VWBPE 2022: PHOENIX RISING

VWBPE 2022: PHOENIX RISING Introduction

Around the globe (and across the metaverse) the phoenix is a symbol of hope and renewal, ushering in an era of prosperity and transformation.

Like the newly born phoenix arising from the ashes of its previous life, virtual education is also experiencing an uprising of abundance and transformation. Whether it be fully immersive or simple video conferencing, the practical application of tools and techniques over the past two years represents a wealth of inspiration for connecting teachers and students in ways that are comprehensive, progressive, and meaningful.

The past two years also provide a real time, global case study as to the merits and limitations of virtual education: What works, what doesn’t, why or why not. There is a plethora of real-world evidence supporting the practical application and best practices of teaching virtually that we have never truly had access to until now.

The world is forever a changed place for those on the front lines of education, asking how the next generation of students are going to perceive and integrate a post-COVID society into opportunities for growth, for renewal, and a redefinition of the values that once drove us.

Join us and share your reawakening into a world like no other. VWBPE 2022 is asking educators to consider their transformative journey as we sweep away the ashes of the past two years and venture out into the unknown. Join us and share your research and insights as we arise in this new landscape of virtual education.

All subject areas and virtual environments that support teaching and learning are welcome.

Presentation Tracks

The presentation tracks are for those who support education or research, but who are not academics or directly connected to schools or educational organizations. These may include non-profit organizations, developers or designers, tool providers, and other individuals who offer training and support for educators, but who are not educators themselves.

Additionally, these tracks are also for research and best practices application within educational settings that use virtual worlds, both traditional and corporate, who wish to share findings and implications for innovative practice.

VWBPE presentations should fit one of these Digital/Virtual Tracks. Proposals will be accepted based on their level of innovation, novelty and originality, revolutionary ideas, and the degree to which they break boundaries and shatter old paradigms.

Analytic Thinking and Complex Problem Solving

Proposals to this track should engage participants with innovative examples, projects, or best practices on how analytic thinking is applied and used for solving meaningful, real life problems with applications to society, practice, creation ,and learning, including the development of proof of concept or experimentation.

Creativity and Innovation in Design, Practice, and Learning

Proposals to this track should engage participants with innovative examples, projects, or best practices of creative and innovative work, by featuring ways to demonstrate originality, artistic and practical expression in practice, creation, or learning.

Essential Accessibility in Digital and Virtual Spaces

Proposals to this track should engage participants with innovative examples, projects, or best practices on using technology to make practice, creation, or learning accessible to multiple populations with varied abilities and engagement styles.

Collaboration and Distance Connections

Proposals to this track should engage participants with innovative examples, projects, or best practices on how virtual and digital technologies make connections and collaborations possible across distances in unexpected ways in practice, creation, or learning.

Multimedia Communication and Multifaceted Interactions

Proposals to this track should engage participants with innovative examples, projects, or best practices on the use of multimedia communications made possible through multiple technologies, insofar as interactions are redefined and go beyond text and spoken word in practice, creation, or learning.

Ethics, Responsibility, and Tolerance

Proposals to this track should engage participants with innovative examples, projects, or best practices on how to engage digitally in responsible ways, demonstrate tolerance of differences and multiple viewpoints, and/or models ethical behavior in practice, creation, or learning.

VWBPE Redux

Proposals to this track should engage participants with previously presented subjects from past VWBPE conferences with updated content. Redux sessions will be generally be 30 minutes long, unless submitted as a Micro Burst Cluster (15 minutes).

Presentation Formats

The main VWBPE conference program will include six formats scheduled during any of the conference dates. Please review the descriptions before you make your choice.

Spotlight Presentations (1 hour)

Proposals using this format are like traditional lectures with slides of information on ideas, projects or research in any of the tracks listed previously.
Presenters will be issued presentation tools and trained on their use, including the SpeakEasy for making content accessible.

Hands on Technology Workshops (90 minutes)

Workshops should be hands on and allow participants to interact with the environment or the technology featured through multiple digital skills. Participants should not be passive listeners but be able to do what is demonstrated in the environment. Those who propose workshops will be able to build and/or set up their interactive area five hours before the session is to be scheduled. Prim counts are limited.

Compass Points Roundtable Discussions (1 hour)

Roundtable discussions are not lecture presentations, nor are they hands on engagement. Presentation materials are kept to a minimum, and the focus is on the topic under discussion, which will be addressed from four compass point questions: What is exciting? What is worrisome? What is the current stance or opinion? What else do we need to know? A roundtable discussion should include at least 3, and no more than 5, discussants, with some audience discussion possible, as appropriate.

Micro Burst Clusters Presentations (15 minutes)

Proposals using this format will be ‘clustered’ together by topic / track. Presentations are to be 15 minutes, with 5 minutes for questions / discussion. A session moderator will guide the discussion between presentations. Clusters may be 60 – 80 minutes in total, depending upon the topic submissions. Accept the challenge of sharing a quick burst of ideas.
Presenters will be issued presentation tools and trained on their use, including the SpeakEasy for making content accessible.

Conference Sponsors are encouraged to submit a Micro Burst presentation for a Sponsors Cluster. Refer to the Sponsorship information for more details.

Tool Talk Demonstrations (20 minutes)

There are many ‘tricks of the trade’ in education. The big ideas are shared frequently at conferences, but what about those little things we do that might slip under the radar. Is there a tool, technique, or technology that you cannot do without? Have you developed or found a practice or tool that supports learning? Now is your chance to share with your colleagues across the metaverse. Prepare a short demonstration presentation that engages the audience showing why this idea is not to be missed. Rezzed examples and handouts are encouraged.

Poster Presentations

New to 2022 is a venue for Poster Presentations. This will be similar to more traditional physical conference Posters, allowing time for both asynchronous exploration and synchronous scheduled presentation times during the conference. In addition to their poster, presenters are encouraged to provide a short video overview of their work to be shown at their poster booth venue. Handouts are encouraged.

Students are strongly encouraged to share their current work with a poster presentation.

Information about poster formats, video requirements, and poster booth limitations will be provided upon acceptance, along with submission details for posters and videos.

Other Submission Details

These items will also be asked of you when you submit your presentation proposal.

About the Presentation

Presentation Title

The title cannot be longer than 50 characters.

Presentation Summary

A brief description of the presentation. 500 characters maximum.

Objectives

List 1 or 2 objectives which indicate what participants will gain from the session in learning, skills, application, or engagement. Each objective should be one concise sentence, which begins as follows: “Participants will be able to….” 100 characters maximum.

PHOENIX RISING Suitability

Describe how the proposed presentation fits the Phoenix Rising conference theme. [500 character limit]

Keywords

Please list 1-4 keywords that apply to the presentation. They may include tags for topics, technologies used, digital skills applied, etc. 50 characters maximum.

Track Suitability

Explain the suitability of the presentation to the selected track, how it is exemplified in the session, and how the community of practice supports educators and education in general. [500 character limit]

Conference Hunt Game

Prepare a question and answer from the presentation topic that can be used in VWBPE’s Conference Hunt, a game that incorporates hunting for clues and information from the program.

About Presenters