The metaverse’s widespread adoption is just around the corner, and it’s about to change the way many organizations and people experience digital learning. Not every company is eager to ride the metaverse bandwagon, though. But this is understandable.
It was the year 2021 when Mark Zuckerberg revealed his intention to develop a more maximalist version of Facebook that includes office work and social presence, thus changing the nature of modern education. This shows that the world has yet to understand and take advantage of VR in corporate eLearning completely, but that is also on the right track.
Generally, this 3D-enabled digital space is divided into two sorts of platforms. One uses the term “metaverse” to refer to virtual worlds where people can meet for business, and the other involves using NFTs and cryptocurrencies to launch blockchain-based metaverse enterprises.
Even though cryptocurrency and the metaverse are two separate concepts, they have some things in common. Users usually check the Ethereum price on Binance and buy it to participate in or trade items in the metaverse. However, tokens and cryptocurrencies used in this digital world aren’t businesses that generate profits. Crypto assets and blockchain are fundamental aspects of how VR will be deployed.
According to Statista, over 23 million jobs will be improved by augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) by 2030, an increase from the 800.000 jobs enhanced in 2019. For the love of science, let’s find out how it may impact future jobs for you or for the next generation.
How the Metaverse Will Change Corporate eLearning
Employee eLearning in a hybrid workplace is significantly reliant on video conferencing. While it’s partially helpful, it is nowhere near as good as in-person training, especially when it comes to fostering more tightly-knit company culture.
That’s about to change owing to metaverse eLearning. According to statistics, VR-powered training has a retention rate of up to 75%, which is a lot better than the 20% retention rate for audio-visual learning. Here’s how the metaverse does it.
By Stimulating Real-life Boardrooms
The metaverse can build virtual boardrooms that give employees the sense of participating in face-to-face interaction. Trainers can ensure there are no distractions in the digital environment, which isn’t possible in video meetings with remote employees.
Since you can customize the digital space considerably, you can instantly access teaching materials and learning tools, including whiteboards, notes, file sharing, and interactive elements within the virtual environment.
By Employing Life-like Coaching
Collaboration is possible during one-on-one coaching using shared virtual workspaces. In fact, several metaverse systems can display photorealistic projections of participants to help build professional relationships within companies. Microsoft “Mesh for Teams”, for instance, has “holoportation” technology, which employs augmented reality to render another person’s likeness from the user’s perspective, taking online coaching to a whole new level.
By Incorporating Gamification Elements
Many business leaders first saw the metaverse as merely a gaming platform. Yet, it was only a short time before they understood the potential of this technology in terms of HR, CRM, and marketing. Plus, gamification as a long-term strategy can elevate the employee experience. Gamification elements like customisable avatars, awards, scoreboards, and so on, can keep employees engaged in the eLearning process.
Elements That Ensure the Metaverse Success in eLearning
Developers usually use machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) when designing virtual eLearning programs to enable constant optimization. AI services, for instance, can be used to develop automated virtual learning experiences through non-player characters. These may work as an employee guide by addressing and answering FAQs, offering real-time feedback, and evaluating their performance. ML, on the other hand, can improve eLearning in ways that go unnoticed by users. But data collected from past training sessions can help fine-tune the course’s performance over time.
Because the metaverse is essentially a virtual world, developers can create environments tailored to an organization’s eLearning goals. Apart from virtual meeting spaces, organizations can also create presentation rooms, offices, virtual workshops, and simulated environments where employees can handle real-life situations, testing their knowledge and decision-making.
Everything in the real world can happen in the 3D virtual world. The actual world, on the other hand, is multilingual and multicultural. Emotional engagement, personalization, and adaptation to cultural, local, linguistic, and social norms are paramount. The multicultural component must be extended to the digital space for this technology to work in a real-world environment. The good news, however, is that organizations can integrate perfect translations into their eLearning programs by opting for tried-and-tested language service providers.
The Metaverse’s Influence on the Learning Domain
Industries that deal with high-risk environments like construction, energy, and manufacturing, are already reaping the rewards of metaverse learning. Now other industries venture into this space to elevate their training programs. Using cyberspace together with Learning and Development, employees can overcome physical limitations to experience new ways to learn and acquire new skills faster.
Studies show that experiential learning is the most effective way to learn as it helps the human mind to assimilate information better by 75%. Thus, simulations will be avatar-based and supportive of collaborative and interactive working. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least an hour daily in the metaverse. Some of its use cases that are emerging across industries are the following:
- Onboarding training
- Safety training
- Sales training
- Skills training
The metaverse adds value to training by aiding in decision-making as everything can be measured, from the effectiveness of the training program to learners’ progress. Plus, employees can make mistakes without harming anyone or exhausting physical materials, enabling them to gain hands-on experience that increases efficiency.
Take, for example, performing CPR. This life-saving technique can be taught in hospitals and workplaces using mannequins, but these environments don’t recreate the emotion and stress felt when an individual has to do it in real life. However, when VR is employed, those feelings and pressure are re-created, and the steps taken are tested accordingly.
The pandemic and ever-evolving technology have changed the way we work. The latter is the foundation of remote work and onboarding, and metaverse training can enhance employee experiences, engage the workforce, and drive that highly-needed transformation to remote training.
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