Yavapai College plans to begin using virtual reality technology to teach synchronous classes in the metaverse, at what it calls a “metaversity.”
The community college received a grant from Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and is also partnering with VictoryXR, a company that specializes in creating educational environments through virtual and augmented reality.
Through the grant, the college will receive 25 Meta Quest 2 headsets to be used by both students and teachers. The college will be branding ten learning spaces at VictoryXR’s Academy, which is a college campus in the metaverse.
VictoryXR also digitally clones campuses, and Yavapai College plans to have a replica of their campus built in the metaverse sometime in the future.
Yavapai College stated that online learning is often passive and not conducive to learning for every student, and this VR program will attempt to remedy those deficiencies.
“This is just another way to enhance online learning and to make it interactive,” said Tyler Rumsey, executive director of Marketing, Communication & Community Outreach. “It’s a lot different than your traditional online format by being able to interact live with movements and speech in the classroom while not being there. I don’t think it will erase the current online learning model; it’s just another supplemental feature to it.”
The concept of teaching through virtual reality is still new; only a handful of colleges and universities are currently pursuing it. However, Yavapai College administrators said they believe it will be popular in the future and want to start engaging in it now. “Yavapai College is poised to bring the future of education to our students and communities,” Yavapai College President Lisa Rhine, Ph.D., said in a press release. “Virtual and augmented reality is going to change almost every industry, including education, and YC plans to be on the cutting edge of that change. We must change the mindset that technology will eliminate the need for people to work or learn. It is not, but it will change how people work and learn.”
VictoryXR’s Academy features interactive learning sites allowing students to explore a World War II-era battleship or walk with dinosaurs, to name two examples. They have over 6,000 3D models to use to enhance learning.
“The movement into metaversity education will transform the way professors teach and finally create an opportunity for college students to learn in both worlds. Kudos to Yavapai College for their visionary effort,” Steve Grubbs, CEO of VictoryXR, said in a press release.
The college has not yet decided what classes will be offered in this format but will announce the planned schedule in the near future.
