2019 Virtual Reality Day – 24 Hours in VR

November 22, 2019 / Michael McDonald / Leave a comment

Educators in VR is very proud to announce our participation in the 2019 Virtual Reality Day celebrations of twenty-four hours in VR on November 22-23, 2019. Events will be hosted in person around the world as well as in a variety of VR social and educational platforms. You may track all the activities and updates with the hashtag #24HoursVR or check the VR Day website for details.

Along with other amazing VR educators, experts, world builders, creators, and researchers, Educators in VR will be hosting conversation, training, and educational workshops throughout the day in AltspaceVR.

Subject to change, Educators in VR will be hosting special events in AltspaceVR beginning Friday and running through Saturday on November 22-23, 2019, depending upon your time zone:

World Building in VR with Unity and World Tools: Carsten Pluntke and Lorelle VanFossen. Washington, DC – 3:00am
- Dubai, UAE – 12:00pm
- London, UK – 8:00am
- San Fran – Midnight
vLanguage Learning: Foreign Language Learning in VR: Michael McDonald of Gold Lotus.
- Washington, DC – 4:30am
- Dubai, UAE – 1:30pm
- London, UK – 9:30am
- San Fran – 1:30am
Students in VR: Michael Zhang of ICXR.
- Washington, DC – 9:00am
- Dubai, UAE – 6:00pm
- London, UK – 2:00pm
- San Fran – 6:00am
ConVRsation with Educators in VR: Lorelle VanFossen and the Educators in VR team.
- Washington, DC – 8:30pm
- Dubai, UAE – Sun 5:30am
- London, UK – Sun 1:30am
- San Fran – 5:30pm
Educators in VR 101 Forum: Lorelle VanFossen and the Educators in VR team.
- Washington, DC – 9:30pm
- Dubai, UAE – Sun 6:30am
- London, UK – Sun 2:30am
- San Fran – 6:30pm
Tips and Tricks for Teaching in VR: Lorelle VanFossen and the Educators in VR team.
- Washington, DC – 10:30pm
- Dubai, UAE – Sun 7:30am
- London, UK – Sun 3:30am
- San Fran – 7:30pm
Cyberbullying and Bullying in VR: Lorelle VanFossen and the Educators in VR team.
- Washington, DC – 11:30pm
- Dubai, UAE – Sun 8:30am
- London, UK – Sun 4:30am
- San Fran – 8:30pm

Other guest presenters include some of the most innovative evangelists in VR, especially education in VR:

Andrew Conklin
Anne McKinnon
Eve Weston
Jim Malcolm
Ken Ehrhart
Lara Bucarey
Nicolas Barone
Olivia Goldman-Szwajkajzer
Sana Farid
Steve Bambury
Syed Akbar

World VR Day, in its third-consecutive year now, is the brainchild of Bob Fine, founder of the popular VR news website VRVoice.co. The aim of this annual celebration is to help virtual and augmented reality become more mainstream, and you’d be hard pushed to find such a rich selection of events and guest speakers all crammed into one day. We’re sure that you’ll be so inspired by what’s on offer that by the time the Cyber Monday rolls around, you’ll want that latest headset to take your teaching or learning to the next level using this exciting technology.

Whether we meet in person or in VR during this international celebration of the power of VR, we hope to meet you.

On the Road with Steve Bambury Sept 28

September 22, 2019September 26, 2019 / Lorelle VanFossen / Leave a comment

Steve Brambury wearing headset.

Educators in VR on the Road presents Steve Bambury in Engage on Saturday, September 28, 2019, and you are welcome to join us for this free fireside chat.

Steve Bambury of Digital Inception Consulting is one of the world’s leading evangelists in virtual reality and education, and we’re honored that he’s agreed to spend an hour with all of us. He is the two-time winner of the GESS Award for Best Use of ICT, winner of the 2018 BETT MEA Innovation Award, and named as the 2018 Education Trendsetter by EdTech Digest.

