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metaverse definition

What the metaverse will (and won’t) be, according to 28 experts

metaverse (hopefully) won’t be the virtual world of ‘Snow Crash,’ or ‘Ready Player One.’ It will likely be something more complex, diverse, and wild.

The metaverse concept clearly means very different things to different people. What exists right now is a series of embryonic digital spaces, such as Facebook’s HorizonEpic Games’ FortniteRoblox‘s digital space for gaming and game creation, and the blockchain-based digital world Decentraland–all of which have clear borders, different rules and objectives, and differing rates of growth.

TIFFANY ROLFE

different layers of realities that we can all be experiencing, even in the same environment or physical space. We’re already doing that with our phones to a certain extent—passively in a physical environment while mentally in a digital one. But we’ll see more experiences beyond your phone, where our whole bodies are fully engaged, and that’s where the metaverse starts to get interesting—we genuinely begin to explore and live in these alternate realities simultaneously.

RONY ABOVITZ, FOUNDER, MAGIC LEAP

Xverse

It will have legacy parts that look and feel like the web today, but it will have new nodes and capabilities that will look and feel like the Ready Player One Oasis (amazing gaming worlds), immersion leaking into our world (like my Magicverse concept), and every imaginable permutation of these. I feel that the Xverse will have gradients of sentience and autonomy, and we will have the emergence of synthetic life (things Sun and Thunder is working on) and a multitude of amazing worlds to explore. Building a world will become something everyone can do (like building a webpage or a blog) and people will be able to share richer parts of their external and inner lives at incredibly high-speed across the planet.

YAT SIU, COFOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF GAMING AND BLOCKCHAIN COMPANY ANIMOCA BRANDS

Reality will exist on a spectrum ranging from physical to virtual (VR), but a significant chunk of our time will be spent somewhere between those extremes, in some form of augmented reality (AR). Augmented reality will be a normal part of daily life. Virtual companions will provide information, commentary, updates and advice on matters relevant to you at that point in time, including your assets and activities, in both virtual and real spaces.

TIMONI WEST, VP OF AUGMENTED AND VIRTUAL REALITY, UNITY:

I think we can all agree our initial dreams of a fully immersive, separate digital world is not only unrealistic, but maybe not what we actually want. So I’ve started defining the metaverse differently to capture the zeitgeist: we’re entering an era where every computer we interact with, big or small, is increasingly world-aware. They can recognize faces, voices, hands, relative and absolute position, velocity, and they can react to this data in a useful way. These contextually aware computers are the path to unlocking ambient computing: where computers fade from the foreground to the background of everyday, useful tools. The metaverse is less of a ‘thing’ and more of a computing era. Contextual computing enables a multitude of new types of interactions and apps: VR sculpting tools and social hangouts, self-driving cars, robotics, smart homes.

SAM HAMILTON, HEAD OF COMMUNITY & EVENTS FOR BLOCKCHAIN-BASED METAVERSE CREATOR THE DECENTRALAND FOUNDATION

NITZAN MEKEL-BOBROV, CHIEF AI OFFICER, EBAY

as carbon is to the organic world, AI will be both the matrix that provides the necessary structural support and the material from which digital representation will be made. Of all the ways in which AI will shape the form of the metaverse, perhaps most essential is the role it will play in the physical-digital interface. Translating human actions into digital input–language, eye movement, hand gestures, locomotion–these are all actions which AI companies and researchers have already made tremendous progress on.

HUGO SWART, VICE PRESIDENT AND GM OF XR, QUALCOMM

Qualcomm views the metaverse as an ever-present spatial internet complete with personalized digital experiences that spans the physical and virtual worlds, where everything and everyone can communicate and interact seamlessly.

IBRAHIM BAGGILI, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, CONNECTICUT INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AT UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN

As an active researcher in the security and forensics of VR systems, should the metaverse come into existence, we should explore and hypothesize the ways it will be misused.

