What do Tec professors who’ve tried classes in the metaverse think?

Tec de Monterrey professors who are academic pioneers in the educational metaverse shared the challenges and the positive aspects of their experiences with other professors.

Some of the positive comments about the experience were that it’s a creative environment without geographical barriers that is fun and inclusive.

These experiences were shared during the Tec Virtual Campus Open Day, as well as guided tours and a treasure hunt to learn about and become familiar with the Tec’s metaverse.

At an event held on June 23, Juan Pablo Murra, Rector of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies, visited the exhibition of academic projects online, where he learned about these experiences directly from the professors.

Irving Hidrogo, Director of Emerging Technology Innovation, also announced that a paper about student experiences in virtual worlds by Tec researchers is to be published on an indexed platform.

Experiencing educational advantages in the metaverse

Regina Freyman, a professor at the Tec’s Toluca campus, spoke to CONECTA about her experience with the Tec Virtual Campus.

“I like that the virtual environment takes students out of their comfort zone and encourages them to be creative,” she said.

She said that these immersive experiences have no geographical barriers, merging virtual spaces with social media. 

“It’s fun and very inclusive because nobody can see what you look like or what you’re wearing,” she said.

María Leticia Flores, a professor of Fictional Narrative at the Monterrey campus, talked about the positive experience she had using this virtual environment.

“Creating narratives using different technologies was generally a very positive and lovely experience for me and the students,” said the professor.

Antonio Luis Juárez Negrete from the Querétaro campus, who was the first professor at the Tec to take his entire class to the metaverse during the 2021 winter school term, said that it was a different experience from conducting a conventional class.

“My students thanked me and told me that it (the class) was better than those conducted through Zoom.”

The challenges of the virtual world

When talking about areas of opportunity, Professor Freyman said that it’s normal to experience some technical difficulties the first few times you enter the metaverse before you start gaining proficiency with the tool.

“Technical issues can be a distraction for the students, it’s easy to lose the students’ attention. You have to design the class very carefully, so you keep them working and they don’t get bored.”

Professor Juárez said that his biggest challenge was moving the class to the metaverse.

“It’s knowing what space to use and how to deliver the class so that the students can learn all the content,” said Juarez in answer to Murra’s question.

Professor Flores said that not being able to see the facial expressions of her students during their presentations was one of the challenges she faced.

Another of the challenges mentioned was organizing the final presentations, due to the number of students in the class.

It’s not just classes in the metaverse

Ursula Saldívar, leader of the Educational Technology Innovation Project, explained that this experience was created to inspire all Tec professors to design virtual activities for their classes.

She said that in addition to guided tours and treasure hunts, teachers had shared their designs for student experiences in this metaverse.

“There were 47 academic experiences, with 54 pioneering professors leading the activities.” 

“The activities ranged from laboratory practices, Shark Tank-style classes, competitions, poetry recitals, and activities in subjects such as physics, to events such as the Entrepreneurial Talent scholarship boot camp.”

She said that this is an example of what can be done at the Tec and how teachers have adopted this tool to develop an educational side to the metaverse.

“The tools in this virtual environment, which at first glance seem to be only for entertainment purposes, have been taken to an academic level, used by both students and professors to develop their skills and abilities.”

“We’ve seen professors who’ve shared their experiences, as well as the ones experiencing the Tec Virtual Campus for the first time, getting really excited.”

This digital event was organized by Mostla, an experiential learning space that uses new technology, and by the Tec’s Center for Teaching Development and Educational Innovation (CEDDIE for its initials in Spanish).

“We’ve seen professors who’ve shared their experiences, as well as the ones experiencing the Tec Virtual Campus for the first time, getting really excited.”

Showing everyone the experience of virtual worlds

Irving Hidrogo, Director of Emerging Technology Innovation, said that a group of Tec researchers has created an instrument to measure the impact of students’ experience in virtual worlds.

To measure acceptance of the Tec Virtual Campus, researchers have designed an instrument that analyzes variables related to online contexts, future perception of using the tool, skills development, assessment, and recommendation.

In June, their work was published on Frontiers in Education, an open-access educational platform.

It was conducted by Francisco Javier Rocha, Jessica Alejandra Ruiz, Carlos Enrique George, and Leonardo David Glasserman.

About the Tec’s educational metaverse

Participants enter the Tec Virtual Campus with Virbela software and use an avatar to navigate this virtual world that has buildings such as a library, classrooms, an auditorium, and outdoor areas where learning experiences take place. 

The Tec began using the Tec Virtual Campus in February 2021. During this time, 250 learning experiences have been carried out for 14,545 students.

63 workshops for designing experiences have been given to 643 teachers.

Learn more about the Tec Virtual Campus:

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