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“It’s all geared around creativity,” says EDUmetaverse creator, owner and lead consultant Andrew Wright.

“And so when they’re (learning), they’re constantly making, as well.”

He’s talking about students’ experience in his collection of customizable virtual worlds, designed to enhance the learning experience in classrooms across the globe.

An innovator in the educational-technology space for more than a decade, Andrew is the owner of Sydney-based iTeacher. Nevertheless, he says the pandemic provided a catalyst for him to explore new worlds–virtually.

His response: the creation of EDUmetaverse.

Today, Andrew has built more than 50 customizable virtual worlds. In these experiences, students can travel to any location imaginable. Collaboration and creativity are center stage. So is learning retention: students are experiencing and interacting with, rather than memorizing, the subject matter.

Naturally, those experiences can incorporate multiple disciplines at once.

According to Andrew’s LinkedIn page, he opens up EDUmetaverse on weekends, for visitors.

Exploring the worlds

When you visit, you might get to visit a medieval market. Or a farm, to explore the farm-to-table food production process. Or possibly even Mars!

One major project, on which six schools around the world are collaborating, is a virtual butterfly preserve. Students get to upload information on the butterflies in their region, and learn more about conservation.

Perhaps most exciting of all, though, are the results Andrew has seen.

The end results

Students get excited about learning–to the point that they don’t want to leave the classroom sometimes! Quieter students can blossom. And some at risk have had a 180-degree turnaround in their perspectives of their future possibilities.

“I know what we’re doing here is something crazy special,” Andrew comments.

While some of the worlds are free, Andrew, who is an independent creator, says he hopes to monetize in the future. If you would like to see some of his work, in addition to checking out the main page on Framevr.io, here is a link to EDUmetaverse’s YouTube channel.

Andrew talked about his experiences, shared some of his most inspiring moments in creating EDUmetaverse, and shared his vision for the future.

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• How Andrew first became inspired to become an innovator in the field of education;

• The story of EDUmetaverse;

• Andrew’s experiences as a first-time learner with a popular world building software;

• What you’ll experience when you come into EDUmetaverse;

• A preview of one of the virtual worlds;

• How historical figures are represented through AI art;

• Some projects in which students collaborated and learned through AI art;

• A look at headsets versus desktops (EDUmetaverse is set up to be accessible through desktops in order to be more widely available);

• One of Andrew’s most rewarding experiences as a creator;

• How schools can implement EDUmetaverse;

• Roughly what the cost might be, for a U.S. school;

• A closer look at EDUmetaverse’s collaborative butterfly conservation project;

• Andrew’s vision for the future;

• Where to connect with him. for more information on EDUmetaverse;

• How Andrew has incorporated his students’ interests and suggestions nto the latest worlds he’s been building;

• Workarounds to some of the common obstacles to implementing innovation into a more “traditional” education system;

• Why EDUmetaverse empowers students, beyond learning subject matter;

• The story of one student whose future vision changed radically, through interaction with EDUmetaverse.