There is no there in the Metaverse

The Metaverse is the decentralized web so you keep control of your data…. except for the corporations looking to make sure they control it before you figure it out. Nowhere is it being hyped more than for education. But for education there is no there in the Metaverse… yet

The two major players in the market, Facebook and Roblox, are face stinging criticism about their unsafe environments for children. Facebook parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., has paid billions in fines and settlements. It was just hit with eight separate lawsuits regarding the toxicity of their algorithms for children.

Security remains number two

But it’s not that the Metaverse platforms are intensionally a horrid place for children. The problem is security remains an afterthought to profit in the corporate-controlled Metaverse. That means it could be greater crap sandwich than the internet is today. Yes, it is great for immersive education that engages students and enhances the experiential aspects of education. It certainly makes for more interesting field trips.

Luckily there are some supporters are taking a very realistic view of the potential downsides. One of them is Jaime Donnelly.

Donnelly is an author, and speaker on immersive technology for education. She’s also the engagement director for Identity Automation, a company providing identity and access management tools for education. She is also a great promoter for the future of immersive technology for education.

We sat down to chat about her extensive collection of VR goggles and her realistic expectations. She makes an old curmudgeon feel a bit better about the future.