VWPBE Conference Ends (Officially)

 

 After three days of discussions, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, the VWBPE officially ended on Saturday evening. The closing ceremony was at 5PM and an evening dance from 6 to 8 PM. But there were a few events on the program afterwards, including March 27 and 31. There's also one on April Fools Day. 

 

While the Newser could not be at all of the Discussions, it was at some, such as "Catching Up With The Lindens." We'll report more when time permits.

 

For those who want to visit the grounds, including some activity areas, https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23 .

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

VWBPE Conference Starts Today

 

 Today is the first official day of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference for 2026. A few events actually started earlier, but the keynote is today at 12 Noon SL time, given by Philpi Rosedale / Philip Linden. 

 

 From today to Saturday March 21 will be a number of discussions. There are also some exhibits and a few activities. 

 

 For more information on the conference, go to https://www.vwbpe.org/  .

 

SURL to entrance:  https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23

Schedule: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe26-program 

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Press Release: VWBPE 2026 Conference INSIGHTS 19-21 March 2026 in Second Life®

 

 

The 19th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, beginning on Thursday, March 19th, 2026, will be an online distributed conference happening in multiple virtual spaces. This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes, including virtual and augmented reality. 

This year we are returning to our Earth build. Each region represents a different terrestrial biome, including wetlands, desert, badlands, grasslands, and forests. Conference attendees will be able to explore 3D immersive virtual representations of these biomes.

The conference regions will be open to the public on Sunday, March 15th at 9:00 am SLT (Second Life Time / Pacific Daylight Time).

**VWBPE 2026 GATEWAY** 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23 

To the best ability possible, VWBPE provides educational and networking opportunities that are relevant to educational curriculum development utilizing virtual environments and “best practices”. These include

helping to build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and
providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education

One of the key challenges faced by the educational community is how to make the best use of new immersive technologies in a way that is sustainable and accessible based on limited budgets available to both instructors and students. Platforms that are free or open source, or that can be shared across a broad audience, are showcased, including methods and research around best practices in their use and applicability.

Our theme for this year is Insights.

The 2026 theme, “Insights”, invites us to look deeper—beyond the tools and platforms—toward the lessons, challenges, and opportunities that are redefining education in an age of rapid technological transformation. For more about the theme, see the blog post here: https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-news/welcome-to-vwbpe-2026-insights.

Join us as we all share experiences and successes in how virtual technologies used in the classroom have helped shape education for the better.

This year's keynote speakers are Philip Rosedale, Ryan Schultz, and Mark Childs. Invited speakers include representatives from Linden Lab, and many of the Thinkerer Award winners. 

The VWBPE conference keynote speakers and their respective presentations are featured on the conference website (http://vwbpe.org), along with a program of exciting presentations, social activities, and networking events that will set extraordinary discussions in motion.  

The VWBPE Immersive Experiences showcase unique and interesting work being conducted across the metaverse. We invite you to join us as we explore eleven interactive and engaging locations across five virtual environments. The Immersive Experiences are scheduled from March 14th through April 1st (exclusive of the conference dates). Details and access instructions for the experiences are found at https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe26-program.   

Additionally, this open and free conference would not be possible without the generous contributions of our VWBPE sponsors. https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-2026-sponsors.   

The Rockcliffe Registration Portal is open for people to register new Second Life® avatars and find out more about the VWBPE conference in-world. Go to https://www.enroll.onl/secondlife.php . The instructions are there to get you and your friends started at this educator-friendly newcomers’ region in Second Life®.

The full conference program is online here: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe26-program. 

You can also view presentations live on YouTube at http://vwbpe.org/watch. 

All of the conference events will be in Second Life® this year, and the locations are included in the listings. When you click on a conference event and click Add to Calendar, you can add the event to your own calendar (Google and more).

NOTE: Daylight Savings Time
In most of the United States and Canada (and in Second Life), Daylight Savings Time is in effect as of 8 March 2026. In Europe, Great Britain, and many other locations, DST is in effect as of 29 March, 2026, after the conference begins. Check this page to find out when (and if) a time change is in effect for you: https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/2026.html.


