Introduction
The Metaverse is a new type of environment for human interaction in digital space. It is a virtuality in which participants are represented by avatars and can communicate or perform other actions with each other. Several different companies are simultaneously contributing to the creation and development of this modern method of interchange. Businesses, training companies, and others with a large portion of their activities related to data processing are trying out this new format. There is likewise the option of developing the technology so that it will eventually replace other types of online interaction in society. The Metaverse, though unfinished, stands a good chance of becoming an essential tool in the educational process.
Strategic Applications Analysis of the Metaverse Potential
The general concept of strategic analysis is widespread in almost any activity where there is a need to plan the activities or the actions of the organization for a certain period of time. With a comprehensive study and a correct analysis of all input data, it is possible to calculate the benefits or drawbacks of future actions. This planning is long-term and one of the most beneficial for the global development and growth or achievement of specific goals.
It is most logical to divide the strategic analysis into several stages. Four or five main steps are considered to be the most distinguished, which are described and discussed below. Due to the theoretical orientation of this research, most attention is paid to the first two: the assessment of the environment, the definition of the main objectives, and the collection of the necessary information for the analysis, as well as the formulation of the strategy itself. The last two points involve the actual implementation of the finished strategy and the subsequent evaluation of the results. Although the prevalence of the use of Metaverse in the educational process is not widespread at the moment, research will analyze these points as well.
Analysis of the Environment and Definition of Goals
Today, online learning is gaining popularity due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other global issues. A huge variety of different communication programs, databases, and environments for student work are being used for remote classes. The unification of all diversity in the Metaverse format looks attractive (Tlili et al., 2022). Unfortunately, it is still the prerogative of the future – the technology is still underdeveloped.
Virtual and augmented reality in the learning process helps students and the teacher to more fully immerse themselves in the process and atmosphere of the lesson. It is an important benefit of the Metaverse, as the environment in which many of today’s students find themselves suffers from a lack of socialization (Phakamach et al., 2022). Remote learning can lead to severe self-actualization or psychological problems subsequently.
In addition, in the educational sector, with the help of this technology, there is an opportunity to significantly reduce costs, which increases the business efficiency of the field. It can be achieved through the sum of various factors, some of which can negatively affect the financial situation of other areas, which can be further adjusted (Phakamach et al., 2022; Tlili et al., 2022). An example of such a situation would be a virtual tour of any digitized place; in the case of a museum – payment for a visit can likewise be charged by virtual methods, but many jobs in the physical location of the museum could be lost.
Formulating a Strategy
The introduction of the technology is complicated by its ongoing development, so it is most logical to plan a gradual introduction of features. Today, the Metaverse is used for occasional collaborative activities, such as simulating complex life situations and visiting a simulated Earth core or other planets (Mystakidis, 2022). In the future, implementation will be incremental, eventually replacing imperfect chats and videoconferences.
Expanding this digital education method will increase the teacher’s control over the material and the audience, which can lead to improvement in the quality of education itself. The implementation should not be limited solely to the social and visual aspects of the technology, nor should it be used solely for entertainment (Jeon, 2021; Mistretta, 2022). The understanding of this is present in today’s world, and in a few years, Metaverse may become the prominent method of education.
Implementing the Strategy and Evaluating the Results
As mentioned, the current state of implementation of the virtual reality system is only in its early stages. Feedback from participants is mostly positive, although not all students find it easy to be in this environment. The main issue is the lack of any state policy on the implementation of technology in education (Tlili et al., 2022). There is no unified strategy as well, and it is not surprising for such a new technology. However, many researchers already understand that Metaverse is much more than just a social network and has incredible potential.
Changes in the Business Model of the Education Industry due to the Metaverse
In terms of the business model of the education industry, Metaverse has positive and negative aspects. The overall quality is positive, but it is highly dependent on the level of implementation of the technology (Son-Turan, 2022; Phakamach et al., 2022). In the case of the widespread introduction of this type of training, there will be an opportunity to reduce the expenditure of material and human resources significantly (Son-Turan, 2022). There will be no need to maintain expensive assets in the form of land, university buildings, and dormitories, and the number of utility bills will be reduced.
Undoubtedly, the outflow of human resources, which is formed due to the lack of need for a large number of different employees in educational institutions, is not a positive thing. However, if we consider only the business model of educational institutions and ignore the increase in the unemployment rate, this situation may allow for an increase in teachers’ salaries and, in the long term, lower tuition costs (Phakamach et al., 2022). The cost of electronic equipment will level out over time due to cheaper components and the availability of suitable devices already purchased by many families.
However, this is just a look at the potential for widespread use of the Metaverse in education. At the moment, the level of its use is low, and the cost of potentially creating databases and virtual environments for students is unprofitable (Park & Kim, 2022). In addition, there still is a lack of adequate regulation and legalization by the state, which likewise complicates the process of implementation and awareness of the existence of such a need.
