Gold Lotus English Courses in January

December 22, 2020January 11, 2021 / Lorelle VanFossen / Leave a comment

Educators in VR is partnered with Gold Lotus language learning founded by Michael McDonald offering English language learning experiences in virtual reality.

For over four years, Michael McDonald has delivered more than 100 free VR English lessons in AltspaceVR, ENGAGE, and other VR platforms, not counting his successful record-breaking 24-hr English Lesson fundraiser project in VR. He is also the co-leader of the Educators in VR vLanguage Learning Team Project, hosting events with experts and topics on learning language in XR regularly. His free language classes are an opportunity to learn English and expand conversational skills. He also teaches specialized workshops and private lessons focused on specific need and skill levels.

As a leading expert in VR language education, Michael is the Co-Leader of the Educators in VR vLanguage team project, bringing together experts and educators from around the world to expand their knowledge and skills in virtual reality language learning and techniques.

Educators in VR has produced and hosted more than 1000 workshops, classes, and meetups since its founding in 2018, and in 2021, we are launching our Educators in VR Institute in January offering free and paid workshops and classes in VR. We’re proud to launch one of the first series of workshops with Gold Lotus.

vLanguage English 8-hr Course

Over the next month, Michael McDonald is hosting a series of free introductory classes on English-language learning through interactivity and discussion in AltspaceVR with a 4-week paid course designed to build your English speaking skills beginning January 12, 2021, in AltspaceVR.

The 8-hour course is designed to boost your language skills at the start of the year and includes classes twice a week for 4-weeks for exploration of the language for travel, house and home, holidays, weather, dining, and more. The courses will begin on AltspaceVR and expand to other VR platforms soon.

Small intimate classes like this often start at 100 Euros (USD $125). Though the partnership with Educators in VR, we are offering this 8-hour course for 40 Euros (USD $49).

Begin the process by subscribing to our Educators in VR Institute mailing list and we will update you on class times and availability for this and the other workshops, classes, courses, and trainings we are doing for free and low-cost fees.

Showcasing Language Learning Techniques in VR

If you are an educator involved in language learning arts, check out the vLanguage Learning channel in our Educators in VR Discord for tips and information as well as announcements on the next meetups to discuss the topic.

Last week, Michael and his vLanguage Learning Team Project co-leader, Ekaterina Semeniuk (Gingery), held a fascinating demonstration on language learning in ENGAGE using sticky notes and 3D objects to help students more actively working with new vocabulary. This was followed by a trip to a coffee shop where attendees were able to get a taste of how realistic and highly contextual learning environments can support foreign language learners in understanding how to build vocabulary for meaningful interactions in the physical world around them – such as ordering a drink.

Gold Lotus in ENGAGE teaching restaurant and cafe use for English Language teaching.

Gold Lotus teaching English language teaching techniques in ENGAGE VR with white board.

Participants also witnessed the spatial recording feature of ENGAGE platform through a willing guinea pig by the name of Sergei, who demonstrated how by recording your avatar within a lesson can bring to the surface useful reflections on what mistakes students make and how they can be corrected, to build deeper meta-cognitive awareness about how one communicates in a foreign language. The group learned even more about how to improve the way people learn a foreign language in VR as it focuses the mind on key vocabulary and grammar necessary for upcoming – more engaging and interactive – tasks within the virtual environment. The event wrapped up standing at the foot of Mount Vesuvius in Italy to witness the eruption of the famous volcano, again a treasure trove of words, expressions, grammar and conversation for the language learner.

This is just a highlight of the potential for learning and teaching in VR, and we are excited to announce our Educators in VR Institute soft launch for January to help you share the VR experience with your students and experience it yourself.

Gold Lotus English Language workshops and classes learning inside a home garage.

In addition to the Gold Lotus English-language courses, we are developing workshops about VR event hosting, teaching, and virtual world building as well as workshops in VR on a wide variety of subjects including personal and professional development, creative writing, blogging, social media, conflict management, and much more. Stay tuned for more announcements and updates.

This is the first of many such collaborations. For more information, subscribe and join our Educators in VR Discord, Twitter, and Facebook to keep up with all the latest news, events, and resources.

January 2020 Events Schedule

January 7, 2020January 9, 2020 / Lorelle VanFossen / Leave a comment

Educators in VR’s weekly workshops continue on Tuesdays in AltspaceVR, educating and inspiring you with creative ways to integrate VR, AR, XR, and MR into education, even though the wheels are turning at a furious pace for our upcoming 2020 Educators in VR International Summit, February 17-22, 20202.