**VWBPE 2026 GATEWAY**
SLurl: 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23 

**VWBPE 2026 SOCIAL VISITOR CENTER** http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Wetlands%20Marsh/175/158/21 


**KEYNOTES**
https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe-2026-keynotes  

KEYNOTE:
Philip Rosedale / SL: Philip Linden
CTO, Linden Lab
Thursday 19 March 2026
12:00 pm noon SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

KEYNOTE: 
Ryan Schultz
Science & Agriculture Librarian, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
Friday 20 March 2026
9:00 am SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

KEYNOTE:
Mark Childs / SL: Gann McGann
Senior Learning Designer, University of Durham (Durham UK)
Saturday 21 March 2026
9:00 am SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium


**INVITED SPEAKERS**

ABOVE THE BOOK: Catching Up with the Lindens
Host: Kevin Feenan / Phelan Corrimal
Linden Lab Guests: TBA
Friday 20 March 2026
1:00pm SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

ABOVE THE BOOK: Catching up with the Thinkerers
Lynne Berrett / Lissena (Wisdomseeker)
VWBPE 2021 Thinkerer
Saturday 21 March 2026
3:00 pm SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium


**WEB PAGES**

Conference Information: http://vwbpe.org 
Program: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe26-program   
Registration: http://vwb.pe/register  
Sponsors: https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-2026-sponsors 
Rockcliffe Gateway to Second Life®: https://www.enroll.onl/secondlife.php 
Watch VWBPE Livestream: https://www.vwbpe.org/watch 

**MAJOR SPONSORS**

Linden Lab
https://www.lindenlab.com/

Rockcliffe University Consortium
https://urockcliffe.com/ 

Knomaze Corporation
https://knomaze.com/ 

Virtual Ability
https://virtualability.org/ 

Agile Dimensions
https://www.agiledimensions.com/blog/ 

Whole Brain Health
https://www.agelessmindproject.org/  


**CONTACT**
Bevan Whitfield
VWBPE Communications Chair
marketing@vwbpe.com 

Announcement: Virtual Ability's 14th Annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference

 

You are invited to attend Virtual Ability's 14th annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference on Thursday, November 6, 2025.

Every year in the fall, our community hosts an international professional conference on topics related to disability rights. Not only is this an opportunity for our community members to learn more about important subjects from experts they probably would not have a chance to meet otherwise, it allows the general public to attend a professional conference at no cost. 

The theme of this year’s Conference is “No Health Without Peace.” This theme applies to everyone, not just to persons with disabilities. The broad topic allows our presenters and panelists from Canada, the UK, and the US to explore a variety of meanings of health and of peace. Presenters will also offer various strategies for achieving healthful peace.

The conference will take place in Virtual Ability’s Sojourner Auditorium, on Virtual Ability island. The SLURL for the auditorium is Virtual Ability (54/170/23)

You can view the conference schedule here: https://virtualability.org/idrac-2025/

The livestream will be here: https://www.youtube.com/@VirtualAbilityInc/live

All are welcome. We hope you can attend! 

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/54/170/23
 

Virtual World Best Practices in Education 2025 Conference

 

Tomorrow at 8:30 AM is the start of one of the more educational yearly events in Second Life, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, or VWBPE.  It is "a global grassroots community event, which focuses on education in immersive virtual environments." This year's theme is Transitions. Dancerina Starlight wrote about the event for the Newser.

 

Read Dancerina's article in Events. 

 

Press Release: VWBPE 2025 Conference TRANSITIONS 3 - 5 April 2025 in Second Life

 

The 18th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, beginning on Thursday, April 3rd, 2025, will be an online distributed conference happening in multiple virtual spaces. This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes including virtual and augmented reality.

This year we are returning to our Earth build. Each region represents a park featuring a different terrestrial biome, including wetlands, desert, badlands, grasslands, and forests. Conference attendees will be able to explore 3D immersive virtual representations of these biomes.

To the best ability possible, VWBPE provides educational and networking opportunities that are relevant to educational curriculum development utilizing virtual environments and “best practices”. These include

helping to build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and
providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education

One of the key challenges faced by the educational community is how to make the best use of new immersive technologies in a way that is sustainable and accessible based on limited budgets available to both instructors and students. Platforms that are free or open source, or that can be shared across a broad audience, are showcased, including methods and research around best practices in their use and applicability.

Our theme for this year is Transitions.

Transitions, like pivotal shifts in a story, capture the profound changes educators and students have faced in recent years. These shifts highlight the need to adapt and redefine social dynamics within virtual environments as education evolves to meet new challenges.

Join us as we all share experiences and successes in how virtual technologies used in the classroom have helped shape education for the better.

This year's keynote speakers are Phylis West Johnson and Rabindra Ratan. The VWBPE conference keynote speakers and their respective presentations are featured on the conference website (http://vwbpe.org), along with a program of exciting presentations, social activities, and networking events that will set extraordinary discussions in motion.  

