Workshop: Chris Madsen and Setting Up a VR Classroom

Our next Educators in VR Weekly Workshop tomorrow, January 7, 2020, is one you will not want to miss. Chris Madsen of ENGAGE explores using VR in the classroom, diving deeply into the challenges we all face: security, safety, surroundings, software, and hardware. As we only have an hour, he will spend more time on the first parts, which are essential aspects of the decision-making process. His focus will be on high school and below ages, but apply to all levels of classroom integration for students and educators new to VR.

Chris Madsen holds many titles and credits but we have to admit that he is one of the most passionate evangelists for virtual reality in the world. Considered one of the top influencers in VR and education, his work with ENGAGE, the powerful, award-winning educational platform, created by VR Education Holdings PLC, is helping to change the face of online education. Immersive VR Education company works with a wide range of clients including the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), University of Oxford, BBC, HTC, Shenandoah University, and the US Air Force Academy. His Twitter account is filled with a wide range of inspirational and newsworthy posts worth following.

Co-founder of the Utah Virtual Reality Meetup, an Ambassador in the Edge of Discovery non-profit that develops emergency media projects with VR and AR for historically silenced, simplified, and minimized societies, CEO of Digital Realities, and business development and evangelist for ENGAGE, he brings a passion to our workshops that will help you step off the fence when it comes to including immersive technology into the classroom.

Chris has been working extensively in researching and developing, and simplifying, the process of integrating VR into the classroom over the past year, as opposed to bringing the classroom to virtual reality. He spent twenty years working in Behavioral Science, and brings that expertise to this process.

Many school administrators are very worried about the risks of integrating VR into the classroom, and how to not only do it safely but with purposeful intention for the students and the teachers. He will cover the psychological and physically challenges associated with VR in the classroom, and help us understand how to create a safe and positive experience, dealing with the sharing of equipment, nausea concerns, safety issues, and help us make these challenges positive.

He will also cover some of the basics to consider when it comes to the logistics, and we are eager to have him dive even deeper into this subject and more at the 2020 Educators in VR International Conference, February 17-22. Yes, consider him one of the first announced speakers for our ground-breaking event. 😀

The sudden death of Chris Long, another ground-breaking innovator of education and VR, was a great loss. As a long-time friend, Madsen facilitated a beautiful celebration of the life of Chris Long in Engage, allowing so many to make piece with their grief and pay their respects.

Here are some podcasts, interviews, and articles about Chris Madsen to help you learn a little more about the passion he brings to this industry.

Educators in VR is dedicated to providing educational events, trainings, and workshops for educators and learners to prepare them for the future of spatial technologies in education. We offer weekly workshops in AltspaceVR and other platforms, and a monthly meetup featuring key educators, trainers, and developers in VR, AR, XR, and MR technology and education.

Join our Educators in VR Discord group, Facebook, and follow us on Twitter for information on meetups and how to become more involved. Consider subscribing to our Educators in VR event subscription channel to receive regular reminders of upcoming events there. 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.

To Attend Educators in VR Events 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.

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. A headset and microphone (quality earbuds acceptable) is required to participate. Otherwise please stay muted during the event as the background noise and echoes may be disruptive. For more information on accessing and installing AltspaceVR, check out their download web page.

If you would like to present at one of our weekly workshops, please submit your speaker’s proposal to us. Considering joining one of our many team projects. If you have questions or need more information, please contact us or connect with one of our many social media channels.