Virtual reality (VR) classrooms may become the new normal for schools of the future, given that some universities have already begun experimenting with classes using avatars of students in school buildings created in virtual spaces.
With online learning becoming more widespread amid the prolonged novel coronavirus crisis, the virtual classroom paradigm is attracting attention as it is easier to raise students' sense of participation than with videoconferencing or watching videos.
"It's OK if you get too close, because you're an avatar," the avatar of Kindai University's associate professor Takeshi Okamoto told students during a demonstration of virtual reality classes held at the university on Jan. 13.
Within the third-dimensional space, which resembled a theater, about 50 people including students controlled their own avatars to move and look around.
When the participants turned on the camera on their computers, their actual faces were projected on the avatar's head. They can also show their intentions by clapping and using the heart symbol.
The system makes it possible to switch between spaces. The class experienced a series of 360-degree worlds based on actual images, including the laboratory, the campus, and the shopping street in front of the university.
"Neither teachers nor students can sense responses in usual remote classes. We want to make it more fun and feel a sense of participation," Okamoto said.
This project, which was launched in May last year, started when the university invited applications for research that deals with the coronavirus pandemic.
"Just by changing from a flat surface [like videoconferences] to a three-dimensional space, we can convey the atmosphere of a group," said Okamoto, who plans to introduce this method in his regular classes.
Miyu Matsumoto, a senior in the university's Faculty of Applied Sociology, is one of the students who participated in the program.
"In many online classes, only the teacher's face is shown on the screen and the students are not visible," she said. "In the virtual space, you can move as you like and change your point of view, so it's more like face-to-face. It is easier to stay motivated and focused."
With more and more schools introducing online classes, there is a growing momentum to use VR and other methods to improve learning effectiveness.
Since last June, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has been promoting the Scheem-D (Student-centered higher education ecosystem through Digitization) project to improve university education with digital technology, including experiments and practical training using VR and student interaction through avatars.
Since August last year, Tokyo Gakugei University has been promoting a project to "create a school of the future together" to change schools with advanced technology in cooperation with companies and the Board of Education.
As part of the project, they are experimenting with a three-dimensional virtual classroom using a goggle-type display.
The university vice president Keji Matsuda, the project leader, said, "Even in a situation where a person is unable to go to school due to the coronavirus pandemic, VR will allow them to connect with others through their physical senses.
"We want to carefully see what kind of impact the sensation of having multiple realities and multiple selves will have on children," he added.
While it continues to be difficult for students to get together at school, an increasing number of schools are using state-of-the-art technology for school events.
The University of Tsukuba Senior High School at Otsuka, Tokyo, held its online school festival in a virtual school building last October.
"We thought about how to reproduce the cheers and applause around the stage, and came to the conclusion that a virtual space would be better than streaming video," said Yuma Miyata, a sophomore on the organizing committee of the school festival.
The committee involved students who are familiar with game production and faithfully re-created the school building, while researching aspects on the internet.
Visitors were able to control their avatars to observe the event, and some even clapped and jumped at the live performance.
During the two-day event, about 11,000 people visited the virtual festival, which was three times more than the number of the previous year. There were also many nonstudents who visited, and some graduates said that they were happy to see the virtual school building, and that it brought back memories.
Second-year student Hiroshi Takayama, who was a member of the organizing committee, said, "Because we didn't have to work so hard to set up the venue, it felt like I suddenly returned to reality when I turned off the computers."
He has already started thinking about the next school festival. "There is still value in actually going to school and experiencing it. I would like to explore combining the real and the virtual," he said.
There are also correspondence high schools in which students use virtual school buildings for school life.
In the "Meisei Cyber" of the Meisei High School Web Course, students create an avatar when they enter the school and have a private room called "my island" on the website. Students can accumulate points through their studies, and exchange the points for furniture, pets, seasonal clothes, facial parts and other items.
When students go to a classroom, they can watch video lessons and even meet classmates who log in at the same time. Students can interact with each other on the bulletin board in the schoolyard to talk about their hobbies. They also can borrow electronic books from a library.
Masaki Shimoda, a teacher at the school, was involved in building the system when the course was launched in 2015.
"It feels lonely to work on assignments alone online. Interacting with other people in a space like a school will help motivate them," he said.
There are many students who are not good at communication and have been out of school for a long time, Shimoda said. "Conversation through avatars is easier than meeting people in person. I hope this will be an opportunity for them to get used to people and get out into the world."
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