Seoul. Students from the farthest corners of Alaska will be able to visit NASA or the Natural History Museum in London without leaving. A private tutor can lead a session with a student in a completely different city without either of you having to leave the house.

When the University of Maryland Global Campus surveyed student encounters with tutors and classmates in VR, they found that for some people, being represented by an avatar reduced their fear of talking to professors and interacting with peers. Students with agoraphobia and post-traumatic stress disorder reported difficulty interacting in person but felt comfortable in the virtual classroom.

Once the technology is in place, it is the government that has to ensure that it is properly used in the public education system. And it is the forward-thinking educational administrators who, by creatively deploying these technologies in their schools and universities, will disseminate best practices for others to adopt. Because, above all, it is the qualified teachers who know best how to inspire their students. And that’s why teacher training is so important in any government strategy. None of this would work without teachers who know how to get the most out of this product.

Governments can start laying the groundwork by developing digital literacy curricula and programs, and supporting and enlisting educators to help steer these technologies for the greatest possible impact. More importantly, it’s up to the government to help ensure that all schools have access to these technologies, so that inequalities don’t take root just because schools with more resources can get devices that others can’t.

Metaverse technology has the potential to change education. This is already happening, but making it happen in the coming years will require educators and policy makers to take advantage of the opportunities this technology has to offer.