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. 

 

At the VWBPE

 

It's the first day of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, or VWBPE. Despite real-life nipping at my heels, the lag, and the crashing, I was able to catch a little of the Keynote and talk with Patch Linden. There's many other discussions, so come on over and see things for yourself.

To check the schedule, Click Here - https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe22-program

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2FdFXompIUI4zmZ_wP5p0Q

March 31 – April 2, 2022

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Gateway%20Pyxis/100/128/24
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

VWBPE Conference Starts Tomorrow

 *

In every culture, from China in the east to the Indigenous cultures in the west, the phoenix as a symbol of hope and renewal is ubiquitous across the ages. Whether it is referred to as Feng Huang, Garuda, Ho-Oo, Bennu or the Quetzal bird, in every case the phoenix ushers in an era of prosperity and transformation that goes beyond the individual to encompass our home and surroundings.

The world is forever a changed place. Those in education find themselves on the front lines of how the next generation of students are going to perceive and integrate a post-COVID society into opportunities for growth, for renewal, and for a redefinition of the values that once drove us.

The past two years have represented a global case study in real time of the merits and limitations of virtual education: what works, and what doesn’t. Educators have immersed themselves in online learning methodologies that have been mostly talked about but never implemented on a wide scale until recently. There is now a plethora of real-world evidence supporting the practical application of teaching virtually that we have never truly had access to until now.

Like the newly reborn phoenix arising from the ashes of its previous life, virtual education is also experiencing a renaissance of abundance and transformation. Whether it be fully immersive or simple video conferencing, the practical application of tools and techniques over the past two years represents a wealth of inspiration for connecting teachers and students in ways that are comprehensive, progressive, and meaningful.

Join Us: March 31 – April 2, 2022

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Gateway%20Pyxis/100/128/24
 

Eye on the Blog: "Share Your Educational Stories"

Last week on the official Second Life blog, Linden Lab invited those involved in education inworld to discuss their experiences.

Are you an educator seeing positive results from using Second Life? We’d love to hear from you! Please join us in this Education Forum thread to share your answers to the following questions:

1. What educational organization do you represent?
2. How do you use SL in your educational endeavors?
3. Most importantly, what positive results have you seen from using SL?

From direct conversations, press coverage, and the like, we’ve heard of a number of organizations seeing positive results using Second Life for education, but we’re always eager to hear more and we hope you’ll add your voice to the thread.

One can find the forum thread here, with replies from residents such as Draxtor Despres: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Second-Life-Education/Share-Your-Educational-Success-Stories/td-p/2905478

Eye On The Blog: Introduction To Second Life For Educators - A Course In Spanish

Second Life has long offered places where English-speaking residents can learn Spanish. But what about Spanish-speaking teachers interested in using Second Life as a tool to educate? That's the focus on the latest post from the official Linden blog,

The University of San Martin de Porres from Perú is offering a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) called "Introduction to Second Life for Educators". This course is designed to help Spanish-speaking educators in the use of Second Life as a starting point in their interaction with emerging and innovative environments that can be used for education. This initiative meets the needs of students who are experiencing this new way of learning and studying in virtual environments, as well as their tendency for increased use of technology.

 

 The day to start registering is May 19th. One can also drop by the University's location at USMO (202/64/51/277). One can also check out their website at: http://cursoclon1.appspot.com/1ISLPE/preview .

 

VWBPE Conference

Last week in Second Life, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, also known as the VWBPE, took place. Over four days from July 24 to 27, there were various discussions at the sims designated for the event and at various university areas across Second Life. While most of the events were lectures and talks, there were also building classes and times scheduled for DJ music sessions, plus a raffle. Gentle Heron of Virtual Ability gave the opening keynote address (Youtube link). Daniel Voyager estimated the number attending this event alone at over a hundred.

There were a number of topics, such as a few around the subject of the use of virtual worlds for the purpose of education. There was one discussion by Jo Kay about the use of Minecraft to teach children. Yours truly wasn't able to see most off the events that caught attention. One which I did was AgileBill Firehawk's "Confessions of a Quest Designer," in which he used "gamification" to get students to learn. Another was Kristy Handrick's (Hsiao-Chen Han) discussion about using Second Life to conduct research.

