Mexico City, February 9, 2023.— Smart Center of the Universidad Panamericana held an event to present to the advisors—who provide support to students throughout their academic careers—the implementation of the Metaverse in their advising plans.
To kick off the event, Fernanda Haro, director of the Smart Center, told the advisors: “An event like this is very important to us because university advisors make all the difference on our campus and at our university.” She also noted that improvements had been made to the Center for Educational Innovation.
Later, Cecilia Canal, Vice President of the Universidad Panamericana, acknowledged the advisors’ work and dedication: “Through the work you do, you strive for continuous growth, a connection to the modern world, and the ability to stay informed about current events.”
Getting to Know the Metaverse
To introduce the advisors, Bernardo Flores, director of MediaLab at the School of Communication, and students Vannia Cabrera Aldana, Karla Roseti Carbajal, and Victoria Fabila, who developed a project called Mexiverse specializing in NFTs, explained to the audience what it consists of and how to use it in practical and academic contexts.
Flores explained to the advisors what the Metaverse is and how it was implemented through various features available to them, such as the avatars they can use and the simulators available to students.
For their part, the Mexiverse team discussed their project within this universe and how they made it to the semifinals of the prestigious Hult Prize, a global competition in which college students participate by proposing a solution to a challenge posed each year.
Mexiverse explained a very important aspect of the metaverse: NFTs. According to the students, an NFT is a Non-Fungible Token, a non-fungible asset that has a unique value and cannot be altered; in the case of Mexiverse, these are images backed by a code that ensures they remain authentic.
To learn more about the project carried out by the UP students, click here.
Spot: Metaverse Consultants
Later, Adriana Vera, coordinator of Smart Center and a graduate of the Panamericana University with a degree in education, announced that the Center for Educational Innovation, in collaboration with Smart Center at the Mexico campus, had designed a space in the metaverse: Spot.
Spot is a platform designed to be accessible to anyone with a web browser, allowing users to customize their workspace: “Our spatial nature is restored by having a space that resembles our everyday lives, ” Vera added.
Similarly, Spot offers the opportunity for seamless communication across its platforms; in fact, Vera told attendees that the CIE already has a virtual office within Spot.
To conclude, Dr. Teresa Nicolás, Institutional Director of Educational Innovation; Dr. Guillermo Tenorio, a member of an interdisciplinary research group on the metaverse and democratic quality; and Daniela Rojas, who holds a degree in International Relations from UDLAP and is a member of a company specializing in the metaverse, answered questions on the topic, which helped provide further guidance to the advisors.
“At Universidad Panamericana committed to educating through the metaverse and for the metaverse,” Nicolás said, celebrating Spot’s arrival.
As a member of a metademocratic panel , Dr. Tenorio specializes in examining issues within the Metaverse related to data protection, democratic governance, and risk management: “When we fail to consider the responsibility of those who will manage Metaverse data, a vast array of possibilities opens up,” he warned.
Rojas concluded: “Universities have a role to play in encouraging not only students to participate as users, but also developers, because we don’t just want to adopt what’s being done in other countries; we also want to create experiences that are tailored to our own contexts.”
