[AR/VR/Metaverse in the education industry] Introducing the benefits of implementation and  use cases!

introduction

This article aims to provide readers with an overview of AR, VR, and metaverse technologies. It also discusses their potential applications in the education sector and presents real-world use cases from Japan and other countries. Finally, it explores the important considerations and obstacles that should be taken into account when putting these technologies into practice.

Make sure to check it out if you’re an instructor looking to better comprehend and utilize these technologies!

What is AR (Augmented Reality)?

By superimposing digital data over the actual world, augmented reality technology gives a virtual component to a real-life experience.

For instance, figures in textbooks appear to open and move in three dimensions when students view them through tablets.

This technology works well as a visual aid to help students understand concepts more thoroughly. It is especially helpful in areas like physics and geography where students need to understand concepts visually.

Seeing movement and three-dimensional shapes with their own eyes helps students grasp the subject matter more deeply, something that is challenging to accomplish with standard teaching resources. 

What is VR (Virtual Reality)?

Virtual reality (VR) technology fully submerges the user in a virtual world.

You can experience a 360-degree virtual environment using the headset, giving you the impression that you are truly there.

Virtual reality (VR) is being utilized in education, for instance, to enhance students’ learning experiences through the exploration of historical sites, futuristic cities, and scientific investigations carried out in virtual environments.

The ability to comfortably experience a range of locations and circumstances outside of physical boundaries is one way that this technology broadens the scope of educational opportunities. 

What is the Metaverse?

A platform that offers constant virtual engagement and activity is called the metaverse.

Users can engage in a variety of activities and communicate with one another using their avatars in this area.

Creating virtual campuses, offering a platform for communication between educators and students, and holding online courses are a few applications of the metaverse in education.

It will specifically make it feasible for professors and students in far-off places to communicate in the same area, realizing the dream of education that is not limited by geography.

Problems in the education industry can be solved by introducing AR/VR/Metaverse

We will now go over how AR, VR, and the metaverse can address the issues the education sector is now facing.

1. Increase opportunities for interaction and improve the quality of learning in metaverse schools

A new kind of school called the Metaverse School is assisting in addressing the issues of decreased in-person engagement and educational quality that accompany remote learning.

Students and teachers can communicate with each other through avatars in metaverse schools, virtually simulating a classroom setting.

For instance, students could use their avatars to “sit” in a classroom, communicate with teachers and other students, and engage in group projects in a metaverse virtual school.

Additionally, it enables the conduct of experiments and practical learning that are not limited by physical space, enhancing the quality of the curriculum and boosting student interest in taking part.

In this approach, even during distant learning, schools in the metaverse can offer an educational experience more akin to a traditional face-to-face classroom, which can effectively raise the standard of instruction.

2. It reduces educational disparities by enabling students to study beyond the limitations of time and place

Globally, there is a severe problem with educational inequality, which results in significant gaps in children’s learning possibilities, particularly in places where access to high-quality educational resources and qualified teachers is scarce.

The dissemination of virtual reality educational resources may be a useful strategy for reducing this gap. Students who live in rural places can access VR learning materials from any location with an internet connection, providing them with access to top-notch instructional resources.

For instance, VR can be utilized to conduct virtual science experiments in classrooms without laboratory equipment or to virtually visit renowned art museums across the globe.

This will lessen regional educational gaps and raise the standard of education. 

3. Science experiments using AR make STEM education safe and free

The VR chemical experimentation program “Superscheme VR”

The field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is experiencing a surge in interest. However, conventional teaching approaches priorities theoretical understanding and provide little room for hands-on learning and innovative thinking.

Here, AR and VR will transform experimental education, particularly in the scientific domain.

With the advent of augmented reality (AR), students can now engage in real-world experiments and design projects in a virtual environment, enhancing their comprehension and practical abilities.

Examples of risky or expensive material-intensive experiments that can be safely completed with 3DCG technology include chemical experimentation where reactions are observed and biology experiments where dissections are performed.

This increases students’ interest in and comprehension of STEM by allowing them to study through practical applications rather than merely theory.