Kristy stated although Second Life's audience was potentially worldwide, two-thirds of her participants were from North America. But the advantage of doing research this way was a shortened process time, since she didn't have to do any travel or spend time finding places to stay, "the virtual world reduced the time that is necessary in real world research. … There was no travel cost, no accommodation fees, and I did not need to leave my job. I think we can say that the virtual world is a good environment for low budget research." As the interviews were done in text, she "did not need to spend time transcribing the interview as well. … Therefore, the time to key in data was reduced as well." One challenge though was judging reactions as "there was no body language and facial or voice expression that could be observed." She took some questions and comments after the discussion, notably one person commenting the biggest problem in getting a college to approve the use of Second Life for education purposes was selling the idea to the committee.

On the day the conference opened, Linden Lab had announced the return of it's 50% discount for educational and nonprofit sims. The news was naturally greeted with cheers at the conference, and some thought it had been timed to go along with the start of the WVBPE.

The Closing Keynote was done by Dave Cormier (youtube link). Pooky Amsterdam conducted the awards ceremony.

The WVBPE conference is a yearly event, with information available at http://www.vwbpe.org/ , and has a both Second Life and Facebook groups.

Bixyl Shuftan

VWBPE This Week, July 24-27

This week in Second Life, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education takes place. This four day conference focuses on education and the use of virtual worlds as a means for it. But there are events for everyone here, including music, art, treasure hunts, films/machinima, building classes, and more.

The event was mentioned in the Linden blog:

As mentioned in our previous blog post, summer is the season for exciting and uplifting events of all types in Second Life. With that in mind, we’d like to bring your attention to 2013’s Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education. The VWBPE conference runs from July 24th through the 27th and finishes with extended, four-week massive open online course to examine education in the virtual world.  

VWBPE 2013 is a worldwide community event that focuses on education in immersive virtual environments. This open conference is organized by educators, for educators, and showcases the learning that takes place in virtual communities. Come see innovative educators share their achievements and challenges in enhanced learning technology and their visions of how future collaborative learning will grow through virtual worlds and games. For additional information, be sure to visit http://www.vwbpe.org/ and check the conference schedule here.
The schedule page (click here) is interactive, with details of the event revealed upon clicking on it's icon. There will be all-day exhibits, plus events 6AM - 7PM Wed, July 24 and Thurs July 25, 6AM to 8PM Friday July 26, and 6AM to last resident standing on Saturday July 27.

The opening keynote address will be given Wednesday at 7AM by Gentle Heron at the Central Auditorium ( location at VWBPE Central 3 /155/180/57 ). Other presenters throughout the conference include Saffia Widdershins and Pooky Amsterdam.

SL Enquirer: Virtual Worlds Best Practices In Education Readies For Annual Conference- July 24th-July 27th

Next week in Second Life the VWBPE, Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education, takes place. The organizers call it, "a global grassroots community event focusing on education in immersive virtual environments … organized by educators, for educators, to provide an opportunity to showcase the learning that takes place" in Second Life and other grids. SL Enquirer's Nomad Aries writes about "one of the most extraordinary conferences … held in Second Life."

Read Nomad's article (Here).

ISTE Island to Close, March 1st

Some sad news for Second Life's educational community.The International Society for Technology in Education will be losing it's ISTE sim in Second Life. February 28 is the last day the sim is due to be up.

Following the end of Linden Lab's discount for non-profit sims, a task force was formed to look into options. They met up on the island on Tuesday Jan 24 to make their decision, and because of the lack of finances, the organization wanting to spend no more than $500 a year, the decision was made to stop payments to the Island.

In his blog, Scott Merrick posted that at it's height, the ISTE held four separate sims in Second Life. It apparently has been very popular with educators on the Grid. The "In a Strange Land" blog read, "ISTE has long been a major player in the SL educational community, and it provided a popular orientation spot for new student and faculty avatars seeking to avoid the freakshows of the public welcome areas."

So what is the ISTE planning? There was talk of moving to a smaller area at the Eduislands 9 sim, as well as discussing moving to the Jokaydia Opensim-based grid. It appears they will be doing both. They are still listening to ideas.

Monday February 27 will be the last planned event on the island, a good-bye party for the island. To get to the island, go to ISTE Island (109, 66, 30).

"Thanks in retrospect for all you have shared with all of us at ISTE Island over the years. Thanks in advance for your sharing over this next month. Keep the Faith, whatever it is for you."- Scott Merrick

Sources: Daniel Voyager, OhVirtualLearning, In a Strange Land,

Bixyl Shuftan