CHITRA RAGAVAN, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER AT BLOCKCHAIN DATA ANALYTICS COMPANY ELEMENTUS 

I picture [the metaverse] almost like The Truman Show. Only, instead of walking into a television set, you walk into the internet and can explore any number of different realities

JOHN HANKE, CEO OF POKÉMON GO CREATOR NIANTIC

We imagine the metaverse as reality made better, a world infused with magic, stories, and functionality at the intersection of the digital and physical worlds.

CAROLINA ARGUELLES NAVAS, GLOBAL PRODUCT MARKETING, AUGMENTED REALITY, SNAP

Rather than building the “metaverse,” a separate and fully virtual reality that is disconnected from the physical world, we are focused on augmenting reality, not replacing it. We believe AR–or computing overlaid on the world around us–has a smoother path to mass adoption, but will also be better for the world than a fully virtual world.

URHO KONTTORI, COFOUNDER AND CTO OF AR/VR HEADSET MAKER VARJO

In the reality-based metaverse, we will be able to more effectively design products of the future, meet and collaborate with our colleagues far away, and experience any remote place in real-time.

ATHERINE ALLEN, CEO OF IMMERSIVE TECH RESEARCH CONSULTANCY LIMINA IMMERSIVE

I prefer to think of the metaverse as simply bringing our bodies into the internet.

BRANDS IN THE METAVERSE

VISHAL SHAH, VP OF METAVERSE, FACEBOOK

The metaverse isn’t just VR! Those spaces will connect to AR glasses and to 2D spaces like Instagram. And most importantly, there will be a real sense of continuity where the things you buy are always available to you.

SAYON DEB, MANAGER, MARKET RESEARCH, CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION

At its core will be a self-contained economy that allows individuals and businesses to create, own or invest in a range of activities and experiences.

NANDI NOBELL, SENIOR ASSOCIATE AT GLOBAL ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN FIRM CALLISONRTKL

the metaverse experience can be altered from the individual’s point of view and shaped or curated by any number of agents—whether human or A.I. In that sense, the metaverse does not have an objective look beyond its backend. In essence, the metaverse, together with our physical locations, forms a spatial continuum.

NICK CHERUKURI, CEO AND FOUNDER OF MIXED REALITY GLASSES MAKER THIRDEYE

The AR applications of the metaverse are limitless and it really can become the next great version of the internet.

SAM TABAR, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, BITCOIN MINING COMPANY BIT DIGITAL

It seems fair to predict that the actual aesthetic of any given metaverse will be determined by user demand. If users want to exist in a gamified world populated by outrageous avatars and fantastic landscapes then the metaverse will respond to that demand. Like all things in this world the metaverse will be market driven

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More on meta-verse in this blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=metaverse

call for book chapters edtech leadership

Call for Chapters:
Inspiring Change: Lessons for Leaders about Large-Scale Technology Implementation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10N-_8rwPnpmtkJu1q2Cs-BuyDs0s6bw3/view

Through storytelling and narrative case studies, this book proposes to provide evidence-based practices, practical strategies, administrative considerations, and management tools for K12 and post-secondary school leaders charged with implementing technology at scale. It intentionally takes a broad view across all education levels to tell stories about how large-scale technology implementations might inspire systemic changes and new collaborations. In order to do so, this book proposes to include diverse voices and perspectives representing K12 and post-secondary institutions with the goal of facilitating equitable, sustainable technology access for learner success.
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More on ED Leadership and Technology in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=edad+technology

Digital Humanities for Librarians

Digital Humanities for Librarians

By: Emma Annette Wilson

  • Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
  • Print ISBN: 9781538116449, 1538116448

