The 8th annual Virtual World MOOC (VWMOOC22) is September 1-30, 2022. To register and participate, see Moodle for Teachers.

The theme of the current MOOC is “Connecting in Virtual Worlds. Communities of Practice.” It explores platforms and communities promoting education and learning through virtual worlds in the metaverse. The majority of the event happens in Second Life and also explores OpenSim, Digiworldz, Kitely, Minecraft, AltspaceVR, and other platforms, and are streamed out to videoconferencing apps.

The MOOC educational session features expert educators from around the world, veterans in immersive education. Topics include:

• New TelePortal and Orientation Tower Tour
• The metaverse as a tool for teaching
• Simulation Training, Teacher Performance, Assessment, and Artificial Intelligence
• Libraries and literacies in the metaverse
• Metaverse or Metaworse: What is in store for Education?
• Integrating Second Life into commerce classrooms
• Digital Transformation in the Exponential Era
• Reflections teaching on immersive learning in Virtual Reality (VR) in a Virtual World (VW)
• How to Design a Course & Teach in Virtual Worlds and Virtual Reality Environments
• Applying Psychological Models to Work with Individuals, Groups and Organizations
• Telling Stories in a Roleplaying Fantasy World

The third week of September is dedicated to banned books with teachers discussing intellectual freedom and how the virtual libraries, classrooms, and worlds are helping to change hearts and minds.

September 9, Amany Alkhayat, co-leader of the Educators in VR vLanguage Learning Team, will present “Jigsaw Island: A Professional Development Escape The Room VR Game.” Based on a pirate story, this Second Life world is used to train educators on using VR in the classroom to help them learn about pedagogy, uploading assets, embedding polls, links, texts and more, exploring the WebVR virtual world affordances, gamification, character development, game mechanics, and story elements.

September 23, Lorelle VanFossen and Karen Gibson-Hylands of Educators in VR will present “Educational VR World Frameworks: The DEW Concept Model of Discovery, Exploration, and Wonder” in AltspaceVR, streamed to Zoom. VR and the metaverse is an open play field for educators and students. When you can build anything, it’s overwhelming. Lorelle and Karen will introduce their DEW Concept model, an educational virtual world building and selection process framework that identifies key characteristics and world models that encourage discovery, exploration, and wonder wrapped in a strong narrative. The model helps to lower the stress and confusion around educational worlds and sets a standard for interaction and engagement.

The educational workshop sessions begin today, so register now to participate at Moodle for Teachers.