Post originally appearing on ekathimerni.com by Apostolos Lakasas.
A successful balance between the real and the digital world will be the hallmark of future schools and universities, according to experts. In Greece this field is being pioneered by private schools, but the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP) is also setting the pace, starting with the new format of books.
A indication of what is in store for the future is recent research data of the National Training Laboratory in the US, which has demonstrated that the assimilation of knowledge through a lecture or speech will be 5%, through reading it’s 10%, while through virtual reality it increases dramatically to 75%. Just as it is now taken for granted that a business should have a website, in the metaverse a 3D display takes center stage. With the assistance of a teacher, school pupils will be able to visit a museum or an archaeological site and browse the exhibits.
“The use of the internet as it is utilized today is set to change drastically in the coming years as we move from two dimensions to three,” said Antonis Kartalis, a member of the administration of the Moraitis School, who recently attended the Immerse Global Summit conference organized by the VR/AR Association on developments in the field of virtual and augmented reality and the way it is integrated into education. “Advances in technology have already led to the ever-increasing documentation of information with video. We will gradually move toward so-called immersive technologies: The user experience on the internet will be participatory, we will be there as digital avatars and visit 3D sites.”
Among the challenges will be to address the gaps that will be created, according to Myrena Hatzivassiliou, an executive at the Moraitis School. “The information from the school about changes and developments in technology must be continuous for teachers as the speed with which children themselves adopt them is very high,” she told Kathimerini.