Digital Humanities For Librarians. Some librarians are born to digital humanities; some aspire to digital humanities; and some have digital humanities thrust upon them. Digital Humanities For Librarians is a one-stop resource for librarians and LIS students working in this growing new area of academic librarianship. The book begins by introducing digital humanities, addressing key questions such as, “What is it?”, “Who does it?”, “How do they do it?”, “Why do they do it?”, and “How can I do it?”. This broad overview is followed by a series of practical chapters answering those questions with step-by-step approaches to both the digital and the human elements of digital humanities librarianship. Digital Humanities For Librarians covers a wide range of technologies currently used in the field, from creating digital exhibits, archives, and databases, to digital mapping, text encoding, and computational text analysis (big data for the humanities). However, the book never loses sight of the all-important human component to digital humanities work, and culminates in a series of chapters on management and personnel strategies in this area. These chapters walk readers through approaches to project management, effective collaboration, outreach, the reference interview for digital humanities, sustainability, and data management, making this a valuable resource for administrators as well as librarians directly involved in digital humanities work. There is also a consideration of budgeting questions, including strategies for supporting digital humanities work on a shoestring. Special features include: Case studies of a wide range of projects and management issues Digital instructional documents guiding readers through specific digital technologies and techniques An accompanying website featuring digital humanities tools and resources and digital interviews with librarians and scholars leading the way in digital humanities work across North America, from a range of larger and smaller institutionsWhether you are a librarian primarily working in digital humanities for the first time, a student hoping to do so, or a librarian in a cognate area newly-charged with these responsibilities, Digital Humanities For Librarians will be with you every step of the way, drawing on the author’s experiences and those of a network of librarians and scholars to give you the practical support and guidance needed to bring your digital humanities initiatives to life.

XR anatomy

The EDUCAUSE XR (Extended Reality) Community Group Listserv <XR@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>

Greetings to you all! Presently, I am undertaking a masters course in “Instruction Design and Technology” which has two components: Coursework and Research. For my research, I would like to pursue it in the field of Augmented Reality (AR) and Mobile Learning. I am thinking of an idea that could lead to collaboration among students and directly translate into enhanced learning for students while using an AR application. However, I am having a problem with coming up with an application because I don’t have any computing background. This, in turn, is affecting my ability to come up with a good research topic.

I teach gross anatomy and histology to many students of health sciences at Mbarara University, and this is where I feel I could make a contribution to learning anatomy using AR since almost all students own smartphones. I, therefore, kindly request you to let me know which of the freely-available AR app authoring tools could help me in this regard. In addition, I request for your suggestions regarding which research area(s) I should pursue in order to come up with a good research topic.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Grace Muwanga Department of Anatomy Mbarara University Uganda (East Africa)

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matthew.macvey@journalism.cuny.edu

Dear Grace, a few augmented reality tools which I’ve found are relatively easy to get started with:

For iOS, iPhone, iPad: https://www.torch.app/ or https://www.adobe.com/products/aero.html

To create AR that will work on social platforms like Facebook and Snapchat (and will work on Android, iOS) try https://sparkar.facebook.com/ar-studio/ or https://lensstudio.snapchat.com/ . You’ll want to look at the tutorials for plane tracking or target tracking https://sparkar.facebook.com/ar-studio/learn/documentation/tracking-people-and-places/effects-in-surroundings/

https://lensstudio.snapchat.com/guides/general/tracking/tracking-modes/

One limitation with Spark and Snap is that file sizes need to be small.

If you’re interested in creating AR experiences that work directly in a web browser and are up for writing some markup code, look at A-Frame AR https://aframe.io/blog/webxr-ar-module/.

For finding and hosting 3D models you can look at Sketchfab and Google Poly. I think both have many examples of anatomy.

Best, Matt

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“Beth L. Ritter-Guth” <britter-guth@NORTHAMPTON.EDU>

I’ve been using Roar. They have a 99$ a year license.

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I have recently been experimenting with an AR development tool called Zappar, which I like because the end users do not have to download an app to view the AR content. Codes can be scanned either with the Zappar app or at web.zappar.com.

From a development standpoint, Zappar has an easy to use drag-and-drop interface called ZapWorks Designer that will help you build basic AR experiences quickly, but for a more complicated, more interactive use case such as learning anatomy, you will probably need ZapWorks Studio, which will have much more of a learning curve. The Hobby (non-commercial) license is free if you are interested in trying it out.

