The concept of the Metaverse has been around since the early 1990s but has never been close to becoming a tangible reality for most internet users. Recently Facebook has announced it’s rebranding to Meta to focus on bringing the Metaverse to a reality.
Experts are arguing that the Metaverse is still pretty far away for most people, but in the next few years, we may start to see the integration of the Metaverse into many industries worldwide.
The Metaverse concept has huge connotations for businesses around the world. If the Metaverse becomes the primary way consumers interact with the internet, this could provide countless business opportunities. Furthermore, businesses would have to adapt to accommodate changes brought by the Metaverse.
Some industries are already adapting to the Metaverse and using it to their advantage. One of these industries is the education industry. Companies such as DAN.IT have capitalised on the development of the Metaverse to improve how they give clients lessons.
Read on to learn more about the Metaverse and how it affects the education industry.
What is the Metaverse?
The Metaverse can be complicated to explain and difficult to understand at first. The Metaverse doesn’t just refer to one piece of technology but refers to the overall interaction of users with the internet. Different technologies from multiple industries facilitate this.
Currently, we interact with the internet in a 2D format, using search engines and websites to extract information, communicate with friends, play games etc. The Metaverse concept is an internet where we do all these things in a 3D immersive world instead.
In this Metaverse concept, internet users would be represented by avatars who can directly interact with the 3D world and other users.
As you can tell, for this concept to become a reality, it involves the collaboration of many different technologies, such as virtual reality headsets and augmented reality. This is why the Metaverse is quite complex and will take years of development.
Large companies such as Facebook and Google have recognised the opportunities that the Metaverse may bring. Facebook has already poured over $10 billion into bringing the Metaverse to a reality.
How would this affect the Education Industry?
Over the past two years, many countries worldwide have experienced Lockdown. With students unable to go into institutions to do their regular lessons, many were left with logging onto Zoom or Microsoft Teams for online lessons.
This has led most of the world to get used to studying online and minimal face-to-face lessons.
However, if you talk to students, you will quickly find many problems with online lessons. Many students struggled with the lack of in-person interaction and felt the lessons lacked in detail. Learning from purely online lessons through a webcam can be pretty challenging.
The presence of the Metaverse can change how online lessons are viewed and potentially fix these issues. If students are represented by avatars and can be taught in an immersive 3D world, this can better simulate lessons in a classroom.
This means there is little to no loss in detail in online lessons, and students can feel some form of in-person communication.
Being able to improve online lessons has multiple benefits. If a situation such as lockdowns was to happen again, students would experience much higher quality virtual learning.
It also brings the possibility of setting up well-established learning institutions without even needing a physical building. Therefore, students from all over the world would be able to learn without worrying about finding accommodation next to a university, for example.
This would lead to top-level education being accessible to more people across the world and higher demand for education for businesses.
What Education Businesses are focusing on the Metaverse already?
Focusing your business on the Metaverse is quite a big step as it’s still in development, but if the Metaverse does boom, there will obviously be quite an enormous reward.
One company focusing on Metaverse education is DAN.IT. They offer detailed education and qualifications in popular IT roles. This training is purely based in the Metaverse, so it invites students from all across the world.
As Kseniia Stolbova, the CEO of DAN.IT, says, “The metaverse opens new opportunities for studies, and students get a new interaction experience – very close to real communication.”
This allows students to interact with each other effectively and improve their learning experience no matter where they are in the world. DAN.IT’s ultimate goal is to provide equal opportunities for people to gain IT roles and build a strong IT community worldwide.
Kseniia Stolbova states, “Our global mission is to create a professional and ethical IT community that brings together industry experts, recruiters, newcomers to the field. We see that the Metaverse with its capabilities allows us to create a transnational, global platform for communication and professional development of IT specialists.” which shows her belief in the future of the Metaverse is bright.
