In 2019, Educators in VR honored Cyberbullying and National Bullying Month with multiple events and resources to help our members and community understand how to respond to cyberbullying. We will be repeating that month-long series in October 2020. Over the past few weeks, AltspaceVR and other social VR and online platforms have faced cyber-crime attacks.

We are thrilled to revitalize our Cyberbullying Team Project to open up discussions about this issue from a variety of vantage points, from real-world to virtual, with Erica Siegal, beginning this Wednesday, July 8, in AltspaceVR with our free Cyberbullying Project Event.

Erica Siegal, known as ZenPanda, is a therapist and founder of NEST, Network of Emotional Support Teams, specializing in harm reduction training, prevention, and consulting to organizations and individuals with direct and indirect experiences of trauma and prevention. As a harm reduction provider, Erica offers services and trainings that address the most common and the most serious issues that impact organizations and teams, including assault, harassment, sexual assault, interpersonal conflict, altered states & substance use, staff burnout & compassion fatigue, communicating consent & boundaries through preparedness training, crisis response, informed consent training, staff wellness education, compassionate leadership training, and mediation and peer-to-peer support.

PandaNEST has an amazing line-up of topics and experts for these weekly sessions. She will bring to these weekly meetups and workshops covering the above topics and more, helping you learn how to provide support and resources through compassionate leadership, but also to understand the complexities associated with all forms of bullying and intimidation so you can better support yourself, your family, co-workers, and your community.

We invite you to suggest topics for discussion and guest speakers in our Discord #cyberbullying team channel. If you would like to get involved and help support this team project, please join us there and be a part of the discussion.

With recent cyber-crime attacks in AltspaceVR and other virtual platforms, as well as the increase in troll activity as more and more people move into the social VR community, now is the time to explore this topic and we’re so excited to have PandaNEST on board!

Expect these sessions to touch upon sensitive areas. Please remember, these are NOT therapy sessions but may serve as support, sharing, and resource access opportunities.

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, socials, and special events in AltspaceVR, ENGAGE, and other platforms featuring key educators, trainers, and developers in VR, AR, XR, and MR technology and education.

Educators in VR Team Projects are lead by experts in their field of study and interest and are designed to bring together others passionate about these topics and the spatial technologies and industries represented. We have team projects on language learning arts, virtual coaching and self-development, math, science, cultural heritage preservation, and so much more. We’d love for you to be involved and maybe lead your own team project.

Consider joining one of our many team projects, and if you have the time, consider becoming a volunteer and support Educators in VR activities and events. If you would like to present at one of our weekly workshops, please submit your speaker’s proposal to us. If you have questions or need more information, please contact us or connect with one of our many social media channels.

Join our Educators in VR Discord group, Facebook, and follow us on Twitter for information on workshops 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 the event from our channel and AltspaceVR will send you a reminder an hour before the event. AltspaceVR, like other virtual platforms, require an account for access.

You may attend using the free AltspaceVR mobile app or 2D version. AltspaceVR is available for Oculus Go, Quest, and Rift, HTC Vive (Steam), and Windows Mixed Reality 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.