You can check out an AR anatomy mini-lesson with models of the human brain, liver, and heart using ZapWorks here: https://www.zappar.com/campaigns/secrets-human-body/. Even if you choose to go with a different development tool, this example might help nail down ideas for your own project.

Hope this helps,

Brighten

Brighten Jelke Academic Assistant for Virtual Technology Lake Forest College bjelke@lakeforest.edu Office: DO 233 | Phone: 847-735-5168

http://www.lakeforest.edu/academics/resources/innovationspaces/virtualspace.php

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more on XR in education in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=xr+education

does this semester alter college

Will this semester forever alter college? No, but some virtual tools will stick around

when we talk about online education is using digital technologies to transform the learning experience,” said Vijay Govindarajan, a professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. “That is not what is happening right now. What is happening now is we had eight days to put everything we do in class onto Zoom.”

Conceiving, planning, designing and developing a genuine online course or program can consume as much as a year of faculty training and collaboration with instructional designers, and often requires student orientation and support and a complex technological infrastructure.

More than 75 percent [of undergraduate students ] said they don’t think they’re receiving a quality learning experience, according to a survey of nearly 1,300 students by the online exam-prep provider OneClass. In a separate poll of 14,000 college and graduate students in early April by the website niche.com, which rates schools and colleges, 67 percent said they didn’t find online classes as effective as in-person ones.

if there’s a silver lining in this situation for residential colleges and universities, it’s that students no longer take for granted the everyday realities of campus life: low-tech face-to-face classes, cultural diversions, libraries, athletics, extracurricular activities, in-person office hours and social interaction with their classmates.

Online higher education “is a thin diet for the typical 18-year-old,” said Richard Garrett, chief research officer at Eduventures. “But today’s 18-year-olds are tomorrow’s 28-year-olds with families and jobs, who then realize that online can be useful.”

Along with their students, faculty were “thrown into the deep end of the pool for digital learning and asked to swim,” Moe said. “Some will sink, some will crawl to the edge of the pool and climb out and they’ll never go back in the pool ever again. But many will figure out what to do and how to kick and how to stay afloat.”

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more on online education in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=online+education

more on emergency teaching in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=emergency+teaching

Remote UX Work: Guidelines and Resources

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/remote-ux/

capture qualitative insights from video recordings and think-aloud narration from users:  https://lookback.io/  https://app.dscout.com/sign_in  https://userbrain.net/

capture quantitative metrics such as time spent and success rate:   https://konceptapp.com/

Many platforms have both qualitative and quantitative capabilities, such as UserZoom and UserTesting

Tips for Remote Facilitating and Presenting:

  • turn on your camera
  • Enable connection
  • Create ground rules
  • Assign homework
  • Adapt the structure

Tools for Remote Facilitating and Presenting

  • Presenting UX work: Zoom, GoToMeeting, and Google Hangouts Meet
  • Generative workshop activities: Google Draw, Microsoft Visio, Sketch, MURAL, and Miro
  • Evaluative workshop activities: MURAL or Miro. Alternatively, use survey tools such as SurveyMonkey or CrowdSignal, or live polling apps such as Poll Everywhere that you can insert directly into your slides.

Remote Collaboration and Brainstorming

  • Consider both synchronous and asynchronous methods
  • Enable mutual participation
  • Respect schedules
  • Keep tools simple

White boards: https://miro.com/ and https://mural.co/

Western Balkans Information & Media Literacy Conference

Western Balkans Information & Media Literacy Conference

organized by LIT Limerick Institute of Technology, Ireland; Bihac, Bosnia

Conference main themes and topics https://www.wbimlc.org/topics

Information Literacy in the modern world

  • From Information Literacy to Digital Scholarship

  • Fake News and Information Literacy

  • Information literacies (media literacy, Research Literacy, digital literacy, visual literacy, financial literacy, health literacy, cyber wellness, infographics, information behavior, trans-literacy, post-literacy)

  • Information Literacy and academic libraries

  • Information Literacy and adult education

  • Information Literacy and blended learning

  • Information Literacy and distance learning

  • Information Literacy and mobile devices

  • Information Literacy and Gamification

  • Information Literacy and public libraries

  • Information Literacy in Primary and Secondary Schools

  • Information Literacy and the Knowledge Economy

  • Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning

  • Information Literacy and the Information Society

  • Information Literacy and the Multimedia Society

  • Information Literacy and the Digital Society

  • Information Literacy in the modern world (e.g trends, emerging technologies and innovation, growth of digital resources, digital reference tools, reference services).

