Ukrainian edtech company DAN.it has launched what it says is the first immersive online global training program in the metaverse.
The company originally created the program as a response to Ukrainian students’ education being disrupted by the Russian invasion. Now, it is expanding to the UK and the EU in an effort to offer its immersive training program more widely.
DAN.it CEO, Ksenia Stolbovaya, told The PIE News that the company has found the integrated virtual and augmented reality platform to be helpful for students facing difficulties with online learning.
“Communication platforms don’t cover all the bases in education. [Students] turn off their cameras and microphones and miss out on team building and learning experiences,” Stolbovaya stated.
DAN.it seeks to create a platform where students can interact in an online university and receive immersive training. Instead of being on camera, participants in the metaverse program design their own avatar and much like a video game, can control their character and use their microphone to talk through it.
This facilitates a close work environment for students and a “personal touch” that normal online education platforms don’t offer.
The program is currently focused on technological training, the majority of their students are training for IT or other tech jobs and being in the metaverse provides a more “hands-on” approach that provides certain skills in IT. However, the company is offering high school math classes and plans to branch out to other fields of study as it gains more participants.
“Most of the metaverse is for gaming, but this is a special type of metaverse. This one is specifically for creating study and office spaces, and learning and teaching,” Stolbovaya told The PIE.
“This is a special type of metaverse. This one is specifically for… learning and teaching.”
DAN.it has expanded its metaverse training program to several countries outside of Ukraine and the UK, including Azerbaijan, Israel, and Poland. The program offers mentors and course coordinators from around the world, as well as HR managers that can assist students with interviews, resumes, and any other issues they may encounter while in the metaverse.