January 8, 2020 – Chris Madsen’s Setting Up a VR Classroom: Chris Madsen will cover some of the basic challenges and how to overcome them to develop VR in the classroom. His innovative research over the past year will help you learn how to handle the concerns of administration and faculty, and how to create a safe and secure environment for the students and teachers. Chris is a lively and fascinating expert, so bring your questions and concerns to the workshop tomorrow. RSVP so you won’t miss it.

January 14, 2020 – Nicolas Barone on Teaching Computer Science in VR: Nicolas spent the last few months developing innovative methodologies for teaching computer science and programming in a VR environment, specifically working with AltspaceVR, testing its limits and pushing boundaries. The founder of Universe, a collaborative online computer science educational company, he will share his experiences, lessons learned, and innovations with us in a week, so make sure you RSVP now to receive a reminder before the event.

January 21, 2020 – Educators in VR 101: The Educators in VR Curriculum Team has been developing this introductory program, Educators in VR 101, over the past year and it continues to develop as new technology and research into methodologies evolve. If you are new to immersive technologies in education and the classroom, this hour workshop introduces you to the basics and offers you the opportunity to get the answers you need to take the next step toward introducing yourself and your classroom or research to this new emerging technology.

January 28, 2020 – Exploring the Immersive Classroom: Teaching in VR’s unique immersion experience brings many challenges and concerns. The Educators in VR Curriculum Team’s workshop on working with immersive classrooms explores the potential of working with virtual worlds and spaces in education, from teaching within them, working with students to create immersive worlds, and encouraging virtual worlds as homework assignments. Each session takes you to two or more worlds that serve as examples.

February 4, 2020 – Educators in VR Social: We offer a social networking meetup regularly to allow us to connect through the magic of VR with other educators, learners, researchers, and enthusiasts from around the world and learn about how they use immersive technologies in education. Come join us for a drink and a virtual snack in our beautiful Educators in VR training facility in AltspaceVR.

February 17-22, 2020 – 2020 Educators in VR International Summit: While the International Summit is still evolving as the deadline for speakers just passed and we are starting to pour through the outstanding submissions and notify speakers, expect 80+ hours of educational programs, workshops, fireside chats, and panels on a wide-sweeping range of topics on immersive and spatial technologies in education. The event will be hosted in AltspaceVR, ENGAGE, and other social and educational virtual platforms. The event will be live streamed from each of the platforms for the main conference track, and other events will be recorded and shared later via our website and Youtube channel.

Consider subscribing to our Educators in VR event subscription channel to receive regular reminders of upcoming events there.

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.

Some other educational and informative events happening in AltspaceVR that you might not want to miss include:

AltspaceVR 101: AltspaceVR offers regular 30 minute workshops with tips and techniques for learning how to use AltspaceVR and be introduced to the strong and healthy metaverse community. The are held five days a week at various hours for different time zones. The next ones are Wednesday, Saturday early and later in the day, and Sunday.
Tech Tock with Jesse Damiani: Thursdays, the technology reporter from SNHU, Forbes, and The Verge features intimate conversations and open discussions with the leaders in the virtual technology fields from artists and developers to producers and entrepreneurs.
Improv Night with Stevieboy and Shoseki: Every Saturday, AltspaceVR becomes an innovative zone for crazy and good times as users become improvisational actors on the stage working with audience suggestions. Totally unpredictable, it’s a great example of the potential for the same comedy interactivity and collaboration you might bring to your classroom.
CES 2020: VR/AR/XR, Healthcare, AI, Robots, Drones, Sustainability & Climate with Health Systems Chat: Thursdays, Chuck Webster of Health Systems Chat covers a wide ranging topic related to healthcare technologies. This week is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and he will be covering the event. His next event is about the history, recipes, science, and farming of potatoes to honor the international Potato Expo in Las Vegas that week. And on January 30, he tackles the topic of assistive technology and virtual reality.
C# Programming Course: Mohamad offers C# programming courses in AltspaceVR. Sunday, January 19, he begins his next series on intermediate level courses.
Introduction to Unity: Nicolas Barrone and his team are joined by Matt Cook this month to teach world building and VR app and game development using Unity. The free course starts January 22.
Meditating on Morality: Tom Nickels of EvolVR, an expert on mortality and meditation, holds regular sessions in AltspaceVR tackling these serious issues with great insights and experience.
The EvolVR Book Club: Meeting month, the EvolVR Book Club explores spiritual books and teachings. Last month’s book was The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and this month’s book is Ram Dass’ Be Here Now.
Humanism: The Self-Domestication of Humans: An innovative educational exploration on how humans share many of the characteristics of domesticated animals and the evolution of this process, one of many fascinating topics shared by Ron Flannery at the monthly Humanism Meetups.
Poetry Slam: A biweekly event on Mondays with users stepping up to the stage to share their poetry, rap, and short stories, another example of the potential for a classroom experience.
Creative Writing Meetup: Lorelle hosts an innovative workshop Tuesdays for creative writers writing short stories, essays, memoirs, poetry, or those just wishing to expand their creative writing abilities. This is the second year of the meetups and this year more special event workshops, classes, and programs will be featured.

