Andrew Wright is the lead consultant at iTeacher and an architect of a metaverse for education in Spatial. Andrew built an entire world for high school education, where teachers and students can connect around a wide range of academic topics in VR.
Wright called it the “The iTeacher Metaverse”. There is great engagement in immersion and presence with children, especially when they feel like they are on a field trip or playing a video game! Andrew is at the forefront of changing how education and learning is delivered and perceived between teachers and students.
There are 14 different worlds (or spaces) in this Metaverse. With spaces that include ‘Safe City’, ‘Britain at War’ and ‘Space Classroom Showcase’, this VR world stimulates creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking. Overall connecting students to an enriched learning environment.
Britain at War was one of the first Spatial spaces Andrew has made with the available default environments. The spitfire flight in the centre of the room was recorded in a flight simulator over Andrew’s hometown; and the little dip of the wings at the end is a wave to his father.
With the collaboration with other teachers, this space was built to teach students about fossils while creating an immersive and interesting exhibit. There are plenty of couches for you to sit on to enjoy the moving dinosaurs, learn the different ways fossils can form and learn more about terror birds.
Striving to achieve a ‘blocky Minecraft’ world, Andrew has built multiple little breakout rooms with relevant sounds to add to the experience. This would be the perfect space to visit after the Fossil Museum to receive a more in-depth learning about fossils. We highly recommend finding the ‘hidden’ staircase to the basement for a more cozy environment!
Enjoy The Great Barrier Reef from a submersible – be sure to turn on your sound to be fully immersed in the space (or in this case underwater). Visit Nautilus to view the 180 degree viewing observatory, the school of fish by the windows, and the opportunity to use the sonar to „ping for sharks“!
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The name deriving from Andrew’s hometown,Bidefordia is one of the largest world’s Andrew has created – both time and scale wise as every item in this space is hand-placed. Started off as a quick trip to the marketplace with the students, this space is now one of the most requested learning environments.
Designed with Andrew’s science teaching partner, they designed a warehouse style museum their students could visit and explore. There is a lot to explore in this space as it is filled with animated GLB files and different activities, including a small introduction on who Leonardo da Vinci was!
As a ‘transition world’, students experience the sense of travel by climbing aboard and receiving a brief overview of the lesson before switching into another space. As one student quotes, „feels like we can’t go anywhere, but in here we can go everywhere!“. If you close your eyes and listen to the engine sounds and seatbelt announcements, you will be able to imagine yourself on a plane.
Andrew loves teaching history and wanted the students to experience what it would be like on board during this historical time. With these spaces, Andrew would transport the students onto the convict ship for the students to role play and learn at the same time. Both ships (the Explorer and First Fleet) offer a chance to explore different locations and make a great platform for immersive learning.
Learning Ships (The Darwin and The Endeavour)
There are two learning ships – The Darwin and The Endeavour – both set in space. Both ships are filled with activities based around the key learning area of ‘plants’ through greenhouses and 3D models of trees and flowers. This space also features the special transparent corridors!
Being one of the largest spaces Andrew has built on Spatial, Safe City holds the intention of becoming a ‚Digital Citizenship‘ environment where students can learn how to stay safe in the real world and online. Try to find the bus station stop, the picnic tables and the hot dog stand in this safe city!
If you have any inquiries about the spaces or would like to get in touch with Andrew Wright, more information is available on https://www.iteacher.net.au/.
Quelle:
https://spatial.io/blog/teaching-high-school-in-the-spatial-metaverse