Additionally, students can explore more freely and foster their creative thinking because failing in a virtual reality setting carries no real danger.

9 Use Cases of AR, MR, and the Metaverse in Education

We will now go over a total of nine instances of AR, VR, and the Metaverse being utilized in educational contexts.

AR use cases

1.zSpace: A platform for science education

space is an AR/VR-based learning tool that has shown to be very successful in the teaching of science.

Through direct manipulation of 3D anatomical models and real-world experiments in a virtual environment, the system enables students to learn in an interactive and visible manner.

Through increased student engagement and improved learning outcomes, this technology is facilitating a deeper comprehension of difficult scientific topics and processes in the classroom.

Please visit the zSpace website for further details. 

2. Seigakuin Junior and Senior High School: An attempt to create an AR system by students themselves

Students from Seigakuin Junior and Senior High School are working on a project where they are making their own augmented reality systems.

Through this program, kids can learn technology more deeply and be encouraged to think creatively.

In particular, we created a system that uses nameplates as markers on classroom and school buildings, and a 3DCG model arises when the nameplates are scanned with a tablet.

This enables students to learn the history of the technology while also developing practical problem-solving abilities. 

3. Wonder scope: Characters pop out of picture books

Wonder scope is a children’s augmented reality app that removes boundaries between users and fictional characters.

Through active participation in storytelling, the app seeks to improve children’s linguistic abilities and reading comprehension.

By utilizing augmented reality (AR), it transcends the conventional reading experience and lets you engage with characters and explore the story’s universe in three dimensions.

Children will benefit from this as they grow in interest in and comprehension of reading. 

VR use cases

4. Bronx Latin High School VR World Heritage Tour

VR is being used in social studies lessons at Bronx Latin High School in New York, USA.

With Google Expeditions, students may use virtual reality to tour well-known locations and World Heritage Sites worldwide.

With the use of this technique, students can “experience” a foreign culture and history firsthand, going beyond merely viewing pictures.

Students are engaged and given a deeper knowledge through this immersive learning experience. 

5. Nagaoka National College of Technology: A virtual campus where classes and lectures can be held

The “Nagaoka National College of Technology Virtual Campus,” developed by Niigata Broadcasting Co., Ltd., has been unveiled by Nagaoka National College of Technology.

This is the nation’s first 3D metaverse environment at a technical college, and it will have seminar rooms for lectures and classes, group work spaces, career counselling meeting rooms, and a lounge to encourage student engagement.

This virtual campus is open to personnel from other technological institutions as well as the general public on some occasions, in addition to students and professors.

Please visit the Nagaoka National College of Technology Virtual Campus webpage for additional information. 

6. Stanford University: Lectures using VR

Established in the summer of 2021 at Stanford University, the “Virtual People” course is a cutting-edge course that incorporates virtual reality technology into nearly every session.

Learn about the use of virtual reality (VR) in domains other than entertainment, like engineering and culture, with this distance-learning course.

The curriculum includes a programming exercise for creating virtual reality environments, which is especially well-liked.

In addition, content that enables users to experience the life of a man who faced racial discrimination and learn about racial tolerance is offered as an extracurricular VR activity. 

Metaverse Use Cases

7. Kadoka Django Gaduin holds entrance ceremony on the metaverse

Digital technology is used in a new way of teaching that is proposed by Kadoka Django Gaduin.

We hosted a metaverse entrance ceremony that new students could attend online in the 2022–2023 academic year.

This illustrates the potential of education in a new era and is a part of the school’s attempts to revolutionize the learning environment using digital technologies. 

8. NTT Smart Connect: Metaverse for Educational Institutions

Educational institutions can avail a 3D metaverse service from NTT Smart Connect and NTT Data NJK.

This service supports diversified learning that is not limited by time or place by using virtual space.

Lessons, career counselling, general meetings, and more can be conducted efficiently thanks to our provision of classrooms, conference halls, and interview rooms that resemble those found in real educational settings.

Avatar-based conversations can offer a fresh way to communicate.

Please visit the NTT Smart Connect website for further information.