With more than 18 years in education, Steve is the Head of Digital Learning and Innovation across the JESS Dubai school group and works as an independent technology consultant, supporting schools, and other organizations to integrate technology effectively. In 2017, he became the first educator to host professional development sessions inside virtual reality, and in 2018 he co-hosted the world’s first global lesson inside VR alongside Pixar co-founder Loren Carpenter. Steve is also an Apple Distinguished Educator and Microsoft Master Trainer.

We will be hosting the event in Engage, an educational and meeting platform. The event is free but seating is limited to 40, first come, first serve. RSVP now for access to attend this Educators in VR on the Road special event.

ENGAGE VR Education & Corporate Training Platform makes collaboration and creation in VR easy for classes, training, and meetings. Working with an enhanced classroom or meeting space, users can customize the virtual world experience with many interactive world-building assets and environments. For more information on working with ENGAGE, contact them.

Educators in VR Events for September 2019

August 23, 2019August 23, 2019 / Lorelle VanFossen / Leave a comment

We have so many things planned for September with Educators in VR, you might need a road map to keep up with us. To get you started, here is a quick summary for you to add to your calendar. We’ve some amazing diverse speakers and presenters to help you consider a wide range of options for integrating virtual reality and augmented reality into your teaching.

Monthly Meetup

Educators in VR meets monthly in AltspaceVR with a special guest speaker and topic. The one-hour meetup is usually the third Thursday of the month.

September 19, 2019 – Matt Cook of the Virtual World Society: Matt Cook is working with a volunteer group to teach students at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School to develop their own STEM-based eductional VR experiences in Seattle. A graduate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington and Project Engineer at RATLab LLC, he is developing virtual reality curriculum and VR content for research projects to push the envelope on VR in education. He is a senior advisor for the Virtual World Society.

October 24, 2019 – Mina Johnson-Glenberg of Embodied Games : Mina Johnson-Glenberg is a cognitive psychologist, game designer, STEM specialist, and research professor at Arizona State University and president of the award-winning learning technology company, Embodied Games, LLC. The Embodied Games lab has been at the forefront of creating “embodied” and kinetically-active games using sensors and motion capture technologies. Dr. Johnson-Glenberg will be speaking about accessing educational quality of VR modules with a newly developed Rubric Alpha Version. She presents nationally and internationally and has published in peer-reviewed journals on VR and STEM education. Her most recent work was on Frontiers in Robotics and AI. You will not want to miss this meetup.

Weekly Workshops

We offer free weekly workshops in AltspaceVR and other virtual social and educational platforms to encourage educators to expand their knowledge and skills in virtual, augmented, and extended reality. These workshops are free and open to the public. See our information on how to attend Educators in VR events.

September 10, 2019 – Immersive Classroom: Climate Change: Lorelle VanFossen will be presenting another immersive classroom experience in AltspaceVR on climate change associated with oceans and glacial melt. These are open discussion events exploring how to build and teach within immersive environments and discuss the various educational topics such world building spaces offer. The event is free and RSVP is recommended.

September 17, 2019 – Educators in VR 101: Daniel Dyboski-Bryant will be presenting the basics of virtual reality for educators and learners in AltspaceVR. We offer this free program for those considering integrating virtual reality in the classroom and those new to the experience, or a refresher course on the basics. We recommend RSVP soon and arrival two minutes before start time as the event often fills quickly.

September 24, 2019 – Immersive Classroom: EvolVR: Jeremy Nickels of EvolvVR (Facebook) is a long-time educator and leader in immersive education leading meditation and yoga programs weekly in AltspaceVR for over 2 years. He’s worked with world builders to develop custom worlds and event spaces, pushing the limits of virtual and guided instruction in VR. He will be sharing his expertise on developing innovative virtual programs that connect mind, spirit, and body in an immersive experience. Continue reading →

Educators in VR on the Road: Engage

July 17, 2019July 18, 2019 / Lorelle VanFossen / 2 Comments

Educators in VR: On The Road, hosted by @danieldbryant, showcases ENGAGE this Fri, Jul 19th, 2019 at 1:30 pm Pacific. See how #VR is being used in education! Yes, we are having way too much fun! Details here https://t.co/uHb2JLV7UG pic.twitter.com/l7AS8QDqXQ

— Chris Madsen (@deep_rifter) July 16, 2019

ENGAGE is a virtual reality education and corporate training platform that Educators in VR have been working with for months, learning how it works, all its amazing features, and providing feedback on improvements as an educational space. The team at Engage have been amazing to work with, and we are eager to showcase it for our first Educators in VR on the Road series.

