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Meta Platforms Inc. wants to bring its virtual reality
headset into classrooms.
Students as young as 13 years old could take a trip to
ancient Rome or tour the Metropolitan Museum of Art from a classroom in the
Midwest, according to the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, as it
prepares to launch its new educational product. The push comes as Meta and
other social media platforms face congressional scrutiny over the lack of protections for kids online.
Meta’s foray into education is the latest prong of the
company’s massive, expensive pivot to virtual and augmented reality.
While uptake of the technology has been slow, the company hopes that
introducing it into classrooms could help boost visibility and familiarity,
especially among younger users.
“We are moving with immense, strategic patience,”
said Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, speaking in an
interview. “As a general philosophy in our company, what we want to do is to
try and encourage the use of this technology.”
Meta’s expenses this year are expected to ramp up to $94
billion to $99 billion, with most of the spending going toward the technology
infrastructure needed for virtual reality and artificial intelligence tools.
Education technology was thrown center stage during the
pandemic when shutdowns forced students into virtual classrooms and many
districts placed large orders for computers and tablets to connect pupils with
teachers. New York City, for instance, spent $360 million on 725,000 devices,
according to Chalkbeat.
The technology, which has yet to be named, would allow
teachers to program and manage multiple student headsets at once and give them
access to education apps on the company’s Quest devices.
The product would likely be a subscription service similar
to Quest for Business, which Meta launched last year and allows businesses to
manage a group of headsets for office work. The company didn’t provide details
on pricing for the subscription, but plans to have the product available for
use in the fall.
If adopted in school settings, virtual reality headsets
could follow in the footsteps of popular classroom technology like iPads,
Google Chromebooks and smart whiteboards that facilitate teaching.
Clegg said the education product stems from demand from
teachers, and cited a 2022 report that
found students who learned in the metaverse version of Morehouse College
outperformed those who attended in-person.
Still, there is limited research on the benefits of immersive
virtual reality in education, in part because the landscape is developing
faster than researchers can keep up. Some early studies have shown the
technology can boost student motivation, while others have found it can overwhelm students
and cause them to learn less.
Meta shares traded up as much as 1.3% on Monday after the
stock set record highs earlier this month.
— With assistance from Kurt Wagner
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