Posted by Happy holidays to those celebrating Passover and other traditional holidays this week, and Happy April Fool’s Day for those honoring the day when practical jokes are the theme. We’ve not many jokes lined up for you this week, but plenty of VR educational content and information to make up the difference. Here is a summary of upcoming events, along with some highlights from related organizations, from Educators in VR worth considering adding to your scheduled.
Remember, subscribe to our Educators in VR AltspaceVR channel to be automatically updated by email when a new event is added.
NOTE: Daylight Savings Time Weeks: Daylight’s savings time should be over for most of the world, though it might be another week for a few. Click the event link to ensure the time of the event.
Special Events
Every Educators in VR event is special, but we have some very special events this month and next.
April: Educators in VR is going the AltspaceVR community to celebrate Earth Day with world tours, open discussions, and special events based on this year’s “Restore Our Earth” theme. We’re also inviting our members to build virtual worlds in honor of that theme and share links to those worlds so they might be included in the festivities. The Virtual World Society is doing a special Earth Day World Tour on April 22 in AltspaceVR as one of the many celebrations and educational opportunities.
May – UniVirtual Experience: Work is underway for our annual conference, this year called the UniVirtual Experience May 1-30. Free and open-to-the-public, this month long celebration of education in XR is a joint venture with the Virtual World Society and features industry leaders, educators, and friends sharing their insights and expertise into the past, present, and future of XR education. We have over 150 events planned throughout the month across multiple platforms. Get ready.
Celebrate with Sketchfab: A couple weeks ago, we hosted Thomas Flynn from Sketchfab Museum, and last Friday they celebrated their 9th Anniversary with an announcement that they’d reached the milestone of 5 million members after reaching another in December of hosting over 500,000 free 3D models and objects ideal for educators, students, and schools. Congrats and we’ll have more from Sketchfab coming up soon! Until then, check out the video.
Membership Events: We recently soft-launched our Educators in VR Membership program and we have many new discounts and benefits we’ll be announcing shortly, so please take time to join and help us support our ongoing mission to integrate and expand the potential for XR in education globally. We host over 600 free and paid events, conferences, workshops, and classes in VR annually, and your support goes a long way in keeping so many of those events free.
This Week with Educators in VR
Today, our VR Researcher Team meetings in AltspaceVR for a social networking and open discussion event for people to share their research across the spectrum of XR and learn from each other. If you are new to VR research, it’s a great opportunity to meet others with experience. If you are experienced, please help answer questions. It’s a great way to learn about what is going on in the XR research world.
Tuesday, we are thrilled to feature Avi Dwivedi, founder of Extended Reality Developers of India (XRDI), a non-profit working toward XR/AR/VR technology democratization and education through the XRDI community, podcast, networking platform, seminars, and workshops in major Indian universities including IITs and IIMs and communities like GS, GDG and IEEE. The Tuesday workshop is expected to be packed so RSVP to send yourself a reminder by email an hour before the event and arrive on time.
The vCoaching & Personal Development workshop this week in AltspaceVR with Dana-Maria Fanaker, team leader and CaptainVR, will be an open discussion on the potential for therapy and training in VR.
Students in VR’s Wednesday Workshop in AltspaceVR is led and produced by students and volunteers features amazing topics and special guests each week. This student-led and hosted event continues the great work of Dr. Angelina Dayton and her team in creating opportunities for leadership in XR for students of all ages.
If you are new to VR events, we’ve a How to Attend Events in VR Guide for you to help you through the process. You may access these events with a VR headset or in 2D with a laptop or desktop computer with headphones.
Also, don’t forget to subscribe and check out our Educators in VR YouTube Channel where we showcase many of our past events, and sometimes stream our live events. We have over 200 videos from our various events that will keep you fascinated for days.
Educators in VR on the Road
Saturday, Daniel Dyboski-Bryant, co-founder of Educators in VR, will be hosting two Educators in VR on the Road events.
The first one is in Mozilla Hubs on Saturday, 10AM PST / 1PM EST / 1800 UK / 2100 Moscow to explore and learn more about Mozilla Hubs for events and educational opportunities.
A few hours later, he will be hosting an On the Road event in FrameVR in our new Educators in VR Frame world at 1PM PST / 4PM EST / 2100 UK / Midnight Moscow.
Come join Daniel as he introduces you to these two powerful metaverse VR platforms. See our How to Attend Events in VR Guide for details on accessing these platforms.
Member and Volunteer Events
Team Project Leaders and Members Meetup: Friday, April 2, the Educators in VR Team Project Leaders and Members will meet in AltspaceVR to discuss the UniVirtual Experience. We now have about 18 special interest groups we call Team Projects in support of our members specific interests. If you would like to become more involved with our Team Projects, suggesting speakers, organizing events, and leading discussion topics, please contact the team in their Educators in VR Discord channel, or contact us and we will connect you with the Team Project leaders.
Moderation 101 Training: Moderation is one of the best ways to give back to Educators in VR and other VR events you support through the gift of your attention, patience, and crowd-control skills. No special skills are required other than patience and the gift of your attention and time. Our next Moderation 101 Training is Friday, April 2, in AltspaceVR. You may moderate in 2D or VR headset, though it is often easier to do so in 2D.
2D Training in AltspaceVR: 2D access through Windows 10 or Mac is an easy way to explore AltspaceVR and attend our events. We are back offering regular training sessions in AltspaceVR to introduce you to navigation, interaction, and other fun tips and techniques for making your way in VR on your computer. Ensure you have a good quality (USB is best) gaming headset with over-the-ear headphones and mic or screw-in-earbuds (Bluetooth, optional), and join us Friday, April 2, in AltspaceVR for our 2D Training.
Other Educational Events and Activities in VR
Educators in VR supports a wide range of XR educational events and activities. Here are a few to consider adding to your schedule.
World Tours in AltspaceVR: The World Tours Team in AltspaceVR offers tours of virtual worlds every Wednesday. The theme in March as been Galleries and Exhibits. Next month, world builders are encouraged to build and share worlds for the tours on the theme of “Spring.” They are also celebrating Earth Day with tours of appropriate worlds throughout the month.
April 8 – Overcoming Algorithm Aversion: Overcoming algorithm aversion: a workshop on human centered AI designZoom event with Jessica Outlaw and Professor Berkeley Dietvorst on how to develop more human-center algorithms that people will actually use. This will be a fascinating free interactive workshop.
May 17-June 10 – iLRN International Conference: iLRN2021, the 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network, is scheduled for May 17 – June 10 this year. Calls for papers and presentations are open and deadlines approaching quickly.
As usual, keep up with us here and in our Educators in VR Discord group, Facebook, Twitter, and Educators in VR AltspaceVR channel for more information and updates on the events in Educators in VR.