Join us Friday, July 19, 2019, in Engage. Educators in VR co-founder Daniel Dyboski Bryant and the Engage team will be introducing us to the platform and giving us a full tour. Here is a teaser:

When it comes to educational and training VR platforms, Engage is pushing the limits for a high quality, realistic platform. Engage has been working with top specialized educators to develop lessons available for immediately study,

bringing experts right to your classroom. It has a set of shared 360 surround video viewing made simple and easy to use. There are 1,200+ interactive assets ready to use for sharing and manipulating. For educators needing to film their classes or incorporate screen recording and filming into the educational process, Engage’s ability for spacial recording, immediate playback, and in-world editing is ideal.

Engage comes ready to use or they will work with you to build your own educational and training events for live or recorded interaction. It was build for monetizing as a platform, opening up so many possibilities.

We are eager to show off Engage this Friday so RSVP immediately. There are only room for twenty attendees and there are only a few seats left for this free event.

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.

Weekly Workshop: Creating Educational Events in AltspaceVR

July 13, 2019 / Daniel Dyboski-Bryant / Leave a comment

The next Educators in VR Weekly Workshop is Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in AltspaceVR, and will feature Lorelle VanFossen presenting “Creating Educational Events in AltspaceVR.”

Imagine teaching students from around the world in a single virtual space. Or bringing your students to a virtual world where they can explore climate change, Notre Dame, or museums and galleries. Take this a step further and consider the possibilities of encouraging your students to build their own museum, gallery, or homework project in a virtual space. The possibilities are endless, but we are going to start simple and introduce you to step one in creating an educational event in AltspaceVR, a similar process to other social VR platforms, to help prepare for the possibilities. And if you are looking for an easy-to-use platform for educational programs and events, be it high school classes or corporate training, AltspaceVR is an excellent choice. It offers a vibrant community to support public events, and an excellent and professional events team to work with to help you make your event a success.

The hour-long workshop will cover the logistics of creating an educational event in AltspaceVR, event location, layout, structure, and how to integrate video and slides. While she will be touching on some aspects of world building and interactivity in Altspace, stay tuned for a workshop this fall that covers this complex area.

When it comes to credentials for tips and techniques on education and events in Altspace, few come more qualified. Lorelle spent the last year teaching and presenting an average of 3 events a week in AltspaceVR, evaluating it as an educational and social platform. Normally she travels 5-7 months a year presenting keynotes, workshops, and trainings on web publishing and digital storytelling across the planet, traveling more through virtual space than physical this year. Pushing AltspaceVR to its limits, she presents topics rarely found with the virtual experience, creative writing, genealogy and family history. She also hosts and moderates social and meetup events along with community service training and world building. She is the co-host for the News & Updates in AltspaceVR every Saturday. Lorelle helped produce several highly successful collaborative projects, including the Halloween VR Maze events that attracted over 3,000 users. She works with the AltspaceVR events and community teams to teach, promote, and encourage training, mentoring, and collaborative projects within the AltspaceVR community as part of the Community Helper program.

Educators in VR presents weekly workshops as part of our mission to train and prepare educators and learns for the future of technology with virtual and augmented realities. We offer workshops on the basics of VR with Educators in VR 101, on teaching within an immersive classroom, and workshops with special guest speakers covering the diverse topics of education in spatial technologies. We also have a monthly meetup to discuss the educational industry and network, usually the third week of the month. Coming soon are special event programs like Educators in VR on the Road, journeying to other social and educational platforms, and the Educators in VR Showcase, highlighting products and services in the virtual education industry.

