Participating in seminars in the metaverse with your own avatar or making trainees fit for their careers – since spring 2023, ophthalmic optics and hearing acoustics specialist "Neusehland" has relied on in-house training in the virtual learning environment "Gather Town". Discover now how training works in the metaverse and how the Confidos Academy and blink.it assist "Neusehland" in bringing employees together virtually!
Professional training in the metaverse – that sounds like science fiction at first. But the latest blink.it use case clearly demonstrates that you don't need expensive VR technology to experience digital training as if it were "real"! After all, virtual learning environments can also be realized at home via remote work. For instance, the Confidos Academy built a virtual learning world for the optician and acoustician Neusehland, which has been used for internal company training since the beginning of the year. The application on which this playful online meeting place is based comes from the American company Gather, which is why the resulting implementations are simply called "Gather Town".
Integrating the blink.it platform into the virtual seminar room Gather Town allows trainers and participants to meet virtually under relaxed conditions. This enables participants to quickly and easily switch between online courses on blink.it and the interaction space in Gather Town. The playful character of the digital learning environment contributes to ensuring that participants have a positive learning experience.
The Confidos Academy – The partner for digital and analog knowledge transfer
The Confidos Academy specializes in developing blended learning courses and training for companies in virtual worlds (Gather Town). The central goal: to support and develop the potential of employees through sustainable and customized solutions.
Confidos is an official "Gather Ambassador"
The Academy is one of 24 "Gather Ambassadors" worldwide who design virtual learning and working environments using Gather software. Find out now how the virtual learning environment is structured!
Training in "Gather Town" – What lies behind it
Virtual seminar room of the Neusehland Online Academy // Image: Neusehland
As you can see, Gather Town is set up like a virtual office. In this virtual world, spaces can be designed and individualized – e.g. by placing interactive objects that conceal links. With your personalized avatar, you can move freely around Gather Town, and by clicking on the links, you can participate in meetings, complete online courses on the blink.it platform, or hold a conference. There are even gardens, coffee lounges, and meditation rooms.
In short: with Gather's software, the Confidos Academy has created a virtual learning environment that allows learners to exchange ideas and share experiences as if they were meeting in person.
Immersive learning – Neusehland as a pioneer in training and education
Neusehland has been using the blink.it platform for blended learning training courses for years. So why invest in a virtual learning world?
The medium-sized company employs nearly 500 people, who are spread out all over Hesse. Nevertheless, branch managers and company employees should be brought together in one place for training purposes. To make this possible, Neusehland decided to use "Gather Town" in a pilot project to bring employees together outside of face-to-face events.
Info: What is immersive learning
Immersive learning is a teaching method in which learners are immersed in a virtual or physical environment to learn through interactive experiences. The goal is to create a learning environment that is as realistic as possible to give learners an intense and deep understanding of the subject matter. Immersive learning can be achieved through technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality, or simulations. "Gather Town" builds on this principle and enables employees to experience training realistically and virtually – completely without VR goggles.
How the 8-week pilot project unfolded
For the project, Neusehland created two different online courses for two target groups:
First training:
Ursula Fleckner-Jung (Trainer at Confidos Academy) trained employees on how to lead teams in a contemporary way – "from Generation Z to baby boomers". The training took place both on the internal company blink.it platform and via Gather Town. The trainer primarily focused on the question: How can young employees be better understood and motivated?
Second training:
Parallel to the first training, trainer Peter Gerst (Trainer at Confidos Academy) taught "happiness techniques" applicable to everyday work. How to cope better in stressful situations and become more balanced – this appealed particularly to employees in sales and consulting.
The blink.it course "Contemporary Leadership" is available to participants via the Neusehland Online Academy with direct access to the virtual seminar room // Image: Neusehland
Following the blended learning format, company employees could work through the content in blink.it courses and then discuss it in Gather Town. The benefit: instead of long travel routes across Germany, employees can interact digitally, making office life virtually experienceable. At the same time, the exchange of experience and knowledge remains the same as in a face-to-face training session.
Implementation of a blended learning course of the Neusehland Online Academy on the blink.it learning platform and in the virtual training room // Source: Confidos Academy
The Metaverse – The new way of learning?
Neusehland's 8-week pilot project has shown that it is possible to make virtual training in many areas as realistic as face-to-face training. Employees were able to use "Gather Town" as a digital meeting place that also invited spontaneous exchanges: "When I first heard that trainees were voluntarily meeting up in the Gather world, it was a great sign for me." – Jonas Fachinger, Responsible for Trainees in Hearing Acoustics
Training via the virtual learning world – this is not only a well-thought-out concept, but was also well-received by the employees: "Working and learning together can look so different. The trainees could have just called each other, but this way they met digitally. It's about letting a connection happen." – Jonas Fachinger
Nevertheless, the pilot project showed that despite the options for fast and easy communication, the metaverse cannot completely replace meeting in person. "It is ideal when the participants additionally see each other live on site." – Thomas Kupka, Head of HR
Another challenge for the company was convincing all team members of the new virtual learning environment. "Of course, in times of skilled labor shortage, presenting yourself sustainably is an important aspect. In our experience, most employees find the application fun, and of course, as with all developments, you will never be able to convince 100 percent of them." – Thomas Kupka
Working together at the whiteboard: crop from the Neusehland workshop // Image: Confidos Academy
The use case clearly shows: to make training virtually closer to reality than in person, you don't need expensive VR technology! Low-threshold, immersive training becomes an alternative to face-to-face training, depending on the use case.
