Deepen your human skills and empower others
As machines become increasingly accurate and intelligent, our humans will have to hone our skills. One of your primary responsibilities as a Learning and Development Leader is to hone your skills and ensure that you empower the workforce to develop the four skills that are critical to thriving in 2030. I have compiled a series of articles titled “eLearning Skills 2030” to share the essential skills to help you make your career future-proof and lead your team. This article explores metaverse, why it is critical, and what actionable steps you can take today to learn more about it.
What is the Metaverse?
The term “metaverse” was first coined by Neil Stephenson in his 1992 book Snow crash, where in the real world, the protagonist delivers pizza, but in the metaverse he is a warrior prince. In Harvard Business Review, Mark Purdy defines the metaverse as “a network of 3D virtual worlds where people interact, do business, and forge social connections through their virtual avatars in a virtual version of today’s Internet.” Consistent with Ray Oldenburg’s definition of a “third place”, the metavers, whose etymology “means a place beyond”, can be seen as a place that combines the virtual and the living worlds, and that is outside screens and acquired by Virtual Reality. (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) headsets and holograms.
Eric Ravenscraft argues in his article that the metaverse as a term is difficult to define because it is still evolving. While various video games such as Fortnite, World of Warcraftand Minecraft built virtual worlds where people interact and sell goods, the metaphors we discuss here are bigger and broader. Several organizations, including Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, and others, are investing heavily in the metaverse of creating virtual worlds that approach our universe. Temple University Senior Fellow Kathy Hirsch-Pasek states that metaverse education and Transformation and Learning will transform, and propose a path to bring best educational practices into metaverse.
Why is the Metaverse important?
At this time, the metaverse infrastructure is mainly still being developed, and we cannot say definitively how essential the metaverse is today. According to Purdy, the metaverse can offer a new level of social connectivity, mobility and collaboration. He predicts that the metaverse will reform the world of work in a variety of ways, including new immersive forms of team collaboration, new digital, Artificial Intelligence-enabled colleagues, and entirely new ventures and job roles stemming from virtualization and gamification technologies. In addition, the metaverse may reveal new opportunities to reimagine the workplace with elements of adventure, spontaneity, and surprise.
Metaverse technology can also revolutionize research and training, reducing the time it takes to learn and develop new skills. While the metaverse is still new, it can provide organizations with the opportunity to rebalance hybrid and remote work by reimagining the elements of interactivity and fun of team-based work and learning, while maintaining flexible, productive, and convenient work modalities.
What can you do now to navigate the evolving metaverse?
2030 is not that far away. As change, threats, and digitization accelerate, you need to deepen your human skills, including thinking differently, managing yourself, managing others, and leveraging digitally. Check out the different articles under this series to dive deeper into these four categories and explore strategies and tactics to build skill programs that will inspire and empower your team to thrive in 2030. You can also explore evolving metaverse scenarios, including re-imagining your workplace in 3D and learning faster.
Reimagine 3D Workplaces
While organizations struggle with returning to the office and hybrid workplaces, metaverse startups like NextMeet provide an immersive platform where virtual offices and meeting rooms can be designed and timed by employees’ digital avatars, and help desks accessed through digital access. avatars, presentations can be made directly from the podium, and network lounges can be used by employees to socialize. In this metaverse environment, you can use a computer or mobile device to enter the virtual environment, select or design your avatar, and navigate the space with keyboard buttons: arrow keys to move around, and double-click to sit down. To reimagine a 3D workplace, you and your team can ask questions in line with how this scenario works in your organization and consider the challenges and opportunities that the metaverse presents.
Explore Faster Learning
While some universities have already used VR and AR in classrooms — very very successful, like Stanford — learning can develop into the metaverse and accelerate by using virtual trainers and mentors who are AI-driven bots personalized to each learner’s needs. . These clashes can occur when the learner stumbles, needs a push, or wants to expand or delve deeper into a topic. VR and 3D holograms of human body parts were used in medical training. Students can view a human heart in 3D and discuss how to address the patient’s problem.
In addition, medical laboratory technicians use VR to virtually learn how to use laboratory testing machines and how to address challenges at work. The United States Navy uses “digital twins” on aircraft carriers, enabling naval technicians to repair broken parts faster by virtually communicating with their land-based counterparts on how to solve the problem. Using digital twins of ships, the Navy can perform repairs and maintenance on them while at sea, maintaining combat systems readiness at all times. How will the metaverse learning affect your organization?
Closure
To navigate these changes, you need to deepen your human skills and keep abreast of how the metaverse can impact your organization with 3D workplaces, AI-powered digital colleagues, and faster learning. As a leader, you also have a responsibility to empower your team to learn the key elements associated with the metaverse and its evolution so that they can thrive and lead in 2030 and beyond.
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