Please note that we will take a break in August, but already have exciting workshops and meetups planned for September.

Join our Educators in VR Discord group, Facebook, and follow up 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.

Educators in VR Meetup 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 (sideloaded) users. If you do not have a VR device, you may also install the 2D version for use on your Windows desktop computer version. A headset and microphone (quality earbuds acceptable) is required to participate. Otherwise please stay muted during the event as the background noise and echoes can be disruptive. For more information on accessing and installing AltspaceVR, check out their download web page.

Educators in VR Weekly Workshops: Immersive Classroom

July 1, 2019July 1, 2019 / Lorelle VanFossen / Leave a comment

After months of planning, Educators in VR announces the first of our weekly workshops in AltspaceVR and other social VR and educational platforms, Educators in VR Immersive Classroom Workshop, exploring “The Last Glacier” Tuesday, July 2, 2019.

Instead of talking about climate change and the impact of glaciers on our ecosystem or showing videos, imagine climbing a mountain to explore the glaciers, slipping and sliding down to an ice cave as part of your lesson. The Last Glacier is an educational world designed for Earth Day that takes the visitor on a collaborative journey through the geo-science of glaciers and icebergs, and an exploration of an ice cave, representing one of the few remaining on the planet.

The Last Glacier is an interactive classroom experience representing immersive classroom experiences in maths and sciences, humanities, current events, and discovery exercises with multi-modal educational opportunities as well as leadership and team building exercises. In addition to exploring and learning from this virtual classroom, we discuss the benefits and concerns of teaching in an immersive environment and offer tips and techniques for creating your own immersive educational world for your class or as homework.

This is the first of many weekly workshops produced by Educators in VR. Next Tuesday is our first Educators in VR 101, a workshop and tutorial on the basics of using virtual reality in education, covering terminology, devices, tips, and techniques. Upcoming topics for the weekly workshops include:

Creating and Hosting an Educational Event on Virtual Reality Platforms.
Creating a Virtual Training Space.
Health and Medical VR/AR/XR Technologies.
User Experience in VR.
Language Learning in VR/AR.
Product Showcases.
Virtual World Building in AltspaceVR.
Pros and Cons of the Virtual Classroom.

Our next Educators in VR Meetup is July 18 featuring Marie Graham, Director of VR/AR at the Mount Vernon Presbyterian School, presenting “Immersive Realities, Design Thinking, and Students Using Technology for Good.”

For information on attending an Educators in VR workshop or event in virtual reality, we have About – Educators in VRattendance information for you.

If you are an educator using virtual and mixed realities, please contact us to discuss presenting a 20-40 minute workshop in virtual reality. We use a variety of educational and virtual social platforms.

Educators in VR Meetup June 6, 2019: Amanda Fox

June 2, 2019June 2, 2019 / Lorelle VanFossen / Leave a comment

Amanda Fox of Foxbrite

The next meeting of Educators in VR in AltspaceVR is June 6, 2019. Amanda Fox, Creative Director of FoxBrite LLC (STEAMPunksEdu), is an educational pioneer and author of Teachingland: A Teacher’s Guide to the Classroom Apocalypse. She will be speaking on AR in Teachingland. The meetup event is free, open to the public, and will be in AltspaceVR. Information on access is listed below.

Amanda has taught English Language Arts, Social Studies, Film, Journalism, and now leads STEAM programs via her startup STEAMPunksEdu– in Louisville, Kentucky. Recipient of the 2016 ISTE Emerging Leader Award, recognized as a PBS Digital innovator for her initiatives in enhancing student learning with technology, Amanda also served as President of the Young Educator Network for ISTE, and received the President’s Volunteer Award. Her current project, the Zom-Be kids book series, sees her introducing design thinking to elementary students, and is the first of a series.

She is also host of The Virtual Reality Podcast, interviewing VR and AR industry experts and educators from around the world.

She has an affinity for coffee mugs, nerdy t-shirts, and can always be found in heels. You may connect with Amanda on Twitter @AmandaFoxSTEM.

