Meta Expands VR Education Initiative To More Classrooms

Meta’s longer-term bet on the metaverse has taken another small step forward today, with the expansion of its VR for Educators program to more schools and providers.

Originally announced last April, Meta’s educators program includes Quest devices dedicated to education, which enable teachers and trainers to access a range of education-specific apps and features, while also making it possible to manage multiple Quest devices at once for shared experiences.

And now, the program is available to the general public, which will enable more educators to access the system.

As explained by Meta:

“Mixed and virtual reality education has the potential to transform the way we learn and teach. Thanks to their immersive nature, virtual and mixed reality can give students hands-on, interactive experiences that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Whether exploring the molecular structure of a chemical compound or getting a front-row seat to epoch-defining historical events, headsets like Meta Quest 3 and 3S open up exciting new possibilities for a truly memorable lesson plan.”

VR education has huge potential, providing more hands-on like experiences to help contextualize and demonstrate key elements.

And thus far, the initiative has received largely positive feedback:

“Across 83 Inspired Education Group schools already using immersive technology in the classroom, 90% of students reported increased engagement and interest in their lessons, along with a 25% boost in confidence in their knowledge. Additionally, 85% of teachers found virtual and mixed reality to be a valuable tool to enhance their teaching. Students also experienced a 15% improvement in their academic performance on multiple-choice assessments.”

Given the immersive and interactive nature of the VR environment, that makes sense, and it’ll be interesting to see how Meta looks to adapt its systems to further align with this use case.

And as noted, the expansion is also another step towards Meta’s broader metaverse vision.

If Meta can get more students engaging in VR in the classroom, that’ll provide more exposure to the immersive, engaging nature of the format, essentially acting as a huge advertisement for VR to receptive young audiences. That’ll lead to wider home adoption and use, and eventually pave the way for the next generation of connective experiences.

Meta says that its partnered with over a dozen colleges and universities across the US and UK in its initial beta program of the initiative, including Savannah College of Art & Design, Imperial College London, Morehouse College, University of Michigan and more.

And as it expands, that’ll showcase more of its AI tools to more students.

You can learn more about Meta’s VR education program here.