The pandemic has accelerated the digitization of education, with schools and universities rapidly moving to online platforms. However, this shift has also highlighted the inequalities in the education system, with many students lacking access to resources and technologies needed for remote learning. This is where gamifying education and the metaverse can come in.
According to Taylor Shead, Founder of STEMuli, “the metaverse will improve the education system by bringing equity to all learners.” In education, equity means that every learner gets exactly what they need. Unfortunately, this is not always the case as learning takes place beyond a quiz or test, and currently, the education environment only measures what a student knows at one point in time.
To bring equity to education, Shead suggests that we need to aggregate data from all the different places that learners learn, whether it’s in the classroom, in gaming, entertainment, or after-school activities. This data should be gathered into one place, allowing educators to understand precisely where learners are and prescribe personalized learning for their future.
However, this kind of personalized learning has not been possible due to the lack of digital transformation in education. The metaverse can change that, going beyond just putting the curriculum online. It will allow us to measure all the activities that help learners learn, precisely locate where a learner is, and then prescribe them a pathway to their future.
According to a report by Technavio, the global gamification market in education is expected to grow by USD 2.39 billion during 2021-2025, with a CAGR of over 30%. This highlights the growing interest in gamification and its potential to transform education.
In conclusion, gamifying education and the metaverse can bring equity to all learners by allowing personalized learning based on the data gathered from different learning environments. The digital transformation of education is crucial for this to happen, and the growth of the gamification market shows that there is a growing interest in this area. As Shead says, “we need to start measuring what matters and put learners at the center of everything we do.”