The 11th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practice in Education (VWBPE) conference was recently announced, together with a call for proposals, which combines calls for presentation proposals, proposals for exhibits, and proposals for and immersive experiences (pre- and post-conference virtual experiences).
The conference will take place between Thursday, March 15th and Saturday March 17th, 2018 inclusive.
The theme for the 2018 conference is VRevolutions, with the organisers noting:
VWBPE is an ecosystem of digital spaces. While the conference is hosted in Second Life, our conference features a variety of virtual and digital spaces. To present at VRevolutions, think outside the virtual space and consider how multiple available technologies and devices redefine what it means to work, create, and learn “virtually”. The VRevolution is about doing what scares you, what excites you, breaking and creating new paradigms.
At VRevolutions, VWBPE welcomes the multifaceted communities that contribute to and expand best practices in digital and virtual spaces to support practice, creation, and learning. Regardless of the community you represent, your proposal should consider how it contributes and expands the knowledge base for innovative and revolutionary change through the increasingly complex landscape of digital technology.
Those formulating proposals for submission should keep these ideals in mind in writing their proposal.
Presentation Proposals
All proposals for presentations should be made in one of the seven presentation tracks: Analytic Thinking and Complex Problem Solving; Creativity and Innovation in Design, Practice, and Learning; Essential Accessibility in Digital and Virtual Spaces; Collaboration and Distance Connections; Multimedia Communication and Multifaceted Interactions; Ethics, Responsibility, and Tolerance and VWBPE Redux.
In addition, proposals for presentations should meet one of the three conference presentations formats: Spotlight Presentations (1 hour); Hands on Technology Workshops (90 minutes) or Compass Points Roundtable Discussions (1 hour).
Full details on the seven tracks and three formats can be found on the VWBPE Call for Proposals page, together with general information on presentations and a link to the proposal submissions page.
Note that the closing date for presentation proposals is Monday, January 8th, 2018.
Exhibit Proposals
Exhibit proposals are open to those who wish to showcase their creative works in virtual worlds through artistic expression in order to promote their organisation or achievements. All exhibit proposals are reviewed by the VWBPE, and must apply to an already developed product for showcasing.
Exhibit proposals should be made in one of the eight exhibit tracks: K-12 Best Practices; Higher Education/College Best Practices; Field Practices; Games and Simulations; Tools and Products; Advocacy; Support and Help Communities and Artists, Designers and Builders.
The Exhibitor Guidelines must be reviewed prior to submitting an exhibit proposal.
Note that the closing date for presentation proposals is Thursday, February 1st, 2018.
Immersive Experiences Proposals
The Immersive Experiences category showcases locations whose main objective is interaction, immersion, and engagement for those who enter them, whether to play a game, solve an immersive problem, or engage participants in hands-on, interactive learning.
All proposals for immersive experiences should be made in one of the seven presentation tracks: Analytic Thinking and Complex Problem Solving; Creativity and Innovation in Design, Practice, and Learning; Essential Accessibility in Digital and Virtual Spaces; Collaboration and Distance Connections; Multimedia Communication and Multifaceted Interactions; Ethics, Responsibility, and Tolerance and VWBPE Redux.
In addition, proposals for immersive experiences should meet one of the two conference experience formats: Wanna Play? and Virtual Worlds.
Full details on the tracks and formats can be found on the VWBPE Call for Proposals page, together with general information on presentations and a link to the proposal submissions page.
Note that the closing date for exhibit proposals is Monday, January 8th, 2018.
About VWBPE
VWBPE is a global grass-roots community event focusing on education in immersive virtual environments which attracts over 2,000 educational professionals from around the world each year, who participate in 150-200 online presentations including theoretical research, application of best practices, virtual world tours, hands-on workshops, discussion panels, machinima presentations, and poster exhibits.
In the context of the conference, a “virtual world” is an on-line community through which users can interact with one another and use and create ideas irrespective of time and space. As such, typical examples include Second Life, OpenSimulator, Unity, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, and so on, as well as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest or any virtual environments characterised by an open social presence and in which the direction of the platform’s evolution is manifest in the community.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 