Teachers' insights about the use of Gather.Town in teaching computer networks in a 2D metaverse

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to describe an experience on using the metaverse in an undergraduate course in Computer Science from the point of view of professors at a Brazilian university. This experience consisted of studying and analyzing a tool that implements a metaverse in order to select it for use with the students of a class during a semester. The tool chosen was Gather.Town, a 2D metaverse that operates on multiple devices and requires few hardware and internet resources. After these studies, the professors developed a project with the students whose goal was to simulate a company within Gather.Town and build a computer network based on the environments created in the metaverse. The professors, through a methodological approach of research-action, observed that Gather.Town served as a space for collective construction, synchronous and asynchronous interaction, collaboration and, above all, learning. They saw clear potential in the use of Gather.Town in education, especially when comparing it with traditional communication platforms (Zoom, Google Meet). Analyzing data from your observations, logbooks, and class notes, the professors concluded the experience considering Gather.Town as a comfortable and effective environment to develop projects like this in order to really hybridize and enable the experience and coexistence with situations, problems and circumstances that would be difficult – or even impossible – in the physical world.