February 22, 2021
Some educational institutions in Japan are already moving on from videoconferencing for remote learning to classes using virtual reality in three-dimensional spaces.
Twitter/The_Japan_News
Virtual reality (VR) classrooms may become the new normal for schools of the future, given that some universities have already begun experimenting with classes using student avatars in school buildings created in virtual spaces.
With online learning becoming more widespread amid the prolonged novel coronavirus crisis, the virtual classroom paradigm is attracting attention as it is easier to raise students’ sense of participation than with videoconferencing or watching videos.
“It’s OK if you get too close, because you’re an avatar,” the avatar of Kindai University associate professor Takeshi Okamoto told students during a demonstration of VR classes held at the university on Jan. 13.