These districts鈥� reactions to ChatGPT have led to a debate among policymakers and parents, teachers and technologists about the of this new chatbot. This deliberation magnifies a troubling truth: Superintendents, principals and teachers are making decisions about the adoption of emerging technology without the answers to fundamental questions about the benefits and risks. 

Technology has the potential to modernize education and help prepare students for an increasingly complex future. But the risks to children are just beginning to be uncovered. Creating a policy and regulatory framework focused on building a deeper understanding of the benefits and risks of emerging technologies, and protecting children where the evidence is incomplete, is not alarmist, but a responsible course of action. 

Why act now? 

First, recent history has demonstrated that emerging technology can pose real risks to children. a correlation between time spent on social media and adolescent anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide. These impacts seem particularly significant for . While there is debate among researchers about the size of these effects, the state of adolescent mental health has deteriorated to the extent that it was declared a in 2021 by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children鈥檚 Hospital Association. Social media seems to be a contributing factor. 

Second, immersive technologies, including virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and brain-computer interfaces, may intensify the benefits and risks to children. Immersive technologies have the potential to . But the impact on childhood development of exposure to multisensory experiences replicating the physical world in digital spaces is just beginning to be understood 鈥� and there is cause for concern based on limited research. For example, a concluded that immersive virtual reality can interfere with the development of coordination that allows children to maintain balance. And a 2021 on the impact of virtual reality on children revealed evidence of cognition issues, difficulty navigating real and virtual worlds, and addiction. The most significant risk may be how frequent and prolonged exposure to virtual environments impact mental health. 

Third, the digital divide has considerably. Government and the private sector have driven improvements in , expanded cellular networks and made mobile and computing devices significantly more affordable. Since 2014-15, the percentage of teens who have a smartphone has . Paired with money from COVID-19 legislation that allowed schools to invest in hardware, more children will have opportunities to use emerging technologies than ever had access to older innovations 鈥� including apps and the internet 鈥� at home and in school. 

Based on emerging evidence on these impacts on children, and in the face of significant unknowns, a policy and regulatory framework focused on mitigating risks 鈥� while still allowing children to access the benefits of these technologies 鈥� is warranted. At the federal level, Congress should consider:

• Compelling all emerging technology companies, including those producing immersive reality products that are utilized by children, to provide academic researchers access to their data.
  
• Compelling all immersive reality companies to assess the privacy and protection of children in the design of any product or service that they offer.
  
• Compelling all immersive reality companies to provide child development training to staff working on products intended for use by children.
  
• Requiring hardware manufacturers of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality and brain-computer interface devices targeted to children to prominently display on their packaging warning labels about unknown physical and mental health risks.
  
• Establishing guidance, via the Department of Education, for district and school leaders to prepare their communities for the adoption of immersive technologies.
  
• Requiring all immersive technology companies to inform users of product placement within the platform.
  
• Compelling relevant federal regulatory agencies to provide clarification on the ways existing laws, such as the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act and the Children鈥檚 Online Privacy Protection Act, Individuals with Disabilities Act and Americans with Disabilities Act, apply to immersive technologies.
  
• Compelling all immersive technology companies to acquire parental consent for data sharing, particularly biometric information, including eye scans, fingerprints, handprints, face geometry and voiceprints.
  
• Providing guidelines around minimum age for the use of immersive technology platforms and products.
  

At the state level, every governor should carefully assess the action last week to regulate children’s use of social media and consider the following actions: 

• Creating child well-being requirements for state procurement of any immersive technology.
  
• Offering research and development grants to in-state immersive technology companies to focus on safety and well-being impacts on children.
  
• Establishing protocols for reviewing districts’ use of emerging technologies to determine compliance with federal and state law.

Finally, at the local level, school boards, superintendents and school leaders should consider regulations and guidance for the selection, adoption and use of immersive technologies:

• Assessing opportunities for integration with current teaching and learning methods and curriculum.
  
• Investing in and planning for professional development around these technologies.
  
• Ensuring accessibility for students with disabilities and English learners when planning around use of emerging technologies.
  
