Welcome to the Main Event

Reconnaissance is the subtle art of exploring areas outside of our expertise that may be unfriendly to our current outlook or world view. Before this pandemic, the idea of a telecommuting economy seemed more like a dystopian fantasy than it would be applied to every aspect of our society. Today, over 75% of all jobs have some meaningful form of work-from-home options available to them.

No more so has this impacted our society than in the area of education. Educators are in the midst of the reconnaissance mission of their lives: not just to overcome, but to surpass all expectations of what is hoped for and possible. Classes at all levels from kindergarten to college and university have moved between fully on-site to fully online to hybrid models and some that ‘toggle’ back and forth in response to COVID-19 outbreaks. The resilience of educators in these times has been extraordinary!

We ask educators to consider what has changed over the past year as they have ventured out on missions through unexplored territory and to share their research and insights into this new landscape in which we find ourselves.

March 18thstarts the three-day Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, with an amazing lineup of speakers, workshops, sim demonstrations, poster presentations, open discussions, and more. The conference will cover a wide range of subjects concerning virtual worlds and their use for education, virtual reality, smart games, arts and science, and the future of technology.

Launched in 2007, the VWBPE Conference provides educational and networking opportunities that are relevant to educational curriculum development utilizing virtual environments and “best practices”.

These include:

• Helping to build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
• providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and
• providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education.

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education is a global grass-roots, peer reviewed, community event focusing on education in immersive virtual environments. This open conference is organized by educators, for educators, and is open to everyone to provide an opportunity to showcase the learning that takes place in this community of practice.

All educators, librarians, non-profits, designers, and developers are encouraged to present, attend and take part in this discussion of collaborative deeper learning and co-presence in virtual worlds and games.

Although the main part of the conference will be held in Second Life® this year, there are sessions about different virtual worlds, and events on other virtual world grids. All Conference venues are listed in the program and were opened to the public on Monday 15 March.

Log into Second Life® and start at the VWBPE Gateway, gather your swag bag and information, and join us for the best conference yet!

Note: Daylight Saving Time
In most of the United States and Canada, Daylight Saving Time is in effect as of 14 March 2021. In Europe, Great Britain, and many other locations, DST is in effect as of 28 March, 2021 (after the conference is over). Check this page to find out when (and if) Daylight Saving Time begins for you: https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/2021.html.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Additionally, this open and free conference would not be possible without the generous contributions of our VWBPE sponsors.