ISTE VEN Focus Sessions 2016-2017
The ISTE Virtual Environments Network's Focus Sessions featured noted practitioners of education in virtual environments, in an interactive setting, monthly in Second Life. These sessions have been discontinued. See the navigation menu above for links to the archives.
Past 2016-2017 Focus Sessions
September 20, 2016: Dr. Valerie Hill on "Metaliteracy in the Metaverse"
Speaker: Dr. Valerie Hill (Valibrarian Gregg in SL), President, Community Virtual Library
Dr. Valerie Hill has a background in school librarianship and taught library and information science at Texas Woman’s University. Currently she researches information literacy in global digital participatory culture, including the changing formats of online education, virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive learning environments.
TOPIC: Metaliteracy in the Metaverse
Information needs and literacy skills for learners have rapidly changed from reading and writing (primarily print resources) to mobile devices, apps, and instant access across the globe in digital environments. The Community Virtual Library celebrated a 10th anniversary this year and continues to expand and explore opportunities for a new vision of literacy (metaliteracy) and new ways to help provide resources in virtual spaces. This session will share innovative ways to become productive digital citizens in a virtual world by connecting communities and sharing high quality virtual world content.
A tour of CVL will be included, so wear your virtual walking shoes!
Dr. Valerie Hill has a background in school librarianship and taught library and information science at Texas Woman’s University. Currently she researches information literacy in global digital participatory culture, including the changing formats of online education, virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive learning environments.
TOPIC: Metaliteracy in the Metaverse
Information needs and literacy skills for learners have rapidly changed from reading and writing (primarily print resources) to mobile devices, apps, and instant access across the globe in digital environments. The Community Virtual Library celebrated a 10th anniversary this year and continues to expand and explore opportunities for a new vision of literacy (metaliteracy) and new ways to help provide resources in virtual spaces. This session will share innovative ways to become productive digital citizens in a virtual world by connecting communities and sharing high quality virtual world content.
A tour of CVL will be included, so wear your virtual walking shoes!
October 18, 2016: Gord Holden
Gord Holden is Director of Immersive Technology at Heritage Christian Online School in British Columbia, Canada. He holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Victoria. He has been working with middle school students in virtual worlds since 2008. Over the last 6 years his “Immersive Technology” program has increased from 8 homeschooling students to almost 200. These students take some 600 grade 5-8 courses ranging from Language Arts, French/Spanish, Science, Socials, Programming and Art. His staff of 10 love the platforms used, and parents appreciate that they are safe and appropriate for children.
NOVEMBER 15, 2016: Joyce Bettencourt
Joyce Bettencourt (Rhiannon Chatnoir in Second Life) is the Online Community Manager for TechSoup Global’s NonProfit Commons in Second Life community. In addition, she is Creative Director of The Vesuvius Group, a collaborative studio specializing in developing online immersive and social environments for community-building. She is also co-founder and Vice President of AvaCon, Inc. and served as President from 2010-2014. Joyce is a 2012 graduate of the Singularity University Graduate Studies program, focused on applying exponential technologies to addressing Global Grand Challenges. Previously she was digital media producer for the Online Leadership Program at the educational nonprofit Global Kids and helped produce digital media learning content, events, and the social issue game CONSENT!
Joyce will be talking with us about the upcoming OpenSimulator Community Conference (OSCC), held this year on December 10-11, 2016. OSCC is an annual conference that focuses on the developer and user community creating the OpenSimulator software. Organized as a joint production by Core Developers of OpenSimuator and AvaCon, the virtual conference features presentations, workshops, keynote sessions, and social events across diverse sectors of the OpenSimulator user base. More information can be found at http://conference.opensimulator.org/2016/.
December 20, 2016: The Dickens Project
The Community Virtual Library is collaborating with Seanchai Library and the Dickens Project to provide a research exhibit in Second Life with a focus on Charles Dickens, his era of history, and A Christmas Carol. Come visit the exhibit and tour the Dickens Resource Center. Celebrate the holidays with a fun and educational event!
Where: Community Virtual Library Exhibit Area
SLurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/31/182/24
When: Tuesday, Dec 20th 5pm SLT (Pacific time)
Historical attire is optional.
Where: Community Virtual Library Exhibit Area
SLurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bradley%20University/31/182/24
When: Tuesday, Dec 20th 5pm SLT (Pacific time)
Historical attire is optional.
JANUARY 17, 2017: Virtual Reality in the Classroom
Join foundry10 CEO Lisa Castaneda and teachers Steve Isaacs and Mark Suter to hear about the ongoing research on using virtual reality in education (http://foundry10.org/areas-overview/virtual-reality/). They’ll be discussing their research findings and anecdotes as well as suggestions for implementing VR in the classroom.
