The Educators in VR’s Virtual Schooling Team is celebrating their UniVirtual Experience 2022 conference May 9-11. The Schedule is filled with free workshops, demonstrations, adventures, and discussions on the impact of XR on immersive education.

The Virtual Schooling Team was developed to put the focus on immersive education using XR technology on homeschooling, remote and distance learning, and helping parents and educators understand the potential for learning from home, away from traditional schools, for full-time studies or short-term.

During the pandemic, homeschooling grew tremendously as homes became schools during lockdown. While the adjustment was a challenge to many parents, some enjoyed it and have made it a lifestyle to teach their children within the home environment, teaming up with other homeschooling families and learning from their years of experience.

Estimates are that approximately 9 million Americans report they attended homeschool at some point in their lives, with global numbers over one billion. It is estimated that between 30,000 and 100,000 children are homeschooled in South Africa, over 60,000 in Canada, France, and Russia, and up to 100,000 in the UK where homeschooling is called Elective Home Education.

Homeschoolers tend to have an average standardized test score of 87th percentile in a National Home Education Research Institute study, and homeschooled students graduate college at a rate of 66.7%, 10% higher than traditional public schools. Homeschooled students report increased happiness, and positive behavior and attitudes.

The challenges of managing a homeschool environment and parental responsibilities as well as the costs involved have improved much over the years as homeschooling has become not just recognized but legalized and supported by educational institutions and organizations. Many educators and schools are studying homeschooling techniques to improve their own in-class practices and improve teacher education with homeschooling in mind.

The Virtual Schooling Team discusses all of these challenges at regular meetups in AltspaceVR, ENGAGE XR, and other social and educational VR platforms, as well as explores the educational apps that make the addition of AR, VR, and XR technology an important part of the learning experience of students around the world.

The free 3-day conference exploring virtual schooling immersive educational apps, VR social platforms, virtual learning environments, and tips and techniques include a trip to Rec Room, a popular social VR platform ideal for youth and teens, exploring the wealth of educational VR apps, learning how educational apps and games are developed with VR, introducing students to programming, design, and development in Unity, and the potential of VR for education.

Virtual Schooling UniVirtual Experience 2022 Schedule

• All events are free and hosted on AltspaceVR, ENGAGE XR, and Rec Room. Access to these platforms is free and you may access in a VR headset or 2D on a laptop or desktop computer. Please register with the platforms in advance to ensure timely entry to the event.
• Please click the links to the events to see the times in your time zone.
• Some events have strict audience size limits, first come, first served.
• For information on how to attend an Educators in VR event, see our How to Attend a VR Event Guide.
• To keep up with the Educators in VR UniVirtual Experience events in AltspaceVR, subscribe to the Educators in VR Channel and to our Educators in VR Google Calendar of events, workshops, classes, and conferences.

Monday, May 9

Rec Room for School Adventures in Rec Room: Join us for a tour of the Rec Room platform and how it can be used for virtual schooling. Our tour guide, Glenn Kachmar (aka TeacherBot) is an experienced long-time passionate teacher and adventurer specializing in the use of VR for learning science, technology, and more. Glenn will share with us how he uses RecRoom with great effect to support learning, creating, playing and socializing with home educated students. The event is Monday at 9AM PT / 11AM CT / noon ET / 17:00 UK / 19:00 EEST / 4AM Tues Melbourne. Limited to 12 people. Advanced registration required.

Tuesday, May 10

VR Game Design for Youth in AltspaceVR: Teaching youth to design and develop their own game designs in Unity is easy and an excellent way to integrate programming, art and design, and computer skills into education for homeschooling, remote and distance learning, and the classroom. Join us for an innovative discussion on how to get started integrating VR game design into education. Event code: RBF756.

Fun and Games in VR in ENGAGE XR: The Virtual Schooling Team hosts an interactive social event in the ENGAGE XR platform, exploring the potential for learning with fun and adventure while sharing our thoughts and ideas on learning beyond the traditional classroom. Had a giraffe walk through your classroom lately? Event access code is edvr.

Educational VR Apps in AltspaceVR: Explore a wide variety of educational VR apps, games, and 360 immersive documentary and exploration programs for learning in virtual reality. Ideal for homeshooling, remote learning, and the classroom in general, we explore apps appropriate for youth to learn skills, training, and education development. We will also highlight the Stanford University educational app database as part of the Educators in VR’s Virtual Schooling Team UniVirtual Experience 2022 ongoing series of conferences. Event code: NWL723.

Developing VR Science Apps: Join us on AltspaceVR for a fascinating discussion with James Taylor, AR/VR Technical Designer, Founder and Creative Lead at Found Object VR, will present lessons learned developing and creating VR education apps. The discussion spans 3 educational VR apps developed for The Future of Energy, Inside CRISPER, and Explore Antarctica. Taylor will explore education practices, techniques, and advanced methods of the advantages of developing educational apps in virtual reality. Event code: KMG768.

Wednesday, May 11

Educational Courtroom Trials in AltspaceVR: Join us for a talk with Marcy, attorney and Mock Trial coach and parent, sharing the Mock Trial for All concept and Mock in the Metaverse™ where participants have fun learning about the court system. Visit her specially designed courtroom to learn more about educational courtroom trials, mock trials, and learning about the justice system in VR, and her current competition project. Event limited to 30 people. Event code: GBD534.

Learning in the Eduverse in ENGAGE XR: ENGAGE XR is a fast evolving VR platform already hosting classes, workshops, colleges, and universities. Join us for a discussion on the future of immersive learning and how it will affect students now and in the generations to come, especially within a VR experience that is only limited by your imagination. Event access code is edvr.

Educational World Tour in AltspaceVR: Explore educational worlds to support remote and distance learning, homeschooling, and the classroom. We will travel to a wide range of virtual worlds created by Educators in VR and the AltspaceVR community to demonstrate teaching history, science, business, language, culture, and more. Event code: KBB631.

UniVirtual Experience Social in AltspaceVR: Join us to socialize and relax after the 3-day Virtual Schooling UniVirtual Experience conference. Meet others involved in immersive education for homeschooling, remote and distance learning, and educators and parents from around the world passionate about XR in education. Event code: BXR267.