The Rise of the Metaversity and the Transformation of Higher Ed

This panel will discuss the rapid rise of remote and online learning through metaversities - higher education in the metaverse. The panel will discuss accessibility via technology, use cases that make sense, the current landscape and the outlook for augmented reality metaversities supplementing existing virtual reality metaversities.

Questions to be addressed include:

• What strategic problems can the metaverse solve for US higher education institutions?
• How might greater personalization be delivered at scale through the metaverse?
• What are potential drawbacks of learning in a metaverse and how to address them?
• What future impact can the metaverse have on student success and satisfaction?
• How might the metaverse be employed to help institutions reach a wider pool of students and increase revenue streams?

Our Presenters

Steve Grubbs - CEO at VictoryXR

Steve Grubbs is the co-founder and CEO of VictoryXR. After founding the company in 2016, Steve led the VXR team to win the Global Education Innovation of the Year award in 2021. Before founding VXR, Steve founded two other successful ventures. Steve served in the State of Iowa legislature from 1991-1997, sitting as Chair of the House Education Committee. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance and J.D. from the University of Iowa.

Dr. Muhsinah Morris - Director of Virtual Reality Project at Morehouse College

Muhsinah L. Holmes Morris, Ph.D. is the former Interim Department Chair/Assistant Professor of Chemistry and is now in the Department of Education an Assistant Professor of Education for the Center of Morehouse Center for Excellence in Education (MCEE) at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Morris is Morehouse College’s 2021

Winner of the Vulcan Teaching Award of Excellence. She is an alumna of Clark Atlanta University (B.S.) and Emory University (M.S. & Ph.D.). Her research interests focus on inclusion in STEM for the neurodiverse. She is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the VR Project, “Morehouse in the Metaverse.” She launched her Advanced Inorganic Chemistry course in Virtual Reality in the Spring of 2021. She is a pioneer in this space, as the chemistry content in VR is limited. She is the wife of a gamer/techie named Chris and a mom of 5 sons, Anthony, Matthew, Christopher, Seth, and Cameron. She believes VR
provides a pathway for creating inclusion in society for the neurodivergent through
immersive educational experiences that more specifically target vocational rehabilitation
goals. As a member of the Autism Speaks Community Advisory Council, Advocacy
Ambassadors and Grant Review Committee Dr. Morris sheds light on the issues that
affect the 1 in 44 children and 1 in 45 adults on the autism spectrum. Her teaching
philosophy centers around building a rapport with students before asking them to
perform. She infuses metacognitive goals as part of her learning objectives in the
classroom to help students persist through their educational experiences. She is
affectionately known as Dr. M.O.M. (Molder of Minds) by all her students. She continues
to mold the minds of educators and students globally in the Metaverse. Her future is
the authentic transformation of the educational system for our future leaders using
immersive technologies in the Metaverse. More recently, she founded Metaverse United,
LLC, where she helps people find where they belong in the embodiment of the internet
called the Metaverse. Learn more at UnitetheMetaverse.

Daniel Mintz - Department Chair Information Technology at University of Maryland Global Campus

Daniel Mintz serves as the Department Chair for IT Technology within the School of Cybersecurity and Information Technology at the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). In that role, he manages Graduate and Undergraduate Programs in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Data Analytics, Digital Media, and Web Development. He also is responsible for an Immersive Pilot effort to explore adding Virtual and Augmented Reality educational content to UMGC courses. Dan brings his experience as the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) departmental CIO from 2006-2009 and business acumen from serving as a CTO and a COO in the
federal business marketplace.

Dan is a former Federal 100 winner and is a speaker at conferences and events on the
impact of technology and management challenges in Government and commercial
organizations, and cyber-security issues.

Andrew Sedillo - Instructional Designer Lead at New Mexico University

Andrew Sedillo is the Instructional Designer Lead for New Mexico State University's Digital Learning department. He is passionate about learning current technology and
understanding how various technology resources impact education, business, and society as a whole. His professional roles allow me to stay well-educated and active in creating a positive technology-driven future. He has been fortunate to have been provided several opportunities that have allowed me to grow my eLearning and instructional design skills over the last nine years.