On the other hand, there is a high dependence on the implementation of such training in the business model. Partially involved in the Metaverse, full-fledged or just using the platform in the format of creating separate sites for training. The likelihood of creating an entire division of a school or university in the format of a separate section of such a universe is quite costly (Park & Kim, 2022). Nevertheless, with a full theoretical transition to this type of education and training in the future, with a trend towards lower prices for the creation of such shells, the final result can pay off and be financially profitable.
Strategic Limitations of the Metaverse in the Education Field
For the most part, the limitations of the Metaverse in education depend on developments in the global level of technology. So far, almost all such experiences for students are limited to the audio-visual component, which, although it provides the effect of presence, is not a full-fledged presence (Mistretta, 2022). In some cases, additional devices for tactile response are used, but their development is at a basic level.
A significant limitation is the common problem of any remote learning – the reduction of physical activity. Many methods of using unique platforms, suits, and other accessories are being developed, but the final versions are still far away, and the cost of such a product would be inflated (Mystakidis, 2022). The kind of physical activity that is present in the Metaverse prevails over the lack of it in working at the computer but is inferior even to an ordinary walk (Tlili et al., 2022). It should be noted that this remark applies only to the field of education, and in other areas, there may be other inputs. For example, elements of virtual reality gaming are a great warm-up. Their partial introduction into the educational process in the form of various activities will help to combat this limitation.
Privacy Issue in the Metaverse Application
One of the mandatory attributes of modern man today can be considered digital literacy. In the same format, as conventional literacy has spread widely with the development of society, the concept of digital literacy is developing as well. Every computer user and the world network space must be aware of their actions and use the basic principles of digital literacy. Among them is the understanding of one’s own privacy and how to respect it.
Metaverse does not differ from the World Wide Web in terms of globality and cybersecurity, except for the visual and VR components. The same danger of privacy violation pertains to any user of this virtual universe (Banciu et al., 2022). Regardless of the settings and their own level of knowledge, almost any user on the network can be de-anonymized. Despite the privacy of Metaverse users, they should understand and accept this possibility while taking all possible measures to protect themselves.
People have the right to exist freely in the vastness of the Internet and can determine for themselves the need and type of information they want to receive or provide about themselves. VPNs, “onion” routing, proxy servers, and the like are additional methods of combating the violation of this right (Park & Kim, 2022). However, one should not forget about digital literacy and separate sources of information, as well as avoid phishing and fraudulent schemes to steal the user’s personal data.
In the case of the educational process, the preservation of privacy is easy enough – a teacher can create separate learning “rooms” or sub-servers. Provided that the teacher supervises and is responsible for the students during the learning process, they will be protected in virtuality (Banciu et al., 2022). For their part, their parents should monitor the student’s behavior and their online privacy settings.
Cybersecurity Concerns
Cybersecurity issues, while directly related to privacy breaches, are a more severe consequence or parallel. Metaverse scams do occur, and in addition to the standard card data or electronic bank account keys of interest to criminals, NFT or cryptocurrency can be lost as well (Banciu et al., 2022). Metaverse has already seen some high-profile scams despite its short lifespan. In this virtuality, it is electronic wallets, which are linked to blockchain technology, that suffer most often (Banciu et al., 2022). Its decentralized nature deletes the history of the chain of possessions, which makes it pointless to hope for help from law enforcement agencies.
Biometric hacking is another example of a serious cybersecurity threat. In certain areas of the meta-universe, a user can verify his or her identity with such a scan, and if such information is stolen, not only privacy can be compromised. It is especially troubling because the author and progenitor of the universe’s development is Meta, formerly Facebook (Banciu et al., 2022). This corporation has repeatedly been accused of collecting and storing whole arrays of data about its users, which, if stolen en masse, has caused serious harm to society.
Furthermore, in exceptional cases, the physical security of the Metaverse end user can be threatened. This can happen when an account is hacked, and with the help of a spoofing environment, a hacker can influence a person’s physical behavior. This type of harm is extremely rare, but it is much easier to do to children, who are prominent participants in the educational process.
However, with the creation of special virtual spaces for learning, most of these problems come to naught. Retinal identification can be disabled in a student, and most children do not have virtual wallets, especially since there are no trading operations in the learning process. The most critical point is parent and teacher oversight and increasing children’s digital literacy (Phakamach et al., 2022). In terms of cybersecurity in education, Metaverse provides little or no threat. Other industries take much more significant risks in the virtual universe, especially if their activities involve finance.
But even at this minimal level, compliance with all the rules of digital literacy must be maintained at the level of automatism. Additional oversight should be exercised if access from an account with linked credit cards or electronic wallets (Banciu et al., 2022). However, the most convenient and correct method is for the educational institution to create special internal impersonated accounts for its mentees solely for the purpose of learning.
Conclusion
In conclusion of the analysis, it is possible to summarize that in the sphere of education and training, Metaverse actually has enormous potential. Its application has a considerable number of advantages, both financially and qualitatively, and practically no disadvantages. However, the current level of technology development and distribution of virtual reality does not allow for the complete and active implementation of the technology in the industry. Moreover, only with maximum and full implementation will its developing potential be fully revealed, and society will witness this sooner or later.
References
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