Join our Educators in VR Discord group for information on meetups and how to become more involved. 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.

Educators in VR Meetup 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. Alan has also built several worlds in AltspaceVR that attract a wide range of visitors, developing innovative virtual entertainment and meeting spaces.

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 (sideloaded through the APK) users. If you do not have a VR device, you may also install the 2D version for use on your Windows desktop computer version. A headset and microphone (quality earbuds acceptable) is required to participate. Otherwise please stay muted during the event as the background noise and echoes can be disruptive. For more information on accessing and installing AltspaceVR, check out their download web page.

Submissions Requested for Scenes and Screens Festival

April 13, 2019April 13, 2019 / Lorelle VanFossen / Leave a comment

Scenes and Screens Festival: Speculative Realities (Year 2) is currently accepting submissions for papers, film, performance, and VR installations. The subtopics for this year: Degrees of Freedom, Moments of Inertia, and Presence of Mind. Held on August 2nd-4th, 2019, the works presented at #SAS2019 will be documented and archived by AltspaceVR and then provided to the artists involved as their takeaway.

Applications for Scenes and Screens Festival should be received by no later than 11:59PM PT, May 15th, 2019. Chosen works will be notified of their selection by June 30th, 2019.

This event is free and there are no entry fees. All are welcome to submit and participate.

Last year’s showcase brought together international talents and artistry on the theme hyperconnect. There is a tremendous need for artists looking for representation, but it takes time and money to apply to residencies, other festivals, things to get a foothold in the art world. This festival offer an opportunity for little or no cost to share their talents and showcase them globally via AltspaceVR.

Come share your talents in virtual reality!

For more information, please visit AltspaceVR Scenes and Screens Festival 2019.

Next Meetup is March 21 with Joe Millward from TAFE NSW

March 10, 2019April 29, 2019 / Lorelle VanFossen / Leave a comment

TAFE logo and building sign in Sydney. The next meeting of Educators in VR in AltspaceVR is March 21, 2019. Joe Millward from TAFE NSW will be joining us to talk about how to scale up provision of VR in education.

TAFE NSW is Australia’s leading provider for more than 1200 education and training courses with over 500,000 students attending on campus, online, through distance learning, or in the workplace. Established as an independent statutory body under the TAFE Commission Act 1990, the original NAFE NSW started over 130 years ago in New South Wales as a vocational project, helping to educate workers during the Depression and following the World Wars. Today, they provide educational and counseling to multicultural, aboriginal, and migrant populations across Australia. Their information and communications technology courses are expected to grow by 75% over the next ten years to serve the digital economy. They even have a Wikipedia page with details about the courses and areas and topics they cover.

Come join us March 21, 2019, in AltspaceVR for an informative discussion on how they meet the growing need for virtual reality in education.

You may attend as a guest or member using the free AltspaceVR mobile app or 2D version. AltspaceVR is found in the Google Store for DayDream, Samsung Gear, in the 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 mobile version for use on your Android phone or tablet, or the desktop computer version for 2D access. A headset and microphone (quality earbuds acceptable) is required to participate. Otherwise please stay muted during the event as the background noise and echoes can be disruptive. For more information on accessing and installing AltspaceVR, check out their download web page.

Jessica Outlaw at Next Educators in VR Meetup

February 2, 2019April 29, 2019 / Lorelle VanFossen / 1 Comment

February 21, 2019, is the next meeting of Educators in VR in AltspaceVR. We are very honored to feature Jessica Outlaw of The Extended Mind: Culture and Behavior in XR to discuss VR communities and bullying, harassment, and learning to cope with social interactions in virtual reality.

Jessica’s research has had a profound impact on the virtual reality industry, helping us all understand the realities of VR bullying and harassment and how to develop tools and community guidelines. She provides workshops and trainings to the virtual reality and online communities industry. Here are a few examples of her work in action.

Come join us February 21, 2019, in AltspaceVR for an informative discussion on this critical topic.