  • The future of Information Literacy

  • Workplace Information Literacy

Librarians as support to the lifelong learning process

  • Digital literacy, Digital Citizenship

  • Digital pedagogy and Information Literacy

  • Information Literacy Needs in the Electronic Resource Environment

  • Integrating Information Literacy into the curriculum

  • Putting Information Literacy theory into practice

  • Information Literacy training and instruction

  • Instructional design and performance for Information Literacy (e.g. teaching practice, session design, lesson plans)

  •  Information Literacy and online learning (e.g. self-paced IL modules, online courses, Library Guides)

  • Information Literacy and Virtual Learning Environments

  • Supporting users need through library 2.0 and beyond

  • Digital empowerment and reference work

  • Information Literacy across the disciplines

  • Information Literacy and digital preservation

  • Innovative IL approaches

  • Student engagement with Information Literacy

  • Action Literacy

  • Information Literacy, Copyright and Intellectual Property

  • Information Literacy and Academic Writing

Media and Information Literacy – theoretical approaches (standards, assessment, collaboration, etc.)

  • The Digital Competence Framework 2.0

  • Information Literacy theory (models, standards, indicators, Moscow Declaration etc.)

  • Information Literacy and Artificial intelligence

  • Information Literacy and information behavior

  • Information Literacy and reference services: cyber reference services, virtual reference services, mobile reference services

  • Information Literacy cultural and contextual approaches

  • Information Literacy and Threshold concepts

  • Information Literacy evaluation and assessment

  • Information Literacy in different cultures and countries including national studies

  • Information Literacy project management

  • Measuring in Information Literacy instruction assessment

New aspects of education/strategic planning, policy, and advocacy for Information Literacy in a digital age

  • Information Literacy and the Digital Divide

  • Policy and Planning for Information Literacy

  • Branding, promotion and marketing for Information Literacy

  • Cross –sectorial; and interdisciplinary collaboration and partnerships for Information Literacy

  • Leadership and Governance for Information Literacy

  • Strategic planning for IL

  • Strategies in e-learning to promote self-directed and sustainable learning in the area of Information Literacy skills.

Educators in VR

Info on all presentations: https://account.altvr.com/channels/1182698623012438188

Charlie Fink: Setting the Table for the Next Decade in XR

Translating Training Requirements into Immersive Experience

Virtual Reality Technologies for Learning Designers

Virtual Reality Technologies for Learning Designers Margherita Berti

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Technology Acceptance and Learning Process Victoria Bolotina part 1

Technology Acceptance and Learning Process Victoria Bolotina part 2

Assessment of Learning Activities in VR Evelien Ydo part 2

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VR: So Much More Than a Field Trip Shannon Putman, Graduate Assistant/PhD Student, University of Louisville SPED special education https://account.altvr.com/events/1406092840622096803

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VR and Health Professionals Rob Theriault

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Transform Your History Lessons with AR and VR Michael Fricano II

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Transform Your History Lessons with AR and VR Michael Fricano II, Technology Integration Specialist https://www.arvreduhub.com/transform-history

Qlone App for 3D scanning

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2020 Educators in VR International Summit

The 2020 Educators in VR International Summit is February 17-22. It features over 170 speakers in 150+ events across multiple social and educational platforms including AltspaceVRENGAGErumiiMozilla Hubs, and Somnium Space.

The event requires no registration, and is virtual only, free, and open to the public. Platform access is required, so please install one of the above platforms to attend the International Summit. You may attend in 2D on a desktop or laptop computer with a headphone and microphone (USB gaming headphone recommended), or with a virtual device such as the Oculus Go, Quest, and Rift, Vive, and other mobile and tethered devices. Please note the specifications and requirements of each platform.