The VWBPE Immersive Experiences showcase unique and interesting work being conducted across the metaverse. We invite you to join us as we explore eleven interactive and engaging locations across five virtual environments. The Immersive Experiences are scheduled from March 17th through April 17th (exclusive of the conference dates). Details and access instructions will be provided when the program is published

Additionally, this open and free conference would not be possible without the generous contributions of our VWBPE sponsors; for more information see https://vwb.pe/sponsors.

The Rockcliffe Registration Portal is open for people to register new Second Life® avatars and find out more about the VWBPE conference in-world. Go to https://urockcliffe.com/virtual-environments/second-life/. The instructions are there to get you and your friends started at this educator-friendly newcomers’ region in Second Life®.

The VWBPE conference will also be streaming live from YouTube during the conference. The livestream schedule can be accessed at https://www.vwbpe.org/watch.


** WEB PAGES **

Conference Information: http://vwbpe.org  
Registration: http://vwb.pe/register   
Sponsors: https://vwb.pe/sponsors
Rockcliffe Gateway to Second Life®: https://urockcliffe.com/virtual-environments/second-life/  


** SOCIAL MEDIA **

Second Life® Group
secondlife:///app/group/8b03480a-793d-ba5b-5b6b-dd10afb5d38e/about

Discord Channel
https://discord.gg/Xjp5nn9D

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/vwbpe

Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vwbpe_org/

LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/3754644/

Twitter
http://twitter.com/vwbpe

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/VWBPE

 

 

Pictures From The PBC Women's Conference

 

One week ago on March 8 was International Women's Day. In Second Life, there was a conference at the Premier Business Center, organized by JardenAlexis. The Newser was there, and took pictures.

 

 Read the story in Events. 

Announcement: 5th International Womens' Day Concerence at PBC

 

 

 Saturday March 8th at 12 PM SL time

Two speakers, Changhigh Sisters Fire Show, and DJ after party meet and greet.

Come celebrate the women in your life!

Attire: formal, purple, green or white (optional)
Video invite: English:https://youtu.be/L2duNix0ZoY
French version: https://www.tiktok.com/@haven.bridge3/video/7477276725043383574

SURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/PBC/192/193/1127

Announcement: Virtual Ability Presents The International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC) on Friday, Nov 15

 

Virtual Ability, Inc.® presents the 13th Annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC) on Friday, Nov 15, 2024.

This annual professional conference will be held online, and is free and open to the public.

The conference will take place in Second Life® at The Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability Island.Virtual Ability (54/170/23) 

The conference will also be Live Streamed on YouTube.

Our theme this year is “Disability & Health: Where will AI take us?” Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an area of current research interest and regulatory concern. It holds both promise and peril for people with disabilities and healthcare in general. The utility and problems of AI differ for people with different types of disabilities. This conference offers a quick look at this broad topic. We expect lively discussions and information sharing among presenters and our very interested and interactive audience.

 

*  *  *  *  *

 

The events start at 7 AM SL time and end soon before 12 Noon. 

 

To see the schedule, Click Here. 

 

VWBPE Conference Starts Today

 

 

 Today officially marks the start of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference. This three day event will have numerous discussions and lectures on the event sims. 

The kickoff takes place at 8AM SL time at:

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23

 

At 12 Noon SL time is "What's Up With The Lab," with Lindens (and maybe Moles) joining the host to discuss what Linden Lab has been doing lately. Almost certainly, the mobile viewer will be discussed, as well as PBR Materials,

 

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Rainbow%20Basin/232/247/21

 

Backup locations

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Canopy%20Point/27/243/21

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Floating%20Meadows/237/28/22

 

Press Release: VWBPW Conference 2024 - Mythic Orgins

 

 The 17th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, beginning on Thursday, March 14th, 2024, will be an online distributed conference happening in multiple virtual spaces. This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes including virtual and augmented reality.

This year we are returning to our Earth build. Each region represents a different terrestrial biome, including wetlands, desert, badlands, grasslands, and forests. Conference attendees will be among the first to be able to explore!

To the best ability possible, VWBPE provides educational and networking opportunities that are relevant to educational curriculum development utilizing virtual environments and “best practices”. These include

helping to build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and
providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education

One of the key challenges faced by the educational community is how to make the best use of new immersive technologies in a way that is sustainable and accessible based on limited budgets available to both instructors and students. Platforms that are free or open source, or that can be shared across a broad audience are showcased, including methods and research around best practices in their use and applicability.