To Attend Educators in VR Events 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 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.

If you would like to present at one of our weekly workshops, please submit your speaker’s proposal to us. Considering joining one of our many team projects. If you have questions or need more information, please contact us or connect with one of our many social media channels.

Workshop: Chris Madsen and Setting Up a VR Classroom

January 6, 2020 / Lorelle VanFossen / 1 Comment

Our next Educators in VR Weekly Workshop tomorrow, January 7, 2020, is one you will not want to miss. Chris Madsen of ENGAGE explores using VR in the classroom, diving deeply into the challenges we all face: security, safety, surroundings, software, and hardware. As we only have an hour, he will spend more time on the first parts, which are essential aspects of the decision-making process. His focus will be on high school and below ages, but apply to all levels of classroom integration for students and educators new to VR.

Chris Madsen holds many titles and credits but we have to admit that he is one of the most passionate evangelists for virtual reality in the world. Considered one of the top influencers in VR and education, his work with ENGAGE, the powerful, award-winning educational platform, created by VR Education Holdings PLC, is helping to change the face of online education. Immersive VR Education company works with a wide range of clients including the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), University of Oxford, BBC, HTC, Shenandoah University, and the US Air Force Academy. His Twitter account is filled with a wide range of inspirational and newsworthy posts worth following.

Co-founder of the Utah Virtual Reality Meetup, an Ambassador in the Edge of Discovery non-profit that develops emergency media projects with VR and AR for historically silenced, simplified, and minimized societies, CEO of Digital Realities, and business development and evangelist for ENGAGE, he brings a passion to our workshops that will help you step off the fence when it comes to including immersive technology into the classroom.

Chris has been working extensively in researching and developing, and simplifying, the process of integrating VR into the classroom over the past year, as opposed to bringing the classroom to virtual reality. He spent twenty years working in Behavioral Science, and brings that expertise to this process.

Many school administrators are very worried about the risks of integrating VR into the classroom, and how to not only do it safely but with purposeful intention for the students and the teachers. He will cover the psychological and physically challenges associated with VR in the classroom, and help us understand how to create a safe and positive experience, dealing with the sharing of equipment, nausea concerns, safety issues, and help us make these challenges positive.

He will also cover some of the basics to consider when it comes to the logistics, and we are eager to have him dive even deeper into this subject and more at the 2020 Educators in VR International Conference, February 17-22. Yes, consider him one of the first announced speakers for our ground-breaking event. 😀

The sudden death of Chris Long, another ground-breaking innovator of education and VR, was a great loss. As a long-time friend, Madsen facilitated a beautiful celebration of the life of Chris Long in Engage, allowing so many to make piece with their grief and pay their respects.

Here are some podcasts, interviews, and articles about Chris Madsen to help you learn a little more about the passion he brings to this industry.

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.

To Attend Educators in VR Events 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.

Educators in VR: Good-bye 2019, Hello 2020

January 5, 2020February 5, 2020 / Lorelle VanFossen / 1 Comment

Now that we are starting off a new year and a new decade, we want to take a moment to look back on all that we’ve accomplished in our first year and be amazed. When Daniel told me he wanted our tagline to be “The sky is no longer the limit,” I thought it was cute. I didn’t realize it would become our motto.

Seriously, in spite of many personal disruptions, Daniel Dyboski-Bryant and myself have worked long hours in addition to full-time jobs to develop Educators in VR on a shoestring budget. Its success as a membership community and social profit company based in the UK is amazing because of you.

What started out as a conversation between four educators to host a social meetup to explore educators using VR for research and integration into the classroom exploded into weekly educational and training workshops and presentations in AltspaceVR, ENGAGE, and other social and educational platforms, and, coming in February, a ground-breaking six-day virtual conference called “2020 Educators in VR International Summit.”

