VWBPE 2019 Call for Proposals

re:Vision

Revision: A change or a set of changes that corrects or improves something; a new version (Merriam-Webster)

How will you re(en):Vision the future of creation and learning?

The ideal of re:Vision is to bring forth reflections on the past, to conceptualize a better future, and to move onward with change that is both promising and constructive. In an age when technology connects everyone through both facts and opinions, re:Vision is about renewing the promises of connectivity in more insightful ways. Through re:Vision, we can inspire innovative ideas for collaborative education in immersive environments.

We are revising the old to make way for brave new digital spaces of teaching and learning practice. What needs to be considered as we create a new vision? What needs reappraisal from what was, as we move to what might be? What should we keep and what needs to go? How do we decide?

Innovation isn’t just a word used by scientists and entrepreneurs. It has come to describe our ever-changing global society. Here is your chance to be part of the re:Vision of the future. How are you incorporating the multitude of immersive spaces and technologies into your practice?

Re:Vision plays a role in how multifaceted communities are contributing to and expanding best practices in virtual spaces to support play, creation, and learning. VWBPE invites you, the innovator in these endeavours, to share your re:Vision at the conference. When you submit your proposal, consider how your community contributes to the knowledge base of innovation and change through the increasingly complex landscape of digital technology.

Now is the time. Re:Vision the future of creation and immersive learning within and beyond the ecosystem of VWBPE.

Call for Proposals

The VWBPE committee seeks submissions of presentation proposals along with proposals for exhibits and immersive experiences (pre- and post-conference virtual experiences). The call for proposals encompasses these three categories, with further details about each in the section below.

There are seven tracks and three formats. When formulating your proposal, we encourage you to consider the current theme of the conference, which in 2019 is “re:Vision”.

We invite proposal submissions from a broad range of communities including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Educators and Trainers
  • vLanguage Members
  • Artists, Designers and Builders
  • Advocacy and NonProfit
  • Support and Help Communities
  • Entertainers and Performers
  • Coders, Scripters, and System/IT Analysts
  • Business and Entrepreneurs

Please consider the following information in preparing your proposal.

Proposals for Presentations

Presentation proposals are those which will be included as part of the conference program, during any of the three days of the conference. These will be scheduled in a particular location and be listed on the main program.

All proposals submitted here are required to submit a title, a presentation summary, and 1-2 objectives. Each of these fields has character limitations, so please compose in a document before you add it to the form. Text that exceeds the character limit will be truncated.

Click on each of the tabs above to get additional information on how to create a proposal that fits this conference. Only paper submissions will be peer reviewed and included in the published proceedings as a peer reviewed journal article. Therefore, real names are required for this type of submission. Refer to the VWBPE 2019 Paper Submission Guidelines for details.

Time zones for presenters will be requested in order to assist in scheduling your presentation.

You will also be asked to include 1-4 keywords that are applicable to your proposal, such as tags for topics, technologies used, digital skills applied and other similar tags.

An additional consideration to keep in mind is the manner in which you will make your presentation accessible in text and voice for our diverse audience. We suggest one of the following or you may indicate a different method in your proposal submission.

  • SpeakEasy HUD Tool
  • Provide your own transcriptionist
  • Provide a written script during the presentation
  • Other: (please specify)

Consider the type of community you represent:

  • Educators and Trainers
  • vLanguage Members
  • Artists, Designers and Builders
  • Advocacy and NonProfit
  • Support and Help Communities
  • Entertainers and Performers
  • Coders, Scripters, and System/IT Analysts
  • Business and Entrepreneurs
  • Other (if needed)

There are seven tracks for presentation proposals. They are as follows:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. VWBPE Redux
    Proposals to this track should engage participants with previously presented subjects from past VWBPE conferences with updated content. Regardless of format selected, Redux sessions will be 30 minutes long.

There are three formats for presentation proposals.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Once again VWBPE will host a game that incorporates hunting for clues and information from the program. We would like you to be more directly a part of its planning, if you wish to be mentioned in the game. If you are interested, provide a question and an answer from your presentation topic.

Round 2 Proposal submissions due 04 February 2019.
Submit Presentation Proposal

Exhibits

Exhibits are for those who wish to showcase their creative works in virtual worlds through artistic expression in order to promote their organization or achievements.

Exhibit submissions are VWBPE committee reviewed and require an already developed product for showcasing.

There are only tracks for the exhibit category of proposals. You can review the Exhibitor Guidelines for detailed information.

When preparing your exhibit proposal, consider the eight tracks below.

  • K-12 Best Practices
  • Higher Education/College Best Practices
  • Field Practices
  • Games and Simulations
  • Tools and Products
  • Advocacy
  • Support and Help Communities
  • Artists, Designers and Builders

Exhibit submissions due 24 February 2019 (FINAL deadline).
Submit Exhibit

Immersive Experiences

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.

Immersive Experiences submissions require a guide to provide basic instruction on the interface of the platform. Time should be spent mainly on having the participants play, immerse, or engage with the location, not just “touring” it.

Submissions to the Immersive Experiences category are VWBPE committee reviewed and require already existing and ready for use locations or platforms. Because of the length of time required for these experiences, these will be hosted pre- and post-conference. If a proposal is selected for inclusion, it will be scheduled in the two weeks before or after the conference, depending on availability and timing.

There are seven tracks for presentation proposals. They are as follows:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. VWBPE Redux
    Proposals to this track should engage participants with previously presented subjects from past VWBPE conferences with updated content.

In the Immersive Experiences category, your proposal may be one of the following two formats:

Virtual Worlds: Guidelines for Virtual Worlds
Wanna Play?: Guidelines for Wanna Play?

The Immersive Experiences category has a wide open option for venues, but they do fall under two general venue types, as long as they can be accessed through a computer, not a specific gaming console. Specific details on access must be submitted with the proposal. These are your choices:

3D Virtual Environment
Gaming Platform

Immersive Experiences submissions due 11 February 2019.
Submit Immersive Experience