Our theme for this year is Mythic Origins.

Mythic stories can provide a way to engage students in critical thinking and analysis, as well as developing their creativity and imagination. Mythic origins can provide students with a deeper understanding of their own cultural heritage and how it has evolved over time. It allows us to explore the origins of our socially constructed myths and legends that have inspired educators and their various works.

Join us as we all share experiences and successes in how virtual technologies used in the classroom have helped shape education for the better.

This year's keynote speakers are Wagner James Au and Dr. Nellie Deutsch. Invited speakers include representatives from Linden Lab, and the 2020 Thinkerer - Renne Emiko Brock.

The VWBPE conference keynote speakers and their respective presentations are featured on the conference website (http://vwbpe.org), along with a program of exciting presentations, social activities, and networking events that will set extraordinary discussions in motion.  

The VWBPE Immersive Experiences showcase unique and interesting work being conducted across the metaverse. We invite you to join us as we explore eleven interactive and engaging locations across five virtual environments. The Immersive Experiences are scheduled from March 9th through 31st (exclusive of the conference dates). Details and access instructions for the experiences are found at https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe24-program.   

Additionally, this open and free conference would not be possible without the generous contributions of our VWBPE sponsors. https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-2024-sponsors  

The Rockcliffe Registration Portal is open for people to register new Second Life® avatars and find out more about the VWBPE conference in-world. Go to https://www.enroll.onl/secondlife.php . The instructions are there to get you and your friends started at this educator-friendly newcomers’ region in Second Life®.

The full conference program is online here: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe24-program.

You can also view presentations live on YouTube at http://vwbpe.org/watch.

All of the conference events will be in Second Life® this year, and the locations are included in the listings. When you click on a conference event and click Add to Calendar, you can add the event to your own calendar (Google and more).

NOTE: Daylight Savings Time
In most of the United States and Canada, Daylight Savings Time is in effect as of 10 March 2024. In Europe, Great Britain, and many other locations, DST is in effect as of 31 March, 2024, after the conference ends. Check this page to find out when (and if) a time change is in effect for you: https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/2024.html.

=================================================
**VWBPE 2024 GATEWAY**
SLurl:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23

**VWBPE 2024 SOCIAL VISITOR CENTER** http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Wetlands%20Marsh/175/158/21

 

 

 

VWPBE Conference Starts Thursday, March 14

 

 

One of Second Life's big yearly events, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, will soon be starting. Describing itself as discussing "the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes including virtual and augmented reality," the event will feature numerous discussions on a variety of topics. This will include talks with the Lindens about what's going on with Linden Lab, and more.

The kickoff event is on Thursday March 14 at 8AM SL time, at VWBPE Grasslands Gateway (128/123/23). Shortly afterwards at Noon SL time is "What's Up At The Lab?"

 

Officially, the conference concludes Saturday night at 6PM. But there were still be some events at the VWPBE for several days afterwards,and beyond. 

For a look at the schedule, Click Here. Already there are a few pre-conference events taking place. 

 

Virtual Ability's Annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference

 

You are cordially invited to attend Virtual Ability's annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference. This year it will be held on Friday, November 10. It is in Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability island.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/54/170/23

This year's theme is "Do, Create, Live." We're looking at what people with disabilities can do, create, and live when their rights are respected.

Here is the schedule (subject to change, and in SLT, of course).

7-7:30am - Joseph English will talk about how setting up QuadRebuild to help others changed his new life as a quadriplegic

7:30-8:30am - Erin Willis and Daniel Garza will explain their research on patient influencers who do direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical marketing

8:30-9:30am - Emily Wright, who survived multiple concussions, explains how she rebalanced her mind

9:30-10:30am - John Cronin, who has Down syndrome, describes his Crazy Socks store and how he runs it with his father Mark Cronin

10:30am-11am - a panel discusses what "Do, Create, Live" means in education

11:00-11:30am - BREAK!

11:30am-noon - Keri Gray tells about the National Alliance of Melanin Disabled Advocates (the NAMED Advocates).

noon-12:30pm - a panel discusses what "Do, Create, Live" means in the arts

12:30-1:30pm - Judy Mittag explains how advocates got federal legislation passed to require insurance coverage for lymphedema supplies

1:30-2:30pm - Heather Markham, author, shares how we can each choose a title for our own stories

You can learn more about the speakers here: https://virtualability.org/idrac-2023/

We hope you can attend our conference.

Questions? Ask Gentle Heron.

