Meta's First EdX Courses Provide Skills for Building the Metaverse
EdX has launched two Spark Augmented Reality courses from Meta, developed as part of the online learning platform's partnership with Meta Immersive Learning. The goal: to "build a learning ecosystem for the metaverse and give professionals broader access to the tools and education needed to build a career in augmented reality," the companies explained in a news announcement.
"The metaverse has vast potential to change how we experience and access education, much like how various technologies came together 10 years ago to increase access to high-quality education at scale with MOOCs," said Anant Agarwal, edX founder and chief open education officer at 2U, in a statement. "This partnership will provide learning opportunities that give creators around the world greater access to the skills needed to envision and build quality and impactful learning experiences within this exciting innovation."
The new courses, Getting Started with Spark AR and Creating and Designing with Spark AR, are the first of a suite of free-to-audit courses that will help learners of all skill levels prepare to become a Certified Spark AR Creator. Participants will learn fundamental AR design principles and AR creation skills using Meta's Spark AR Studio software; courses covering more advanced Spark AR skills will be released later this year.
Together, Getting Started with Spark AR and Creating and Designing with Spark AR make up a paid Professional Certificate program in Spark AR for Beginners. Meta is providing free access to its Spark AR Certification exam for the first 200 learners who complete the certificate program and receive a certificate of completion from edX. Those who complete the certification will also have access to the Meta Career Programs Job Board, a platform that connects people who have any Meta Certification with employers and job listings.
"We're thrilled to work with edX to help students prepare for careers in augmented reality," said Leticia Jauregui, global head of Meta Immersive Learning. "Courses in the Spark AR curriculum will empower students to become the next generation of creators with skills needed to build for the metaverse."
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Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].