Pranav Gupta is a veteran in the education sector with an experience of more than 30 years. He is also the founder of Ashoka and Plaksha University. Throughout his life, he has been advocating for reforms in higher education in India.

The Facebook Company's transition to Meta, announced by Mark Zuckerberg in 2021, has increased the buzz and excitement surrounding the technology. The next significant shift in how people consume media and information is predicted to be brought about by Metaverse. The idea of a Metaverse is a distinct 3D universe that exists in a simulated environment which links individuals from different platforms and facets of their lives. “Metaverse is powered by cutting-edge technology including artificial intelligence technology, virtual reality and augmented reality. It is anticipated to integrate education, economy, digital identification, decentralized government, and other purposes in addition to facilitating games and social engagement. This will integrate many facets of our existence. Although it appears like something from a science fiction novel or movie, the rate of advancement of digital technology in the 21st century makes it understandable,” opines Pranav Gupta Plaksha University Founder.

Covid-19 pandemic made a major impact on different groups of the society. One of the groups most hit by the pandemic was students. Not only did they miss out on important academic years, but they were also unable to engage with their educators and peers, which hampered their process of development. Educational institutions shifted their curriculum and assessment to online engagement, and students had to use a variety of edtech tools since it was the need of the hour. However, there is a lack of group work or hands-on activities in virtual education and that might have a serious impact on the performance of the students and their willingness to study.

“Metaverse is hailed as the industry's upcoming huge thing and it has the potential to change the impression of education technology, bringing a transformation in the whole sector. It is anticipated to improve students' exposure to education greatly across the nation. Students have the option to fully immerse themselves in a virtual classroom setting. There is a lot of potential for Metaverse technologies and applications to revolutionize the educational landscape. Given that it will be much more engrossing beyond anything we have ever experienced, it can address the issue of participation. Users will be able to communicate with peers, create new relationships with strangers and explore possibilities, by immersing themselves in the digital world, that would otherwise be unattainable physically,” asserts Pranav Gupta Founder of Plaksha University.

The integration of the Metaverse in education may be encouraged by concentrating on self-learning experiences. To promote engagement and immersive lessons, teachers can set up internal meetings in rooms they can establish within it. Students may build study spaces in the interim where they can interact, collaborate and study in groups. The Metaverse may be a useful tool for representing and putting feedback and lessons learned from real-world experience into practice. It can be beneficial to use VR to imitate real-world statements in virtual settings.

Plaksha University in Mohali, Punjab aims to improve the educational experience of its students and prepare them for the future. Their plans are to include these new innovations into the courses it offers. Plaksha University holds the belief that learning becomes more pleasurable and interactive if it can improve the operational abilities of students, provide an immersive learning environment and encourage active class involvement. It is attainable by immersing Metaverse technology effectively within the educational sphere. In order to offer students cutting-edge tech-based skills, Plaksha University plans to establish Metaverse laboratories within the institution. Pranav Gupta Plaksha University Founder highlights, “Problems that are theoretical are made concrete through virtual reality and worked upon to find solutions. Technology students need a certain set of computing abilities that they lack. So, at Plaksha, we want to provide children these skills so they may build a solid foundation for themselves. This will make it easier for students to get employment in a variety of sectors, including machine learning and artificial intelligence. The main goal here is to address issues facing the education sector by utilizing breakthrough technologies and providing an immersive environment for young minds to fly high.”

However, the Metaverse is not without its own set of criticisms. Many believe that there would be too many distractions for a youngster to focus, due to the infinite number of other things one might do when linked to the interim.Some critics even contend that maintaining a virtual asset-heavy program would need for costly specialist technology and faster internet, both of which are unlikely to be within the price range of students from middle class and lower class families. Due to their socioeconomic backgrounds, the technological gap may deny young brains equitable possibilities.

“The next generation's children will unavoidably spend a great deal of time in this simulated space, and educators will have to rethink their curricula in light of this. Similar to how the internet has developed and been used over time, when more users are added, solutions to cut costs will become apparent and enable customers to use this technology at reasonable pricing. But in spite of skepticism, the Metaverse is the internet's next development stage and it has already begun. Virtual learning environments will become more lifelike and learning itself will become more intriguing and experiential owing to the immersive possibilities of it,” concludes Pranav Gupta Plaksha University Founder.

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