Announcement: Healthful Aging Through Lifelong Learning Conference

Welcome to the Healthful Aging Through Lifelong Learning Conference - a seven-day event designed to educate, entertain and get your brain cells working in multiple worlds!

The Ageless Mind Project is pleased to announce the Healthful Aging Through Lifelong Learning Conference a seven-day event designed to educate, entertain and get your brain cells working in multiple worlds! The conference will feature professionals from a variety of disciplines, including neuroscientists, psychologists, musicians, artists, medical professionals, educators, authors, and game developers, and is designed to:

1. Present science-based insights into the aging process

2. Offer proactive, holistic ways to achieve wellbeing.

3.. Give participants first-hand experience of new and innovative tools, environments, and approaches to healthful aging.

For more information and updated calendars (one for each day of the conference), visit https://agelessmindproject.substack.com/

Date: Monday, May 15 - Sunday, May 21st.

Website: https://AgelessMindProject.org

Blog: https://agelessmindproject.substack.com

Questions?
Email: AgelessMindProject@gmail.com

IM
Wisdomseeker
Tooyaa (thuja.hynes)
Fran (francisco.koolhoven)
Cats (katsii.tennen)
Jenaia Morane

 

 

At The VWBPE Conference

 

Today marks the third and last day of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference. There have been a number of discussions, and today a few more before the official close.

Among the discussions was one featuring Patch and Grumpity Linden, "What's Up at The Lab?"

Much of what Patch and Linden talked about was already discussed in the Lab Gab earlier this month, though there were a few additions, such as Grumpity Linden saying the beta release of the mobile viewer would be unlikely before the fourth quarter of 2023.

For the VWBPE conference schedule, check https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe23-program .

Bixyl Shuftan

VWBPE Starts Today

 

 

One of the more noteworthy yearly educational events, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, starts today. From today until Saturday, there will be numerous discussions and other events. The Opening Ceremonies start at 8 AM SL time (11 AM EST) and are scheduled to take place at VWBPE Grasslands Gateway (128/123/23). The Keynote will take place at 9AM at VWBPE Canopy Point (27/243/21).

To check the program schedule, go to https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe23-program .

Bixyl Shuftan

The VWBPE Grounds

 

After weeks of preparation, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference is set to start tomorrow. From Thursday to Saturday, there will be numerous discussions and other events, including one with the Lindens. The theme this year is "Uncommon Realities." Gemma Cleanslate, who volunteered to help out again this year, took a good look at the the area the event will be taking place on. And there's quite a lot.

 

Read Gemma's story in Design. 

 

 

Press Release: VWBPE 2023 Conference UNCOMMON REALITIES 23 - 25 March 2023 in Second Life®

 

 

 The 16th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, beginning on Thursday, March 23rd, will be an online distributed conference happening in multiple virtual spaces. This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes including virtual and augmented reality.

This year we are returning from outer space to Earth and completely rebuilding the conference regions. Each region represents a different terrestrial biome, including wetlands, desert, badlands, grasslands, and forests. Conference attendees will be among the first to be able to explore!

VWBPE provides educational and networking opportunities that are relevant to educational curriculum development utilizing virtual environments and “best practices”. These include
- helping to build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
- providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and
- providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education.

Primarily, the issue being faced by the educational community is how to make the best use of new immersive technologies in a way that is sustainable and accessible based on limited budgets available to both instructors and students. Platforms that are free or open source, or that can be shared across a broad audience are showcased including methods and research around best practices in their use and applicability.

VWBPE will again be using Linden Lab’s Second Life® environment as our primary conference venue for presentations, exhibits, roundtables, and discussions. Participants are free to submit proposals and immersive experience tours on any environment for education using technologies for virtual or augmented reality. We actively encourage showcasing multiple technology platforms. This includes practical application, researched papers, conceptual, and content creation supporting those technologies.

Our theme for this year is Uncommon Realities and the exploration of areas outside of our expertise that may be potentially opposed to our current outlook or world view. As educators, we are having to adjust to more than just a transition from in-person to online methodologies. We are facing urgent challenges in the areas of remote classroom management, outdated policies or policies not designed to be applied to online environments, child psychology and welfare in online environments, health and safety considerations, and personal privacy, among others. This means embracing the ability to quickly adapt to changing circumstances and innovative technologies to their best effect.

This year's keynote speakers are Dr. Tom Boellstorff, Dr. Stylianos Mystakidis, and Alexandra Humphreys. Invited speakers include the 2018 Thinkerer - Dr. Valerie Hill, and representatives from Linden Lab. A special event “Books and Biomes” will feature Draxtor Despres and author Cat Sparks.

