Since a lot of technology is required to partake in this class, it is worth to have a session early on to make sure all students are set up technically, with suitable computers, and are installing the software required.
The software stack is an important decision to make for the class. It was conceived to include the workflow scanning objects - working on 3D models from the scans - importing scans into virtual rooms - building a virtual room. For each step different kinds of apps and software are available. In a previous iteration at RUB this tech stack worked and is therefore recommended:
https://scaniverse.com/ - a 3D scanning app. There are also alternatives, e.g. https://poly.cam/, https://www.capturingreality.com/. Many of these work very well on iOS, not all are available for Android. It is also worth pointing out that these work with photogrammetry, creating 3D models from photographs, or with LIDAR. Experience in the classroom has shown that LIDAR doesn't necessarily produce better 3D models for use, but it is worth making this part of the discussion and experience of students. It is also worth checking file format compatibility with the software subsequently used.
https://www.blender.org/ - as an open source 3D graphics suite. This is the most popular open source software for working on 3D models and is relatively intuitive. It has far too many capabilities to be covered in a short class on the metaverse, but serves the purpose very well of seeing how scans are worked on, what vector graphics are, how complex it is to think about representing reality in virtual models, etc. Most alternatives, e.g. https://www.sketchup.com/, are rather expensive. Blender exports well to Hubs
https://hubs.mozilla.com/ - this is Mozilla's platform for 3D immersive worlds. Some of the other metaverse / virtual world platforms offer the ability to create virtual rooms or even worlds, however Hubs is free and reasonably intuitive and with sufficient capability to have students understand what it takes to create virtual experiences. There is a free plan.
It would also be possible to integrate game engines like Unity or Unreal, which would fit in between Blender and Hubs. However, this raises the level of complexity significantly, and is only recommend in contexts where students have significant prior technical expertise and there is sufficient time to explore the software in class with assistance.
For the VR experiences, the following software packages also need to be installed and users need to create a profile:
https://secondlife.com/support/downloads/
https://decentraland.org/
