ENVIRONMENTS IN THE METAVERSE FOR TEACHER TRAINING IN VISUAL ARTS AND THEATER

Abstract

This article describes the process of creating and customizing environments in the Spatial metaverse platform, developed for the curricular components Art and Technology, of the undergraduate course in Visual Arts of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Maranhão (IFMA), Campus São Luís, and History of Theater III, from the undergraduate course in Theater at the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), Campus São Luís. Based on theoretical references by Roesller (2012), Ball (2021), Parreira, Lehman and Oliveira (2021), Backes and Schlemmer (2014), and Wakefield (2022), the article analyzes the contributions that metaverse platforms can bring to teacher training, with emphasis on the resources present on the Spatial platform, and their relationship with the specificities of the Visual Arts and Theater courses. Based on practical experiences, the article explores the creation of a virtual gallery for the collective exhibition Art and Tech, and its use for practices of organization of the exhibition space and cultural mediation, as well as the construction of a virtual archive for the record of the transformations occured in Arthur Azevedo Theater. The steps taken during the creation of these immersive virtual environments are analyzed, highlighting the possibilities of customization and pedagogical adaptation of the technological resources offered by the Spatial platform. In the end, the article points to the importance of a critical approach to the use of digital technologies in teacher training, as well as the need for a constant dialogue between theory and practice.