In the past 13 months, Educators in VR has accomplished the following:

Hosted 48 workshops and meetups in AltspaceVR.
Hosted multiple events in ENGAGE, rumii, and Mozilla Hubs (with more on the way).
Averaged 40 attendees at each event (the cap in AltspaceVR for the past 6 months was 40 so that means standing room only. Before then, we averaged 80.).
Reached an audience estimated to be about 4,000 just in AltspaceVR across over 80 workshop hours.
Hosted 550 members on our Discord server, and our Facebook group is about the same with some overlap between the two. Discord is our most active social platform with over 7,700 comments in less than a year, and we’ve over 1,000 followers on Twitter.
Attracted 3,000 pageviews on our website in a few months time with little or no marketing.
Developed seven different educational workshops, along with a dozen variations for specific audiences.
Presented live virtual and in-person workshops at AWE, VRX2019 Conference in Amsterdam, and the VR/AR Global Summit for the VR/AR Association.
Co-hosted over 6 hours of the 24-hour International VR Day in November.
Presented 5 special events, speakers, and panels on cyberbullying in virtual reality as part of honoring Cyberbullying Month in AltspaceVR.
Featured in “Getting Social with VR Education” with VR Focus, AltspaceVR Community Spotlight: Educators in VR, Educators in VR Meetup by The Virtual Reality Podcast, and other media.
Lorelle built a custom event world for Educators in VR, and Mark S. of the UK took the prototype and turned into into a marvelous event and social space for our weekly workshops and social gatherings.
Continue to develop scholarship and donation programs to help fund educational programs for integration of VR into the classroom and provide equipment for students and educators in need.

The Educators in VR Project Teams

Of all the things we are proud of accomplishing this year, we are the most proud of our Project Team leaders and members. These are truly passionate and inspired people who’ve taken on leading these special project teams to host events, workshops, and dive even deeper into the research and curriculum for their specialties. I’d like you to meet them.

Continue reading →

Educators in VR vLanguage Learning: Giuseppe Fantigrossi of Play2Speak

November 8, 2019 / Michael McDonald / Leave a comment

After the success of our inaugural Educators in VR vLanguage Learning event in late September with special guest Dr. Aaron Ralby talking about memory palaces in virtual reality, we’ve another heavyweight guest lined up for our next vLanguage Learning event.

Thursday 14th November our special guest is Giuseppe Fantigrossi, CEO of Play2Speak.

The VR app, Play2Speak, teaches conversational English with virtual characters to improve fluency, with a little help from AI, too. A speaker of four languages himself, Giuseppe has a diverse background – he is a Food Scientist, with an MBA from Concordia University and in a previous life worked as a process improvement consultant, specializing in IT projects. Today he follows his passion in connecting others and creating solutions in the entrepreneurial world through the Play2Speak English-learning VR app.

As always, the presentation will be followed by a Q&A where you can put your questions to Giuseppe to understand more about how VR can support the way your learn or teach languages.

To Attend Educators in VR Events 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 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 can be disruptive. For more information on accessing and installing AltspaceVR, check out their download web page.

If you would like to join our Educators in VR vLanguage Learning team project, or one of our other team projects and possibly present at one of our VR educational workshops, please contact us or connect with one of our many social media channels.

First Educators in VR vLanguage Learning Event

September 25, 2019 / Lorelle VanFossen / 2 Comments

Our first Educators in VR vLanguage Learning event is Thursday, September 26, 2019, and you are invited to attend and learn about how VR is changing language lessons.

We are thrilled that Michael McDonald of the Gold Lotus project, long-time VR Language Instructor, is heading up our Educators in VR vLanguage Learning team project. He is bringing his vast experience and expertise in teaching language skills in the real and virtual worlds to our Educators in VR workshops, and the first is this Thursday.

The featured guest is Dr. Aaron Ralby of Linguisticator, the Online Language Learning program. Dr. Ralby is a linguist and scholar not just passionate about languages and memory training but changing the world with his innovative projects. Founded in 2011, Linguisticator offers courses in language and memory training, working with a wide range of clients, from diplomats to the UK’s Ministry of Defense to children with special needs such as dyslexia and autism. He is a Germanic philologist and holds a PhD in Medieval Studies from Cornell, an MPhil from Cambridge in Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic, an a BA from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in English and Modern Languages and Linguistics.

His program in AltspaceVR on Thursday is “Memory Palaces in VR”, looking at how we can learn languages with memory palaces in Munx VR, his VR platform.

By combining medieval memory techniques with modern technology, we are redefining the way we learn, understand, and retain information in our minds.

Imagine knowing the periodic table in the same way you know the layout of your living room, or being able to recall a president or ruler with the same effortlessness of reaching for a mug when making a cup of tea.

Here are some examples of his work.

To Attend in AltspaceVR

To attend, join AltspaceVR as outlined below. On the events calendar, click the Interested or RSVP button on the AltspaceVR website or in-world.

Educators in VR hosts a monthly meeting with a keynote speaker on educational and industry topics and weekly workshops and special events exploring VR, AR, XR, and MR techniques and projects in AltspaceVR and other VR social and educational platforms.

Join our Educators in VR Discord group, Facebook, and follow up on Twitter 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. AltspaceVR events tend to fill quickly and the limit is currently 40 attendees. We recommend you plan your arrival 2 minutes before the event start time to ensure a spot before the event space fills.

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 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.

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.