The VWBPE conference keynote speakers and their respective presentations are featured on the conference website (http://vwbpe.org), along with a program of exciting presentations, social activities, and networking events that will set extraordinary discussions in motion.  

The VWBPE Immersive Experiences showcase unique and interesting work being conducted across the metaverse. We invite you to join us as we explore eleven interactive and engaging locations across five virtual environments. The Immersive Experiences are scheduled from 22 March to 15 April (exclusive of the conference dates). Details and access instructions for the experiences are found at https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe23-program. 

The Rockcliffe Registration Portal is open for people to register new Second Life® avatars and find out more about the VWBPE conference in-world. Go to  https://www.enroll.onl/secondlife.php. The instructions are there to get you and your friends started at this educator-friendly newcomers’ region in Second Life®.

The full conference program is online here:  https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe23-program. You can also view presentations live on YouTube at http://vwbpe.org/watch. All of the conference events will be in Second Life® this year, and the locations are included in the listings. When you click on a conference event and click Add to Calendar, you can add the event to your own calendar (Google and more).

 

**VWBPE 2023 GATEWAY**
SLurl:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23

**VWBPE 2023 SOCIAL VISITOR CENTER** http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Wetlands%20Marsh/175/158/21

 

For more information: https://www.vwbpe.org/ 

Announcement: Virtual Ability IDRAC Conference This Friday

 Save the Date- Oct 28 IDRAC 

Virtual Ability's annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference is a free public professional conference. This year's conference is on Friday, October 28, in the Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability island. The theme of the conference is "Access to Justice."

The impetus behind Virtual Ability's conferences is to provide professional-level information to the general public in a highly accessible format. Most of us would never get to hear from and interact with these researchers and other experts outside of Second Life!

You can see the conference schedule and more about the speakers here: https://virtualability.org/idrac-2022/

Presenters at this year's conference range from a lawyer talking about how "typical" employment hours are discriminatory,  to a student investigating the fairness of AI hiring software; from a retired professor who became a disability ally, to a physical therapist who has written children's books featuring a dog with an amputated leg who deals with discrimination and bullying.

Additionally, several of the poster sets on Healthinfo Island address topics related to Access to Justice. These you can visit any time during the month of October. Be sure to click each poster for additional information and live links. You can get a notecard containing all the text (posters + click text) plus image descriptions by clicking the entrance poster.

We hope you can attend the IDRAC conference on October 28. If you (your avatar) can't attend live in Second Life, you can watch the conference live stream on Virtual Ability's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/VirtualAbilityInc

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/54/170/23

 

High Capacity Sims Discussed at VWBPE

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Plenty happened at the Virtual Worlds Best Practices For Education conference from Thursday March 31 to Saturday April 2. Among the discussions was "What's Up At The Lab" in which Patch Linden was interviewed. "My mind gets lost trying to think through the various things," Patch admitted during the talk. He would discuss things like the Amazon Cloud servers, a mobile viewer still being looked at, and Marketplace getting "fine-tuned refinement." But he would also mention the Lab working on sims in which many more residents could be in at once.

Patch stated these high capacity event regions had seen some testing, notably at shopping events. He brought up that some had "cam regions" in which people had to look at the shopping stalls from outside, and these kinds of sims would make that a thing of the past. Testing had shown they could run a hundred avatars "safely." Patch was saying the goal was to have these sims hold up to 150 avatars, "and still be able to walk around and move and see everything." Patch felt it was "Mindblowing" to be in a sim with not 30-40 avatars around, but a hundred to a hundred fifty. He felt the technology could eventually be used to have "true large-scale auditorium style events beyond the capabilities of what we have today." 

Patch did say testing was far from done, noting that lag on these seems seemed to increase "exponentially" once the number of avatars passed 175. He wanted to hit 200, "we're marching our way towards that. ... We did actually hit 197 in one of those really big shopping events." There was much that had to be decided, such as how much it would cost residents to have one of these sims.  But Patch did say the Lab would offer high capacity sims with an educational discount. At the moment, no plans to have these high capacity sims to have a higher prim allowance. 

And the capacity of the Second Life grid? Patch stated the days of Second Life crashing when 100,000 were on are "behind us" thanks in part to the Amazon Cloud Servers, "We can go as big as we want. ... that'll be amazing once we get back to those numbers again."

 Addition: When Patch was asked if high capacity sims could be part of this year's Relay Weekend, Patch answered "Maybe."

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Bixyl Shuftan