Hosts ''2025 Metaverse Education Industry and Research Seminar''
The "2025 Metaverse Education Industry and Research Seminar," hosted by Sogang University''s Graduate School of Virtual Reality and Convergence and sponsored by the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation (IITP) and the Korea Creative Content Agency, was held at Sogang University''s Matteo Building Room 206 on the 9th.
The seminar was organized as a practical discourse venue where educators, industry representatives, and academic researchers gathered to discuss the present and future of metaverse-based education. Educators, industry experts, and researchers attended to share diverse cases and visions.
The first presenter, Researcher Kim Beom-su, mentioned approximately 300,000 Korean language learners in Vietnam and explained that the Korean language education market is growing explosively driven by the Korean Wave boom and the spread of trade and cultural exchange. His service "MetaSpeak" was designed around three strategies: customized conversational feedback from AI-based smart NPCs; practical conversation in metaverse spaces by situation; and motivation through gamification elements. In live demonstrations, Vietnamese learners were shown conversing with NPCs in life scenarios like airport immigration, food ordering, and company job interviews. NPCs corrected learners'' pronunciation and grammar errors in real time while responding differently to the same questions, providing a natural conversational experience beyond repetitive learning. He emphasized price competitiveness, noting the service can be provided at 1/10 the cost of offline education and 1/3 the cost of online education.
The second presenter, Researcher Bae Hyeon-yeong, presented survey results from 208 secondary school teachers. Teachers with less than 5 years of experience valued "educational utility" such as student engagement and interest generation, while those with 10+ years of experience placed greater importance on "functional efficiency" such as ease of use and management convenience. Differences also appeared by subject area. Humanities teachers preferred intuitive and simple tools; natural science teachers preferred experiment and simulation content; arts and physical education teachers preferred space-based activity content. Based on these results, she proposed strategies including 10-minute morning routine learning, customized platforms for academically struggling students, and parent open class utilization.
The third presenter, Researcher Park Gwang-seok, presented digital twin, VR, AR, and MR technologies as new alternatives for practical education based on 30 years of IT engineering experience. He introduced actual cases including Hanyang University''s semiconductor process virtual training (ALD process education), Samsung Engineering''s AR equipment inspection system, and Korea University of Technology and Education/Army''s AI virtual classroom.
The fourth presenter, 3DBANK CEO Kim Dong-uk, introduced cases expanding out-of-classroom learning through XR technology, with his solution consisting of XR Class (3D lesson content), XR Showroom (student work exhibition), and HoloMagic (hologram experience). A particular strength highlighted was the ability to experience content with just a QR code without expensive HMD equipment or separate app installation.
The fifth and final presenter, ZEP CEO Kim Sang-yeop, pointed to the reality of students hiding behind muted microphones and disabled cameras in post-COVID-19 online classes. His solution was ZEP QUIZ, offering AI-customized question generation, student cooperation-competition structures, and real-time teacher learning dashboards. Citing Vygotsky''s educational theory that "learning occurs through social interaction," he emphasized ZEP QUIZ as "a platform that restores the classroom''s lost interaction and immersion through the metaverse."
This seminar was significant for presenting specific applicable models rather than simply declaring "metaverse is the future of education." Metaverse education has already passed the experimental stage to enter the implementation stage in classrooms and corporate training. Whether policy support and an industry-education cooperation ecosystem can support this going forward will be the key.
