Full Press Release: VWBPE 2024 Conference MYTHIC ORIGINS 14-16 March

Here is the full press release for the upcoming 2024 VWBPE conference starting 14th March through until 16th March 2024. Please spread the word to your inworld groups, friends and blogs etc.

It’s been officially confirmed that Grumpity Linden, VP of Product will be talking live during the ABOVE THE BOOK: What’s up at the Lab? session on at 12pm SLT on Thursday 14th March 2024. All sessions will be recorded and will go on YouTube to watch again.

Wagner James Au / Hamlet Au will be talking live during the Mythic Origins of Metaverse Myths session at 4pm SLT on Thursday 14th March 2024.

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VWBPE 2024 Conference MYTHIC ORIGINS 14 – 16 March 2024 in Second Life®

VWBPE 2024 Gateway

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.

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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

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KEYNOTES
https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe-2024-keynotes-invited-speakers

KEYNOTE: “Mythic Origins of Metaverse Myths”
Wagner James Au / Hamlet Au
Author
Thursday 14 March 2024
4:00 pm SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

KEYNOTE: “The Hero’s Journey of Learning Transformation in the Digital Age”
Nellie Deutsch (Ed.D) / Nellie Homewood
Co-Chair of TESOL CALL-IS and Instructor, International Hellenic University
Friday 15 March 2024
9:00 am SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

INVITED SPEAKERS
https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe-2024-keynotes-invited-speakers

ABOVE THE BOOK: What’s up at the Lab?
Host: Kevin Feenan / Phelan Corrimal
Guests: Grumpity Linden, VP of Product
Thursday 14 March 2024
12 noon SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

ABOVE THE BOOK: Catching up with the Thinkerers
Renne Emiko Brock / Zinnia Zauber
VWBPE 2020 Thinkerer
Saturday 16 March 2024
3:00 pm SLT @ VWBPE Auditorium

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WEB PAGES

Conference Information: http://vwbpe.org
Program: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe24-program
Registration: http://vwb.pe/register
Sponsors: https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-2024-sponsors
Rockcliffe Gateway to Second Life®: https://www.enroll.onl/secondlife.php
Watch VWBPE Livestream: https://www.vwbpe.org/watch

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SOCIAL MEDIA

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

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

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MAJOR SPONSORS

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

Rockcliffe University Consortium
https://urockcliffe.com/

Hire A Helper
https://www.hireahelper.com

Porch.com
https://porch.com

Knomaze Corporation
https://knomaze.com/

Virtual Ability
https://virtualability.org/

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

Journal of Virtual Studies
https://jovs.urockcliffe.press/

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

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CONTACT
Beth Ghostraven
VWBPE Communications Chair
marketing@vwbpe.com

Feel free to copy this press release and share 🙂

VWBPE 2024 Opens 14th – 16th March

The 17th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference officially opens to the public next week on Thursday 14th March through until Saturday 16th March 2024 in Second Life.

The conference opens at 8am PDT on Thursday 14th March hosted by the  Organizational Committee at VWBPE.

* Check out the full 2024 VWBPE Conference program here

“This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes including virtual and augmented reality”.

There will be many meetings, exhibits, roundtables and discussions during this years conference talking on a whole range of subjects like AI, latest technology trends, education in Second Life/OpenSim and much more.

Spread the word and arrive early for the best seating as the regions can full up quickly.

Watch Again: Patch Linden At VWBPE 2022

For anyone that missed the Above the Book interview today featuring Patch Linden and Phelan Corrimal then here is the full video above. The interview runs for 53 minutes and 15 seconds. Patch talks about the passing of Ebbe Altberg, Philip Rosedale role as advisory, the use of the AWS infrastructure, new event regions, Mobile is still in the works, general improvements and more.

Patch mentioned a lot about improvements made to Second Life recently from the Marketplace changes, the new search look, the introduction of Multi-Factor Authentication and performance improvements. Over the next few years the lab hopes to improve the new user experience on-boarding processes like the avatar system. Patch hopes to double the number of active online residents in-world within the next few years.

The part I found interesting was when Patch talked about the new event regions capable of running up to 150 avatars and there is a target of 200 which would be a challenge to meet later in the year. Apparently there have been some testing going on at some shopping events and soon it may be possible at RFL events.

For all those waiting to hear about Mobile well it’s in active development with a possible streaming option being considered. IOS is the still the main focus and costs may be included in the near future. I’m sure more will be shared in the weekly web user group meetings soon.

There was not really a mention of Premium Plus (big announcement coming up maybe ? ) or any Linden Home announcements. This interview is more like a general catch up on the past year on what’s going on. I would imagine we will have to wait now until SL19B to hear more announcements on upcoming Linden Home themes.