The majority of our events are on AltspaceVR. AltspaceVR is available for Samsung GearSteam Store for HTC ViveWindows Mixed Reality, and the Oculus Store for RiftGo and Quest users. Download and install the 2D version for use on your Windows desktop computer.

Charlie Fink, author, columnist for Forbes magazine, and Adjunct Faculty member of Chapman University, will be presenting “Setting the Table for the Next Decade in XR,” discussing the future of this innovative and immersive technology, at the 2020 Educators in VR International Summit. He will be speaking in AltspaceVR on Tuesday, February 18 at 1:00 PM EST /

International Summit

Setting the Table for the Next Decade in XR 1PM, Tues, Feb 18 https://account.altvr.com/events/1406089727517393133

Finding a New Literacy for a New Reality 5PM, Tues, Feb 18

https://account.altvr.com/events/1406093036194103494 schedule for new literacy

Finding a New Literacy for a New Reality

Dr. Sarah Jones, Deputy Dean, De Montfort University

This workshop with Dr. Sarah Jones will focus on developing a relevant and new literacy for virtual reality, including the core competencies and skills needed to develop and understand how to become an engaged user of the technology in a meaningful way. The workshop will develop into research for a forthcoming book on Uncovering a Literacy for VR due to be published in 2020.

Sarah is listed as one of the top 15 global influencers within virtual reality. After nearly a decade in television news, Sarah began working in universities focusing on future media, future technology and future education. Sarah holds a PhD in Immersive Storytelling and has published extensively on virtual and augmented reality, whilst continuing to make and create immersive experiences. She has advised the UK Government on Immersive Technologies and delivers keynotes and speaks at conferences across the world on imagining future technology. Sarah is committed to diversifying the media and technology industries and regularly champions initiatives to support this agenda.

Inter-cognitive and Intra-cognitive Communication in Virtual Reality

Inter-cognitive and Intra-cognitive Communication in Virtual Reality

Michael Vallance, Professor, Future University Hakodate

Currently there are limited ways to connect 3D VR environments to physical objects in the real-world whilst simultaneously conducting communication and collaboration between remote users. Within the context of a solar power plant, the performance metrics of the site are invaluable for environmental engineers who are remotely located. Often two or more remotely located engineers need to communicate and collaborate on solving a problem. If a solar panel component is damaged, the repair often needs to be undertaken on-site thereby incurring additional expenses. This triage of communication is known as inter-cognitive communication and intra-cognitive communication: inter-cognitive communication where information transfer occurs between two cognitive entities with different cognitive capabilities (e.g., between a human and an artificially cognitive system); intra-cognitive communication where information transfer occurs between two cognitive entities with equivalent cognitive capabilities (e.g., between two humans) [Baranyi and Csapo, 2010]. Currently, non-VR solutions offer a comprehensive analysis of solar plant data. A regular PC with a monitor currently have advantages over 3D VR. For example, sensors can be monitored using dedicated software such as EPEVER or via a web browser; as exemplified by the comprehensive service provided by Elseta. But when multiple users are able to collaborate remotely within a three-dimensional virtual simulation, the opportunities for communication, training and academic education will be profound.

Michael Vallance Ed.D. is a researcher in the Department of Media Architecture, Future University Hakodate, Japan. He has been involved in educational technology design, implementation, research and consultancy for over twenty years, working closely with Higher Education Institutes, schools and media companies in UK, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. His 3D virtual world design and tele-robotics research has been recognized and funded by the UK Prime Minister’s Initiative (PMI2) and the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST). He has been awarded by the United States Army for his research in collaborating the programming of robots in a 3D Virtual World.

Create Strategic Snapchat & Instagram AR Campaigns

Create Strategic Snapchat & Instagram AR Campaigns

Dominique Wu, CEO/Founder, Hummingbirdsday

Augmented Reality Lens is popular among young people thanks to Snapchat’s invention. Business is losing money without fully using of social media targeting young people (14-25). In my presentation, Dominique Wu will show how businesses can generate more leads through Spark AR (Facebook AR/Instagram AR) & Snapchat AR Lens, and how to create a strategic Snapchat & Instagram AR campaigns.

