College Explores Education in the Metaverse

Imagine being transported to Mars for an astronomy class, or exploring the hulls of the sunken Titanic to see how different aquatic life call it home. Education knows no bounds, and that is why a team of faculty, staff, students, and alumni of the College of Coastal Georgia—known as XR Education and Innovation Labs—is working to create innovative teaching and learning experiences in extended reality. XR Education and Innovations Labs (XREIL) is a cutting-edge development group that creates engaging and immersive educational experiences.

Extended reality (XR) refers to all computer-generated environments that merge the physical and virtual worlds to create a virtual experience for users. This semester, XREIL will be training faculty on virtual reality. Faculty will be able to enhance what they’re doing in the classroom with the tools provided by virtual reality.

“Engaging students in the Metaverse is not a reality that we must address in the future—it is a reality that we need to address now,” said Assistant Vice President for Academic Student Engagement Dr. German Vargas. “Our freshmen students have grown up participating in metaverse activities where they have learned and socialized in digital environments, and we need to be equipped to meet them in this new space.”

To help meet this need, VictoryXR has partnered with Coastal Georgia through XREIL to provide 25 Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headsets thanks to a donation from Meta. VictoryXR offers immersive classrooms and campuses through virtual reality. Along with the headsets, students will have access to the VictoryXR educational platform to learn in the metaverse.

“The movement into metaversity education will transform the way professors teach and finally create an opportunity for college students to learn in both worlds. Kudos to the College of Coastal Georgia for their visionary effort,” said Steve Grubbs, CEO of VictoryXR.

XREIL is also developing a virtual reality escape room geared towards high school and college students. The initial escape rooms will feature math and technology puzzles, with puzzles representing different disciplines to soon follow. Two student interns will assist with the project by building puzzle games for the escape room and assisting with additional elements of the project. XREIL has partnered with the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation (PIN) to serve as the internship host site for two summer interns through their Smart Community Corps (SCC) program.

“Beyond the necessity to meet students where they are, engaging students in the metaverse is a new paradigm full of opportunities,” said Assistant Vice President for Faculty Affairs Dr. Laura Lynch. “Students can be transported in time to environments of historical significance, and can travel without the limitations of scale, physical laws, or boundaries.”

Faculty and staff members of XREIL are:

• Dr. Laura Lynch, Assistant Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Mathematics
• Dr. German Vargas, Assistant Vice President for Academic Student Engagement and Professor of Mathematics
• Dr. Aurora Ramos Nuñez, Assistant Professor of Psychology
• Dr. Diana Leal, Director of Enterprise Services
• Dr. Michael Butcher, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students

Student members are:

• Wes Baird
• Gavin Noktes
• Joseph Nyamadi
• Casey Griffith

Alumni members are:

• Jedidiah Lindborg
• Austin Benton

To watch a teaser for the virtual reality escape room, visit www.ccga.edu/xreil.