Artifacts - Lowering Barriers to the Metaverse in Higher Education: Designing Instructional Tutorials to support Active Learning

Immersive metaverse environments have been consolidating as innovative pedagogical tools capable of promoting greater student engagement and participation in higher education. By enabling synchronous collaboration in three-dimensional digital spaces, these technologies reinforce active learning methodologies and the construction of contextualized learning experiences. This paper presents the development of instructional tutorials designed to train students and faculty in the use of the Spatial platform, produced by the General Coordination of Digital Education CGED. A PDF tutorial and two video tutorials were created, covering topics from basic navigation to the creation of immersive educational environments. The preliminary validation of the materials was conducted with the Course Structuring Faculty (NDE) of the Nutrition program, demonstrating effectiveness in overcoming initial technological barriers, even among users with no prior experience. The materials were made available in an open repository on Zenodo, ensuring public access and academic traceability. Structured instructional support constitutes an essential step in reducing cognitive load when using new tools and in expanding the adoption of emerging technologies in higher education.沉浸式元宇宙环境（immersive metaverse environments）已逐步成为创新性教学工具，能够有效提升高等教育阶段学生的参与度与课堂互动积极性。通过支持三维数字空间内的同步协作，此类技术可强化主动学习方法的应用，并助力构建情境化学习体验。本文介绍了由数字教育总协调处（General Coordination of Digital Education，CGED）开发的Spatial平台（Spatial platform）教学教程的研发工作，旨在面向学生与教职员工开展该平台的使用培训。本次共制作1份PDF教程与2份视频教程，内容覆盖从基础操作导航到沉浸式教育环境创建的全系列主题。研究团队联合营养学专业的课程建设学院（Course Structuring Faculty，NDE）对该教程开展了初步验证，结果显示，即便对于无相关使用经验的用户，该教程也能有效帮助其克服初期的技术使用障碍。相关教程已上传至Zenodo开源知识库，确保公众可公开获取并实现学术溯源。结构化教学支持是降低新工具使用过程中认知负荷、推动新兴技术在高等教育领域普及应用的关键步骤。