Lisa Castaneda has a Masters degree in Education and emphasized the uses of games and learning in her time as a classroom teacher. She is now a co-founder and the CEO of foundry10, an educational research organization, that aims to expand the ways in which people think about learning through innovative projects with educators around the world.
Steve Isaacs teaches Game Design and Development at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge, NJ. His mission is to provide a choice based learning environment in order for students to find and nurture their passion. Steve's learning space is full of incredible resources and technology to provide opportunities for students to take learning into their own hands.
Mark Suter teaches computer science and game design at Elida High School in Elida,OH. Mark's students build games on platforms of their choosing from arcade style games for a full size, student made arcade cabinet to virtual reality experiences on the HTC Vive.
Lisa Castaneda has a Masters degree in Education and emphasized the uses of games and learning in her time as a classroom teacher. She is now a co-founder and the CEO of foundry10, an educational research organization, that aims to expand the ways in which people think about learning through innovative projects with educators around the world.
Steve Isaacs teaches Game Design and Development at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge, NJ. His mission is to provide a choice based learning environment in order for students to find and nurture their passion. Steve's learning space is full of incredible resources and technology to provide opportunities for students to take learning into their own hands.
Mark Suter teaches computer science and game design at Elida High School in Elida,OH. Mark's students build games on platforms of their choosing from arcade style games for a full size, student made arcade cabinet to virtual reality experiences on the HTC Vive.
February 21, 2017: Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference
Please join the ISTE Virtual Environments Network for an evening with the VWBPE Executive Committee. The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference (VWBPE) is coming up on March 29 - April 1, and there is an amazing array of offerings this year. Come get a preview of what's coming up! VWBPE is a global grass-roots community event focusing on education in immersive virtual environments. This open conference is organized by educators, for educators, to provide an opportunity to showcase the learning that takes place in this community of practice. All educators are encouraged to present, attend and take part in this discussion of collaborative deeper learning and co-presence in virtual worlds and games. Kevin Feenan, Letitia De Leon, and Lorraine Mockford are the executive directors for the conference.
Kevin Feenan (SL: Phelan Corrimal) is the Founder of Rockcliffe University Consortium. Kevin holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and has a background in Organizational Desgin, IMIT Application Architecture and Development, Business Analysis, and Education. Rockcliffe (http://urockcliffe.com) is an association dedicated to the development of best practices in education and technology. Rockcliffe focuses on the relationships between researchers, students, and instructional designers to develop new methods of creating, and transferring, knowledge. Rockcliffe has a strong expert base using the latest advancements in 3D visualization and gamification.
Letitia De Leon (SL: Letty Luckstone) is an associate professor in the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, with an EdD in curriculum and instruction, whose research interest is on how adult learners learn, what motivates them, and what can have transformative effects on their professional identities.
Lorraine Mockford (SL: LoriVonne Lustre) recently retired as an Instructional Designer for Nova Scotia Community College. She holds an M.Ed. from the University of Prince Edward Island. Lorraine is an innovative and creative adult education professional with a keen understanding that the best projects are the result of collaboration among diverse participants. She loves virtual conferences and events.
Kevin Feenan (SL: Phelan Corrimal) is the Founder of Rockcliffe University Consortium. Kevin holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and has a background in Organizational Desgin, IMIT Application Architecture and Development, Business Analysis, and Education. Rockcliffe (http://urockcliffe.com) is an association dedicated to the development of best practices in education and technology. Rockcliffe focuses on the relationships between researchers, students, and instructional designers to develop new methods of creating, and transferring, knowledge. Rockcliffe has a strong expert base using the latest advancements in 3D visualization and gamification.
Letitia De Leon (SL: Letty Luckstone) is an associate professor in the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, with an EdD in curriculum and instruction, whose research interest is on how adult learners learn, what motivates them, and what can have transformative effects on their professional identities.
Lorraine Mockford (SL: LoriVonne Lustre) recently retired as an Instructional Designer for Nova Scotia Community College. She holds an M.Ed. from the University of Prince Edward Island. Lorraine is an innovative and creative adult education professional with a keen understanding that the best projects are the result of collaboration among diverse participants. She loves virtual conferences and events.
March 21, 2017: Opening Day at the VWBPE Exhibits!
The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference doesn't start until March 29, but the exhibits have opened early to give us more time. We'll meet as usual at ISTE VEN, then go roam around the conference exhibits.
