Learning Communities in the Metaverse: Integrating High-Impact Practices and Durable Skills in a First-Year Experience Course Taught Entirely in a Virtual Learning Environment.

The widespread adoption of virtual reality (VR) for entertainment, socialization, travel, and education was accelerated by the pandemic. In the case of postsecondary education, VR has been used to supplement traditional course materials and lectures through additional immersive experiences, simulations, and virtual learning environments (VLE). The pedagogy behind such adoptions has yet to be extensively studied, and strategies to support specific outcomes with the new technology are not yet agreed upon by educators. At the same time, a growing number of educational institutions and metaversities have boasted offering classes entirely in VR, albeit without data-driven lesson plans for implementation and undergirded with traditional classroom instruction. As such, this study investigates purposeful adoption and use of extended reality (XR), including VR, to achieve specific learning outcomes and develop durable skills via targeted experiences and assessment. High-Impact Practices (HIPs) and Common Intellectual Experiences (CIEs) informed the course design for a first-year program that had both synchronous and asynchronous activities in VR over the course of a full term. Building on previous research, results indicate that using the technology reduced time on task in the development of communication, teamwork, and other transferable skills. Students reported reduced social anxiety and reduced glossophobia through the use of avatars, which allowed for deeper, more meaningful connections in their nascent learning community. The results from the case study presented provide a model for other institutions to adopt in making learning in the metaverse strategic, data-driven, and measurable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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