• Ensuring that any planned use of emerging technologies in the classroom is compliant with state and federal special education laws.
  
• Evaluating the costs of immersive technology procurement and necessary infrastructure upgrades and making the results transparent to the community.
  
• Creating opportunities for educator, parent and student involvement in the purchasing process for technology.

If emerging technology can have detrimental impacts on children 鈥� and evidence points to that being the case 鈥� responsibly mitigating the risks associated with these technologies is prudent. Why chance it? This is the best opportunity to allow children to reap the benefits.

More and more colleges are becoming 鈥�,鈥� taking their physical campuses into a virtual online world, often called the 鈥渕etaverse.鈥� One initiative has working with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and virtual reality company VictoryXR to create 3D online replicas 鈥� sometimes called 鈥溾�� 鈥� of their campuses that are updated live as people and items move through the real-world spaces.

Some classes are . And VictoryXR says that by 2023, it plans to , which allow for a group setting with live instructors and real-time class interactions.

One metaversity builder, New Mexico State University, says it wants to offer degrees in which students can take all their classes in virtual reality, .

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There are many , such as 3D visual learning, more realistic interactivity and easier access for faraway students. But there are also potential problems. My recent has focused on aspects of the metaverse and risks such as . I see five challenges:

1. Significant costs and time

The metaverse . For instance, building a cadaver laboratory costs and maintenance. A virtual cadaver lab has made scientific .

However, licenses for virtual reality content, construction of digital twin campuses, virtual reality headsets and other investment expenses do .

A metaverse course license can cost universities . VictoryXR also charges a per student to access its metaverse.

Additional costs are incurred for virtual reality headsets. While Meta is providing a for metaversities launched by Meta and VictoryXR, that鈥檚 only a few of what may be needed. The low-end 128GB version of the Meta Quest 2 . Managing and maintaining a large number of headsets, , involves additional operational costs and time.

Colleges also need to spend significant time and resources to . Even more time will be required to deliver metaverse courses, many of which will need .

Most educators don鈥檛 have the , which can involve merging videos, still images and audio with text and interactivity elements into an .

2. Data privacy, security and safety concerns

Business models of companies developing metaverse technologies . For instance, people who want to use Meta鈥檚 Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headsets must have Facebook accounts.

The headsets can collect highly personal and sensitive data . Meta has that advertisers might have to it.

Meta is also working on a high-end virtual reality headset called , with more advanced capabilities. Sensors in the device will allow a virtual avatar to maintain eye contact and make facial expressions that mirror the user鈥檚 eye movements and face. That data information and target them with personalized advertising.

Professors and students may not freely participate in class discussions if they know that all their moves, their speech and even their facial expressions are .

The virtual environment and its equipment can also collect a wide range of user data, such as , and even signals of emotions.

Cyberattacks in the metaverse could even cause physical harm. Metaverse interfaces , so they effectively trick the user鈥檚 brain into believing the user is in a different environment. can influence the activities of immersed users, even inducing them to , such as to the top of a staircase.

The metaverse can also . For instance, Roblox has launched to bring 3D, interactive, virtual environments into physical and online classrooms. Roblox says it has , but no protections are perfect, and its metaverse involves user-generated content and a chat feature, which could be or people or other .

3. Lack of rural access to advanced infrastructure

Many metaverse applications such as . They require high-speed data networks to handle all of the across the virtual and physical space.

Many users, especially in rural areas, . For instance, 97% of the population living in urban areas in the U.S. has in tribal lands.

4. Adapting challenges to a new environment

Building and launching a metaversity requires drastic changes in a school鈥檚 approach to and learning.
For instance, metaverse but active participants in virtual reality games and other activities.

The combination of advanced technologies such as can create personalized learning experiences that are not in real time but still experienced through the metaverse. Automatic systems that tailor the content and pace of learning to the ability and interest of the student can make learning in the metaverse , with fewer set rules.

Those differences require significant , such as quizzes and tests. Traditional measures such as individualized and unstructured learning experiences offered by the metaverse.