Domnique Wu is an XR social media strategist and expert in UX/UI design.She has her own YouTube and Apple Podcast show called “XReality: Digital Transformation,” covering the technology and techniques of incorporating XR and AR into social media, marketing, and integration into enterprise solutions.

Mixed Reality in Classrooms Near You

Mixed Reality in Classrooms Near You

Mark Christian, EVP, Strategy and Corporate Development, GIGXR

Mixed Reality devices like the HoloLens are transforming education now. Mark Christian will discuss how the technology is not about edge use cases or POCs, but real usable products that are at Universities transforming the way we teach and learn. Christian will talk about the products of GIGXR, the story of how they were developed and what the research is saying about their efficacy. It is time to move to adoption of XR technology in education. Learn how one team has made this a reality.

As CEO of forward-thinking virtual reality and software companies, Mark Christian employs asymmetric approaches to rapid, global market adoption, hiring, diversity and revenue. He prides himself on unconventional approaches to building technology companies.

Designing Educational Content in VR

Designing Educational Content in VR

Avinash Gyawali, VR Developer, Weaver Studio

Virtual Reality is an effective medium to impart education to the student only if it is done right.The way VR is considered gimmick or not is by the way the software application are designed/developed by the developers not the hardware limitation.I will be giving insight about the VR development for educational content specifically designed for students of lower secondary school.I will also provide insights about the development of game in unity3D game engine.

Game Developer and VR developer with over 3 years of experience in Game Development.Developer of Zombie Shooter, winner of various national awards in the gaming and entertainment category, Avinash Gyawali is the developer of EDVR, an immersive voice controlled VR experience specially designed for children of age 10-18 years.

8:00 AM PST Research Virtual Reality Technologies for Learning Designers Margherita Berti ASVR

Virtual Reality Technologies for Learning Designers

Margherita Berti

Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated experience that simulates presence in real or imagined environments (Kerrebrock, Brengman, & Willems, 2017). VR promotes contextualized learning, authentic experiences, critical thinking, and problem-solving opportunities. Despite the great potential and popularity of this technology, the latest two installations of the Educause Horizon Report (2018, 2019) have argued that VR remains “elusive” in terms of mainstream adoption. The reasons are varied, including the expense and the lack of empirical evidence for its effectiveness in education. More importantly, examples of successful VR implementations for those instructors who lack technical skills are still scarce. Margherita Berti will discuss a range of easy-to-use educational VR tools and examples of VR-based activity examples and the learning theories and instructional design principles utilized for their development.

Margherita Berti is a doctoral candidate in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) and Educational Technology at the University of Arizona. Her research specialization resides at the intersection of virtual reality, the teaching of culture, and curriculum and content development for foreign language education.

Wed 11:00 AM PST Special Event Gamifying the Biblioverse with Metaverse Amanda Fox VR Design / Biblioverse / Training & Embodiment ASVR

Gamifying the Biblioverse with Metaverse

Amanda Fox, Creative Director of STEAMPunks/MetaInk Publishing, MetaInk Publishing

There is a barrier between an author and readers of his/her books. The author’s journey ends, and the reader’s begins. But what if as an author/trainer, you could use gamification and augmented reality(AR) to interact and coach your readers as part of their learning journey? Attend this session with Amanda Fox to learn how the book Teachingland leverages augmented reality tools such as Metaverse to connect with readers beyond the text.

Amanda Fox, Creative Director of STEAMPunksEdu, and author of Teachingland: A Teacher’s Survival Guide to the Classroom Apolcalypse and Zom-Be A Design Thinker. Check her out on the Virtual Reality Podcast, or connect with her on twitter @AmandaFoxSTEM.

