XR for education propaganda

 

propaganda: 

1 - ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause

also : a public action having such an effect

2: the spreading of ideas, information, or rumors for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person

Merriam-Webster Dictionary entry


I was so tempted to make a reaction video to this video within Andrew Wright's LinkedIn post.  But no. Instead, I'll just point out the XR for education problems therein.

Post:

If you’re wondering what #immersivelearning looks like. Watch the clip of today’s onsite session till the end. Innovate, Engage, Inspire
This is not a ‘flash over substance’ experience, at EDUmetaverse, this is the real deal!

Consider that this is one lesson of ten, from one world out of a hundred, you’ll then get some idea of what we’ve spent five years creating.

Designed by teachers, for teachers. Available now as part of our education bundle for 2026.
All you need is a browser..

✅ Immersive Worlds
✅ Engaging PBL
✅ Relevant Content
✅ Curriculum aligned
✅ A.I Literacy embedded
✅ STEM based
✅ Teacher Created

What are you waiting for? Get in touch today.
www.edumetaverse.com.au

#educationevolved #ai #vr #mixedreality #3ddesign #stem #webxr #pbl #generativeai Frame MeshyAI Lauren Main Andrew Google Flow Apple

Strong Words

Wondering what immersive learning looks like?
Not 'flash over substance'?
The real deal!
1 of 10, 1 of 100!
Spent 5 years creating

Designed by teachers, for teachers (ouch. I apologize to teachers on EDUMetaverse's behalf, cause EDUMetaverse has a tendency to throw y'all under the bus, regularly.)

Then a bunch of key phrases: STEM, relevant, immersive! Probably written by AI. 🙄
 

I did not find the same video posted to any other EDUMetaverse social media (huh? 🙄) . I'm going to show screen captures with my written descriptions.

Opening scene, upbeat music: It's Avatar Andrew inside of a FrameVR/Virbela world that looks like a stadium during winter. Avatar Andrew is standing on a blue running track looking towards empty wooden spectator seats where a real world ski jumping video clip plays and 2D picture of a 3D model of a ski jump is displayed.

Students are watching a flat screen monitor 🙄, where an EDUMetaverse world is shown and inside that world there is what looks like an EDUMetaverse produced video and some Olympics mascots. (I searched for matching clip or 3D model, didn't easily find anything but it isn't hard to guess that they could have been made by AI.)

Capture of students looking into EDUMetaverse world

An interface shows a 3D ski jump model. I've never used EDUMetaverse, so I'm guessing this is a compose or build-type of interface. Interestingly, we can see that AI is doing the building because there is text: "Prompt: An olympic ski jumper in jump mode leaning forward over skis..." and "Generating 70%".  In my experience with VirBELA, this looks like a VirBELA-like interface. Note: this supposed result doesn't appear anywhere in the video. (cough, AI fail? 🙄 cough)

A little more video of Avatar Andrew watching real world ski jumping video in world. 🙄

Then what must be a post-production edited still shot (NOT video) because an innocent student appears to be pointing to something that doesn't exist but a ski jump has been placed into the shot. This is AR-like. In my opinion, this is a faked video shot and it is poorly done. 🙄  For fun, I noticed the colored bracelet. Can we see it elsewhere in the video OR was the student's hand a new creation from somewhere else? (Spoiler: yup, the bracelet is on a student later).

 

Nomination for worst AR faked video shot

Then a slick EDUMetaverse video clip of a ski jumper.

 

 

I asked Google Image to find this image as I thought it might have been a clip produced by the Olympic organizers or broadcasters. Result: "No exact matches found. This could mean the image is unique or has not been widely shared yet."  Technically, that is one hell of a ski jumping video clip if it was based on ANY form of real reality cause the top of that ski jump is literally as tall as mountains. 🙄

Then back to videos of students sketching a ski jump. At this point, I don't know why since I thought this was a pro-VR video. But I have had a great deal of fun with The Sum of All Thrills where one designs a roller coaster so I'm aware that working on design is a fun step.

Students are creating a ski jump from a cardboard box. Imagine my surprise. Is this a middle design--like between the drawn designs and the 3D one? Looks fun...but...why are they doing this? 🙄

Quick shot of a student navigating inside of the VR world that is simultaneously displayed on a bigger screen. I don't know why the student is doing this. 🙄 Displaying it on a bigger screen is intriguing, though.

