Like you, I am a strong believer in practicing what I preach. As I was preparing for an upcoming talk for the VR/AR Association regarding AR and VR in STEM education, I realized the need to depart from googleslides and Zoom! Seeing as how my work is dedicated to innovative strategies for STEM education, I decided it was time to see what else is out there and model my core belief in innovation. Thus the Career In STEM Metaverse was born!
Defining the Metaverse
First I collaborated with Tino Truong from BasedXR to understand what the metaverse was and conceptualize possibilities. While many definitions exist, the metaverse essentially is an online world where users can interact with things and each other. And in case you were wondering like I was: 1) it is not associated with Meta the company, and 2) you do not need a VR headset to access most metaverse spaces.
How to Make a Metaverse
When making a metaverse, the first step is to define the purpose of the space. With Tino’s wisdom and guidance, I decided on a ‘Career In STEM Connectory’, where people interested in STEM could come together. Next, again with Tino’s help, I researched metaverse platforms that would work well for teens and educators. Many providers exist, which will be the subject of an upcoming post. I decided on Spatial, and it was time to try it! I devised a live event in March 2023, the first ever Career In STEM Metaverse Meetup. This event consisted of networking between teens, educators and STEM professionals, as well as a chat session and gallery walk of student work. It was such a success that we decided to host a Metaverse Meetup each year – all Explorer subscribers are invited to join us for this live event on May 23!
The metaverse is a new and exciting frontier in STEM education and career exploration, and I am continuing to learn as much as I can, try new things, and depart from the status quo! My next step in the Career In STEM Metaverse is to create ‘career portals’, ideally one for each of the nationally recognized CTE clusters. See you in the metaverse!