Dr Marie-Luce Bourguet
Elise Gasser
How can online learning spaces move beyond flat video calls to foster genuine collaboration, belonging, and skill development?
As part of a Teaching and Research Award funded by the Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE), Elise Gasser (Innovation & Learning Manager, Queen Mary Academy) and Dr Marie-Luce Bourguet (Senior Lecturer, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science) led a pilot exploring how immersive “metaverse” environments can enhance teamwork and help students develop confidence, communication, and digital collaboration skills.
This article is one of two in a series. You can also read the companion piece, Student voice: Evaluating an innovative approach to supporting teamwork online – co-created spaces in the metaverse by Chenyang Li, Guodong Qi, and Klea Vani.
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Student co-created spaces in Frame VR
Using Frame VR, the project invited students in London and Beijing to co-create their own virtual collaboration spaces. The freedom to design, personalise, and inhabit these shared environments enabled learners to redefine communication and teamwork, blending structure with creativity. Students described the experience as “the best compromise between online and in-person collaboration”, noting a stronger sense of connection, focus, and peer support.
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Student co-created spaces in Frame VR
In this interview, Elise Gasser and Dr Marie-Luce Bourguet reflect on how student-led co-creation fostered leadership, confidence, and transferable digital skills — and what this could mean for the future of online learning.
Listen to the interview to hear how students reshaped digital teamwork through co-created spaces in the metaverse.
This interview is part of a two-article series. Read our Student Voice piece, where Chenyang Li, Guodong Qi and Klea Vani reflect on their participation in the project. Student voice: Evaluating an innovative approach to supporting teamwork online – co-created spaces in the metaverse by Chenyang Li, Guodong Qi, and Klea Vani.