The ISTE Virtual Environments Network presents Focus Sessions as a way to interact with some of the preeminent practitioners of education in virtual worlds. We meet in Second Life at
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/EduIsland%209/24/105/22
The ISTE Virtual Environments Network presents Focus Sessions as a way to interact with some of the preeminent practitioners of education in virtual worlds. We meet in Second Life at
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/EduIsland%209/24/105/22
April 18, 2017: Cancelled
With profuse apologies, this session has been cancelled. We hope to schedule the people from Sine Space in the near future--stay tuned!
The Exhibits are still open on the VWBPE Conference regions, and there are more things to explore there, as well. See https://vwbpe.org/vwbpe-news/vwbpe-legacy-takes-a-final-bow-almost for more info. Please remember to take the survey too!
The Exhibits are still open on the VWBPE Conference regions, and there are more things to explore there, as well. See https://vwbpe.org/vwbpe-news/vwbpe-legacy-takes-a-final-bow-almost for more info. Please remember to take the survey too!
May 16, 2017: A Tour of Sine Space with Rohan Freeman
SPEAKER: Rohan Freeman, Sine Wave Entertainment
Sine Wave Entertainment released the public beta of Space in November 2016. It is a massively multi player virtual world built using the Unity3D game engine.
The team has a long track record of innovation in this market including as founding developers of OpenSim.
They drew up a wish list of everything it wanted the perfect virtual world to do.
Then they started building...
TOPIC: “Giving everyone in education access to virtual worlds.”
Rohan will share the company’s focus on education during the design and build of the Sine Space virtual world platform.
Subsequent endeavours, including our inworld educator meetup session (to support breaking down the barriers to achieve wide spread adoption by education of virtual worlds) have thrown up some interesting challenges which will be shared and discussed with the group.
The session will include an inworld tour of Space. More info here: http://sinewaveentertainment.com/sine-space/.
Rohan Freeman
Before founding Sine Wave Entertainment, Rohan was a director of Europe’s largest media investment company, Ingenious Media Plc. He has written extensively on the economics of media and entertainment for the Financial Times, Deloitte Consulting and Forrester Research.
Sine Wave Entertainment released the public beta of Space in November 2016. It is a massively multi player virtual world built using the Unity3D game engine.
The team has a long track record of innovation in this market including as founding developers of OpenSim.
They drew up a wish list of everything it wanted the perfect virtual world to do.
Then they started building...
TOPIC: “Giving everyone in education access to virtual worlds.”
Rohan will share the company’s focus on education during the design and build of the Sine Space virtual world platform.
Subsequent endeavours, including our inworld educator meetup session (to support breaking down the barriers to achieve wide spread adoption by education of virtual worlds) have thrown up some interesting challenges which will be shared and discussed with the group.
The session will include an inworld tour of Space. More info here: http://sinewaveentertainment.com/sine-space/.
Rohan Freeman
Before founding Sine Wave Entertainment, Rohan was a director of Europe’s largest media investment company, Ingenious Media Plc. He has written extensively on the economics of media and entertainment for the Financial Times, Deloitte Consulting and Forrester Research.
June 20, 2017: Beth Ghostraven on Avatar Personalization
Topic: Avatar Appearance in Virtual Worlds: How Can You Be the Most “You”?
An overview of how avatar appearance may affect learning, with tips on how to customize your own avatar.
Beth Ghostraven is a middle school teacher-librarian in RL. In SL she owns the Book and Tankard Pub in Victoria City, Caledon and Ghostraven Professional Attire, classic clothing for educators in SL. She is Communications Chair for the VWBPE Conference; Communications Chair and Focus Sessions Producer for the ISTE Virtual Environments Network; VSTE Virtual Environments PLN Facilitator; and unofficial liaison between education groups in SL. She can be contacted at [email protected].
An overview of how avatar appearance may affect learning, with tips on how to customize your own avatar.
Beth Ghostraven is a middle school teacher-librarian in RL. In SL she owns the Book and Tankard Pub in Victoria City, Caledon and Ghostraven Professional Attire, classic clothing for educators in SL. She is Communications Chair for the VWBPE Conference; Communications Chair and Focus Sessions Producer for the ISTE Virtual Environments Network; VSTE Virtual Environments PLN Facilitator; and unofficial liaison between education groups in SL. She can be contacted at [email protected].
July 18, 2017: SPiff Whitfield on the Anne Frank Project
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Our Focus Series will showcase the work of the Island Of Enlightenment's Understanding the Holocaust Project. Participants will get the background of the project, as well as, a tour of the Virtual Secret Annex detailed in The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank.
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