Stay updated on the latest events here at VWBPE 2022.

VWBPE 2022 Conference Opens

VWBPE 2022 Regions (builds are in the sky with teleports)

The 15th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE 2022) conference opens today at 8am SLT where the Gateway for the Kick Off Event will start. Phelan Corrimal will officially declare the beginning of VWBPE 2022 along with the conference planning committees who will be sharing upcoming conference highlights. From 9am SLT there will be a keynote speech by Oksana Levytska at the VWBPE Auditorium who will be talking about the use of virtual technologies and practices in support of ongoing education during world events.

Patch Linden will be live from 11am SLT to 11.50am roughly at the Above the Book interview talking about what’s new at Linden Lab and the impact that education (non-profit organizations) has in Second Life. This event will take place at the VWBPE Auditorium so please arrive early to get a seat.

• The VWBPE Annual Parade starts from 1.30pm to 2pm at the Social Spaceport.

There will be swag bags around where it has a teleport HUD, conference information and the schedule. Here is the VWBPE 2022 full program schedule and let’s spread the word about this to your friends and on blogs across the metaverse.

• Check out the program schedule for more events. I have picked out some recommended cool events below that you may be interested in.

Friday 1st April 2022

• Randall Sadler Keynote speech talk about the history of the metaverse + VR from 8.30am to 9.20am SLT at the VWBPE Auditorium
• Spirit Light Dance Company special performance at the Rockcliffe University Auditorium from 10.45am SLT to 11.45am SLT
• Above the Book Interview with Maria Korolov talking about the state of the virtual environments from 3pm SLT to 3.50pm SLT at the VWBPE Auditorium
• Music and Dancing with DJ Ale from 6pm SLT to 7pm SLT at the VWBPE Social Spaceport

Saturday 2nd April 2022

• Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times – A VWBPE Discussion from 9am SLT to 9.50am SLT at the VWBPE Workshop Area B
• Prim Quiz from 1pm SLT to 2pm SLT at the VWBPE Social Spaceport
• Virtual Worlds after COVID from 4pm SLT to 4.50pm SLT at the VWBPE Lecture Theatre Area A
• VWBPE Closing Ceremony with closing remarks with Phelan Corrimal followed by other VWBPE Committee Chairs from 6pm SLT to 7pm SLT. This event will be held at the VWBPE Auditorium
• Dance The Night Away Party from 7pm SLT to 8pm SLT at the VWBPE Social Spaceport

VWBPE 2022 Sponsors

• Linden Lab – Gold Level
• Rockcliffe University Consortium – Silver Level
• Virtual Ability – Silver Level
• Agile Dimensions – Bronze Level
• Kelly School Of Business – Bronze Level
• Journal of Virtual Studies – Bronze Level

Please spread the word about VWBPE 2022.

VWBPE 2022 Program Released

All sessions of the upcoming VWBPE 2022 conference have been published on the VWBPE Program page. This year marks the 15th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices In Education conference which opens officially on Thursday 31st March 2022 through until Saturday 2nd April 2022 in Second Life. The theme for 2022 is Phoenix Rising and the conference is free for everyone to attend. All times are SLT!

The Kick Off Event of VWBPE 2022 starts at 8am to 8.50am SLT where Phelan Corrimal (Executive Director) will officially declare the beginning of VWBPE 2022. It’s best to arrive early to make sure you get a seat and to be able to access the VWBPE regions before they become full. On the VWBPE Program page you can add events to your personal calendars by clicking on the selected session. There is a Subscribe button at the bottom of the page to stay updated.

What’s Up at the Lab? – Thursday 31st March 2022

• Patch Linden
• 11am to 11.50am SLT
• Join Phelan and Patch at this Above the Book interview as they explore what’s new at Linden Lab and the impact on educators and non-profit organizations in Second Life.
• VWBPE Auditorium

Looking at a glance overview there are many interesting sessions and keynotes planned from The Beauty of STEAM education in virtual worlds, Out of this World Parade, Phoenix Egg Exhibit Hunt, Spirit Light Dance Company performances and much more. Virtual Worlds after COVID is a must for those that want to know what’s coming next.

There is a special Above the Book Interview with Maria Korolov (Hypergrid Business editor and publisher) live at 3pm-3.50pm SLT on Friday 1st April 2022 talking about the state of virtual environments.

The closing ceremony will be on Saturday 2nd April from 6pm to 7pm SLT including closing remarks and highlights of the conference held at the VWBPE Auditorium. The 2022 Thinkerer Award Recipient will be named during this ceremony. The dance away night party will be held from 7pm to 8pm SLT. There will be live music and dancing. It’s going to be great fun.

The wait is almost over. Yay! 🙂