5. Amplifying biases

Gender, racial and ideological biases are common in textbooks of and , which influence how students understand certain events and topics. In some cases, those biases prevent the achievement of justice and other goals, such as .

Biases鈥� effects can be even more powerful in rich media environments. are at views than textbooks. has the potential to be .

To maximize the benefits of the metaverse for teaching and learning, universities 鈥� and their students 鈥� will have to wrestle with protecting users鈥� privacy, training teachers and the level of national investment in broadband networks.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

Students from 10 universities around the country can visit historical settings or perform surgery on cadavers, all from the comfort of their homes, after an Iowa company that specializes in virtual reality created digital campuses.

During the pandemic, students at Morehouse College in Atlanta reported struggling with online learning. The university came to VictoryXR, a company based in Davenport, Iowa. CEO Steve Grubbs had the solution: build a virtual replica of the campus.

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Students and instructors wear virtual-reality headsets to access a three-dimensional, computer-generated simulation of real-world places and events. Users immersed into the virtual reality, known as the metaverse, can move through the simulation and interact with others.

Within 10 weeks, teachers at Morehouse developed coursework for the program, and VictoryXR built the metaverse. At Morehouse, inorganic chemistry, world history and biology courses have used the program.

鈥淣ext thing you know, their students are taking classes in the metaverse,鈥� Grubbs said. 鈥淭he first college in the world.鈥�

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, connected with VictoryXR to expand 鈥渕etaversities鈥� after the implementation of digital classrooms at Morehouse College and Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Morehouse is one of 10 higher education institutions to qualify for virtual classrooms through a grant from Meta. According to a public records request filed by , the universities will receive more than $500,000 and virtual-reality headsets under their contracts with VictoryXR.

Grubbs said virtual-meeting programs like Zoom can鈥檛 recreate the student experience that virtual reality can.

鈥淚n a metaversity, you are all together and you are in a classroom together where you can fist bump, you can work on projects together, you can break into small groups,鈥� Grubbs said. 鈥淎 teacher can take a human heart out of a cadaver and hand it to another student. That is the bottom line. It is almost exactly like the brick-and-mortar classroom, only better.鈥�

Grubbs said students working in the metaverse will get the same education they would receive on campus, and in some ways better.

Grubbs said health science majors will benefit the most from the virtual experience, but history classes can also be enhanced through the metaverse. As on-campus and remote learning increases in demand, Grubbs said learning needs to be kinesthetic, or hands-on.

One simulation VictoryXR developed was the courtroom from the classic Harper Lee novel, 鈥淭o Kill a Mockingbird.鈥� As students discuss the book in class, they can sit with the jurors or in the judge鈥檚 chair.

鈥淵ou can understand the book from the perspective of those who sat in the courtroom,鈥� Grubbs said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we are trying to achieve, is an understanding that can only being gained by being there. Students get to go stand on the Great Wall of China, they can go to Iceland and they can go to the Redwoods Forest once they are learning with our virtual reality.鈥�

Grubbs served in the Iowa House from 1990 to 1996, including as chair of the House Education Committee. He said he has always had an interest in developing new ways to improve education. Buffalo Elementary School in Buffalo, Iowa, was the first school to use VictoryXR鈥檚 virtual reality education program. Now schools around the world use VictoryXR鈥檚 product. Saint Ambrose University in Davenport will be the first higher education institution in Iowa to have a metaversity. 

鈥淭hey will be right alongside the University of Kansas, West Virginia, Cal State, and a lot of other great schools in the country,鈥� Grubbs said.

Data collection

Meta will provide each university with Oculus Quest 2 virtual-reality headsets, while in use.

All contracts in the public-records request from noted the universities retain the ultimate ownership of data generated in the partnership. Data collection will depend on the brand of headset students use, according to Grubbs. Technology from the grant could come from Meta, Pico Technology or HTC, all with their own privacy data opt-in policies. 

Currently, Grubbs said no information is being gathered from users. VictoryXR won鈥檛 collect any data other than an email and name to set up an account. 

