Today, Meta announced the Meta for Education beta program, a product aimed at colleges and universities that the company first teased in April. The solution aims to provide educational-specific XR services to teachers, trainers and administrators through the Quest portfolio of VR and MR headsets.
The beta release will see Meta drop its new education solution in US and UK colleges and universities, including Arizona State University, Houston Community College, Imperial College London, Miami Dade College, Morehouse College, New Mexico State University, San Diego State University, Savannah College of Art and Design, University of Glasgow, University of Iowa, University of Leeds, University of Miami, and University of Michigan.
Participating universities will work with Meta, providing feedback on the beta release to scale and improve the Meta for Education product ahead of a wider release ready for subjects such as science, medicine, history and language arts.
Kim Grinfeder, University of Miami Professor and Director of the University’s XR Initiativesaid:
The first time I put on a headset, it was immediately obvious to me that this is not like a screen or a TV. It was a completely different feeling. We were creating experiences. I immediately recognized this as a tool that is going to change education – change the way we teach. It allows us to bring the world into the classroom.
More on it Meta for Education
Similar to the Meta Quest for Business product model launched last year, the new education solutions aim to empower teachers, trainers and administrators with specially designed XR applications and management features for education.
The updated management features allow teachers to use multiple Quest devices simultaneously in a classroom setting. Additionally, advanced device management tools eliminate the need for teachers to update each device individually and prepare them manually in an effort to make onboarding processes more efficient.
Interestingly, Meta pointed out how the educational package includes the capabilities of Metaverse, perhaps breathing new life into the once-great technology promise. Meta explained how Metaverse solutions can empower classrooms with digital tours and training.
Rubén Durán, Director of CoLab Reality at Houston Community Collegesaid:
Students are engaging with the technology in meaningful ways. With our Virtual Reality for Empathy project, we invite community groups that are open to all like the Center for Racial Healing, and community members and HCC students come to lab and role playing to increase awareness and enhance student achievement and experiences unknown to the participant. And this immersion creates emotions in what we think is the first step to creating empathy. The results of this knowledge are part of important research carried out by our psychology faculty.
Meta says the early results are “insane,” especially Monica Arés, Executive Director of Imperial IDEA Lab, Imperial College Londonalso “this stage is more than one institution or one company – we need to come together in collaboration across the creators, the developers, educational institutions, research organizations, and technical companies to make the ecosystem build this new learning because it is going to do. benefit to all individuals and businesses.”
Arés also said:
We’re finally at a place where we have a way to merge the digital and physical worlds, and it unlocks this whole new set of tools, and that’s what makes this all so exciting.
After the initial release and initial feedback period, Meta is looking to scale the solution in the final weeks of 2024, apparently leading the company to push for use cases. education and training for the Quest portfolio. This also follows the launch of Meat Quest 3S at Connect a few months ago, a device that aims to be an accessible gateway for MR integration in different sectors.
Andrew Sedillo, Director of Microcredentials Learning Design at New Mexico State Universitynoted that in the current beta phase of the educational solution, the team has tested “early prototypes of these programs. ” Sedillo explained “Meta does research with us – they ask us what they can do to improve the results, and they listen.”
Sedillo also said:
Because of that, we have developed a lot of trust with Meta because we understand that they are putting out a product that affects educators in a positive way.
In April, Meta first announced the educational model. At the time, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, Nick Cleggnoted that education and training providers represent a “huge market” and that Meta sees an increasing number of developers who are “building and releasing apps which is aimed at this sector” – with Clegg noting that there is an opportunity to scale the results of immersion education. at a “much broader scale.”
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