Posted by 
Matt Cook of Virtual World Society will be the keynote at our next Educators in VR Meetup in AltspaceVR on Thursday, September 19, 2019. The Virtual World Society is developing an amazing program at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School in Seattle, Washington, working with sixth graders to work with their after school Engineering Club to train the students to teach VR to others, including the teachers, and a 4-week unit on virtual reality for the sixth graders.
The lessons Matt and his team from the Virtual World Society along with volunteers, parents, and students, will help all of us understand the potential of integrating spatial technologies into primary school, and he will share the lessons he learned from both experiences with us Thursday.
Matthew Cook is a Senior Advisor to the Virtual World Society (VWS) developing educational programs not only in Seattle but around the globe. Founded by Thom Furness, VWS works with academia and corporations to bring virtual, augmented, and extended realities into the classroom experience worldwide. Their goal as a nonprofit is to build a community of creators to explore the potential for immersive technology to make a positive impact, and indeed one was made with the special research and development program at the Seattle middle school.
Like so many of us, Matt came to VR via a twisting route. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle, and started with VWS as an intern in 2017. As a self-taught hobbyist and semi-professional Unity developer and with a strong passion for education, VWS brought him in for deeper involvement in VWS and hired him as a Research Engineer with Tom Furness’ engineering consulting business, RATLab LLC, leading to this amazing middle school project.
Many of us in education are eager to learn the lessons Matt and his team have learned by helping the students not only learn about VR devices, apps, and development, but to teach others what they’ve learned. You will not want to miss the invaluable lessons this project and his research have discovered.
Educators in VR hosts a monthly meeting with a keynote speaker on educational and industry topics and weekly workshops and special events exploring VR, AR, XR, and MR techniques and projects in AltspaceVR and other VR social and educational platforms.
Join our Educators in VR Discord group, Facebook, and follow up on Twitter for information on meetups and how to become more involved. We publish member brags and news you can use about virtual reality in education across the entire spectrum of usage from childhood education to health and science to corporate.
Educators in VR Meetup in AltspaceVR
We meet in AltspaceVR, a free virtual reality social app and community. You may RSVP on our events page and AltspaceVR will send you a reminder an hour before the event. AltspaceVR events tend to fill quickly and the limit is currently 40 attendees. We recommend you plan your arrival 2 minutes before the event start time to ensure a spot before the event space fills.
You may attend as a guest or member using the free AltspaceVR mobile app or 2D version. AltspaceVR is available for Samsung Gear, Steam Store for HTC Vive, Windows Mixed Reality, and the Oculus Store for Rift, Go and Quest users. If you do not have a VR device, you may also install the 2D version for use on your Windows desktop computer version. A headset and microphone (quality earbuds acceptable) is required to participate. Otherwise please stay muted during the event as the background noise and echoes can be disruptive. For more information on accessing and installing AltspaceVR, check out their download web page.