Users will be required to create a Facebook account to access the virtual classroom. Under Meta鈥檚 data policy, Oculus products can collect information about physical features and information from third-party apps. Passing information between third-party apps allows the company to pair users with friends also using the app, .

Environmental, dimensional and movement data will also be recorded to alert users if they approach a virtual boundary. Hand size estimates will be collected to enable the hand tracking feature.

What鈥檚 next?

VictoryXR hopes to expand the business so that every school in world will have a metaversity in the next five to seven years, Grubbs said. The company has been in conversation with multiple universities in Iowa. He plans to meet with the University of Iowa soon to talk about the future of virtual classrooms at the university.

VictoryXR is opening its first metaversity in Europe in August and Grubbs plans to bring on a business development aid in India in September. The business also won a global award for the best education innovation last September.

Grubbs expects the industry to expand to augmented reality. In virtual reality, students are completely immersed and are typically working remotely. Augmented reality creates virtual objects visible in the real-world classroom.  

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have to fly across the country and live on a campus because the metaverse is a campus,鈥� he said.

Questions regarding the metaverse and VictoryXR can be directed to the .

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on and .

Travis Feldler saw firsthand how early in their educational careers students could fall into 鈥渁cademic arrest,鈥� while he was working for New York state’s economic development office. Determined to break that vicious cycle of disinterest, he took his experience in education technology and teamed up with 10 students at Harlem’s Thurgood Marshall Academy to come up with a tool for engaging fifth-graders in science and math through virtual reality.

To be usable and scalable, he says, it would have to operate well in public schools with low-income student populations. It would have to be easy for teachers to use and engage students academically. And Feldler wanted it to be inclusive, both in content and access.

By 2019 鈥� just a few years later 鈥� his company, Techrow, had 2,000 students per day in New York and Los Angeles connecting to education in ways they hadn鈥檛 before.

鈥淪chools loved what we were doing, educators were excited and students were engaged in subjects they would not traditionally be engaged in,鈥� he says.

The Techrow platform is compatible with any VR headset, from the fanciest, most expensive version to the basic smartphone-plus-cardboard-viewer. It works with limited Wi-Fi, can accommodate students with special needs and is cloud-based, so it is accessible both in the classroom and at home.

Top media providers, such as the New York Times and BBC, have partnered with Techrow to build a library of content categorized for teachers, aligned with curriculum standards. The content is high-budget, delivering to students the videos of the quality they are accustomed to watching for their own entertainment. Techrow also developed accompanying lesson plans, and teachers can have full control 鈥� in the classroom, for example, they can run the content from their own device, stopping or pausing videos when needed. And by integrating with learning management systems, such as Google Classroom, teachers can, say, select Mission to Pluto or Exploring Pluto鈥檚 Frigid Heart as a homework assignment.

鈥淭he immersive experience of virtual reality sets it apart and engages students in a novel way despite the myriad of technological resources available,鈥� says Abdur Rahman, a teacher at New York’s New Design Middle School.

鈥淲e have evidence that this improves their abilities to take on new perspectives, empathize with others and, therefore, add depth to their own lives,” New Design teacher Mark Lee says.

Feldler says his model is usable in all learning environments, from the classroom to distance learning.

鈥淥ur roots in the most underserved schools in New York City have given us a very strong mission to stay aligned to the needs of the sector and not build from the top of an ivory tower,鈥� he says. 鈥淪ometimes tech can get too far out there where you can鈥檛 use it.鈥�

From its initial focus on fifth-graders, Techrow has switched to middle and high school students. But the company is also building a catalog of content that not only fits the academic needs of younger students, but is also usable without a VR headset, so kindergartners can more easily access the videos.

As the 10-employee company looks to expand beyond the nation’s two largest school districts 鈥� it has already launched in Indianapolis 鈥� and build out its network of media partners, it wants to continue offering inclusive curriculum that provides opportunities for all students to experience different perspectives. Feldler says the right content can help students of color see themselves as part of the future and aid white students in imagining a more diverse world.

鈥淲e have a responsibility to mitigate learning loss, increase engagement and close learning gaps,鈥� Feldler says. 鈥淚mmersive technology is a catalyst.鈥