While the type of fully immersive, collaborative, metaverse learning co-experiences that I expect will benefit students in the future are not yet a reality, teachers should still begin considering now how they can mentor their students on safety within the metaverse. As discussed in the “why” section, students are already engaging in the metaverse in their free time. Miller and Bass (2019) discuss that students “need someone . . . to share their digital lives and discuss the decisions they make regarding technology and digital tools . . . we need to engage our students in discussions about usage, responsibility and decision making” (p. 20 – 21). For now, that may mean lessons on digital safety within the metaverse. In the future, when metaverse technologies are potentially more prominent in school environments, it will mean modeling safe and appropriate usage within the classroom. Either way, educators should consider engaging in the metaverse themselves prior to discussing safe usage with students in order to be an effective mentor. While Justin Hochberg focuses on how parents can discuss safety in the metaverse in Learn Metaverse Safety for Kids, his advice transfers to teachers wanting to be effective mentors as well: “the best way to help guide your child is to show interest in what they’re interested in because they want to connect on the things they’re interested in” (2022, 12:07) and goes on to argue that “no kid wants to sit down and have a safety conversation, right. That’s not fun, they’re not interested. But if you go and play . . . you can see what they’re doing and now you have a common frame of reference of what’s happening” (2022, 13:05). Creating a common frame of reference and developing an understanding of the metaverse through personal experience will allow educators to more effectively keep students safe within the metaverse. Shying away from the metaverse and ignoring it in schools does not make the safety risks disappear.

 

Teachers can also share resources with parents to support them in keeping their children safe as metaverse technologies continue to be developed. Two excellent resources on safety risks within metaverse technologies and ways to keep children safe include Kids and the Metaverse: What Parents, Policymakers, and Companies Need to Know by Nelson Reed and Katie Joseff from Common Sense and Cybertip.ca’s article Dangerous Reality: What Parents Need to Know About the Metaverse.

 

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Resources:

 

cybertip.ca. (2022, March 2). Cybertip.ca Alert: Dangerous Reality: What parents need to know about the metaverse. Retrieved June 8, 2022, from https://cybertip.ca/en/online-harms/alerts/2022/metaverse/?utm_campaign=mailout_c3p_newsletter_202205_parents_en&utm_term=/ctip-alert-metaverse

 

Learn Metaverse Safety for Kids. (2022, April 1). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ssMmVXY46w&t=34s

 

Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019). Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age. International Society for Technology in Education.

 

Reed, N., & Joseff, K. (n.d.). Kids and the Metaverse: What Parents, Policymakers, and Companies Need to Know. Common Sense. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/metaverse-white-paper.pdf