Final scenes with students show them letting a marble roll down and off their cardboard ski jump models. At this point, I'm like "OK, let's take these skills into VR somehow or...what?"  No joy. 🙄 It doesn't have to go back into VR, I know that. But this is a VR company so I'm looking for them to clinch the promo.  


Lesson had a claim to be related to STEM (overall EDUMetaverse website claims that their lessons have 'PBL packs', problem-based learning) but I'm not sure I ever saw any math, anything measured or calculated. 🙄

But the piece de resistance that threw me over the edge was the post-production video edit of a ski jumping going the wrong direction on to/ off of the cardboard ski jump.
 

Yup, ski jump is definitely going UP the jump, left to right across the screen. 

Dear Jumper, that is not the correct way to use our ski jump.

Executing a truly miraculous pivot 90° to the right at the height of the jump. Impressive for a ski jumper, that is. To be fair, less impressive for a freestyle skier. 😒

 

 

 

Really nailed the landing well. On the desk. Which wasn't really part of any of the students' designs. This is one prescient ski jumper. 

 

Who is Veo anyway? I just noticed their watermark in the corner.

 

 

 

I won't link to Veo here because when I surfed there, it took over my browser dominantly. I would steer clear. 

Veo makes AI-generated Clips.

Educational value

So...how does this product (which provides no prices upfront, you need to ask for a quote and hope for your educational discount...from a company with EDU in their name 🙄) actually add to the educational experience where students made ski jumps and rolled marbles off of them?

 

• The students watched a video about ski jumping inside a virtual world.
• Then they did something with generative AI about making a ski jumper?
• Then they made their own ski jump models out of cardboard and rolled marbles off of them.

I didn't see any measurement of angles or distance.

I even think the students' faces look a little disappointed as their marble doesn't sail up into the air much like a ski jumper does.

 

before and after

So where's the learning added? Where is the advantage of using the product? 

where's the beef?

 

Students could have watched that 2D ski jumper video outside of the Olympic world.  Technically, everything I saw happening in world was unnecessary.  

 

Yeah, it would be a tad more boring but when the immersive Olympic world doesn't add anything, it is a distraction. Unnecessary information should be removed (Mayer's Principle of Coherence).

BTW, who's going to tell them that PBL is falling out of fashion?

 

So let's score them against their words

Wondering what immersive learning looks like?

No, but that's because I'm a specialist in immersive learning. What you've shown ain't it.

Not 'flash over substance'?

The video and supposed learning has no real substance. You might want to re-think using the phrase 'not flash'.

The real deal!

😆

1 of 10, 1 of 100!

When in doubt, dazzle them with statistics!

Spent 5 years creating

what. a. waste.

BTW, your YouTube says you went AI crazy 6 months ago. Sure you want to stick with 5 years?

EDUMetaverse reputation

Interestingly, EDUMetavere's YouTube account is empty! What?

This channel doesn't have any content. You're telling me.

And Andrew's YouTube account is full! huh?  (No comment on this Jess Jones AI agent...but...let's just say there is a LOT of content with her.)

 

Did you know that you can spin up 'blank' avatars, basically avatar bots, in VirBELA based products? 

 

I got $5  💸saying this image contains bots

Summary

I don't begrudge the students. Poor souls having to be dragged into this. They remind me of the poor HTC Vive students.  I'm glad the students made their cardboard ski jumps IRL.  But somebody get them a tape measure. Get a physics teacher in there!

But for the love of God, please have your fake AI video have the ski jumper going down and then up OFF OF THE SKI JUMP, not the opposite. That is, if you are going to highly produce your propaganda about how your VR helps learning, have the ski jumper go from right to left, not left to right.  

Here's how to goes:

Notice how the ski jumper slides down and jumps up off the ramp?

 

What's my main problem with the video/post? 

It does a terrible job of portraying a possible way to use XR for education. Even if one looked past the faked video shots (and I don't have a direct beef against using AI for video clips, even though I mourn for the proper actors put of jobs with this), teaching this way with XR is awful.  I see no educational benefit at all.

All in all, posts like this (and Andrew posts like this very often) do more harm than good to the XR for education industry. 

Over and out.