Wed 10:00 AM PST Research Didactic Activity of the Use of VR and Virtual Worlds to Teach Design Fundamentals Christian Jonathan Angel Rueda VR Design / Biblioverse / Training & Embodiment ASVR

Didactic Activity of the Use of VR and Virtual Worlds to Teach Design Fundamentals

Christian Jonathan Angel Rueda, research professor, Autonomous University of Queretaro (Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro)

Christian Jonathan Angel Rueda specializaes in didactic activity of the use of virtual reality/virtual worlds to learn the fundamentals of design. He shares the development of a course including recreating in the three-dimensional environment using the fundamentals learned in class, a demonstration of all the works developed throughout the semester using the knowledge of design foundation to show them creatively, and a final project class scenario that connected with the scenes of the students who showed their work throughout the semester.

Christian Jonathan Angel Rueda is a research professor at the Autonomous University of Queretaro in Mexico. With a PhD in educational technology, Christian has published several papers on the intersection of education, pedagogy, and three-dimensional immersive digital environments. He is also an edtech, virtual reality, and social media consultant at Eco Onis.

Thu 11:00 AM PST vCoaching Closing the Gap Between eLearning and XR Richard Van Tilborg XR eLearning / Laughter Medicine ASVR

Closing the Gap Between eLearning and XR

Richard Van Tilborg, founder, CoVince

How we can bridge the gap between eLearning and XR. Richard Van Tilborg discusses combining brain insights enabled with new technologies. Training and education cases realised with the CoVince platform: journeys which start on you mobile and continue in VR. The possibilities to earn from your creations and have a central distribution place for learning and data.

Richard Van Tilborg works with the CoVince platform, a VR platform offering training and educational programs for central distribution of learning and data. He is an author and speaker focusing on computers and education in virtual reality-based tasks for delivering feedback.

 

Thu 12:00 PM PST Research Assessment of Learning Activities in VR Evelien Ydo Technology Acceptance / Learning Assessment / Vaping Prevention ASVR
Thu 6:00 PM PST Down to Basics Copyright and Plagiarism Protections in VR Jonathan Bailey ASVR

 

Thu 8:00 PM PST Diversity Cyberbullying in VR John Williams, Brennan Hatton, Lorelle VanFossen ASVR

ICT information and communication technology literacy

The Role of Librarians in Supporting ICT Literacy

May 9, 2019,

https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2019/5/the-role-of-librarians-in-supporting-ict-literacy

Academic librarians increasingly provide guidance to faculty and students for the integration of digital information into the learning experience.

TPACK: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Many librarians have shied away from ICT literacy, concerned that they may be asked how to format a digital document or show students how to create a formula in a spreadsheet. These technical skills focus more on a specific tool than on the underlying nature of information.

librarians have begun to use an embedded model as a way to deepen their connection with instructors and offer more systematic collection development and instruction. That is, librarians focus more on their partnerships with course instructors than on a separate library entity.

If TPACK is applied to instruction within a course, theoretically several people could be contributing this knowledge to the course. A good exercise is for librarians to map their knowledge onto TPACK.

Large dotted line circle labelled Contexts. Inside large circle are three smaller circles overlapping to create a Venn diagram. Pink Circle: Technological Knowledge (TK). Blue Circle: Content Knowledge (CK). Yellow Circle: Pedagogical Knowledge (PK). Pink/Blue overlap: Technological Content Knowledge (TCK). Blue/Yellow Overlap: Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Yellow/Pink Overlap: Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK). Center where all 3 overlap: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK).

ICT reflects the learner side of a course. However, ICT literacy can be difficult to integrate because it does not constitute a core element of any academic domain. Whereas many academic disciplines deal with key resources in their field, such as vocabulary, critical thinking, and research methodologies, they tend not to address issues of information seeking or collaboration strategies, let alone technological tools for organizing and managing information.

Instructional design for online education provides an optimal opportunity for librarians to fully collaborate with instructors.

The outcomes can include identifying the level of ICT literacy needed to achieve those learning outcomes, a task that typically requires collaboration between the librarian and the program’s faculty member. Librarians can also help faculty identify appropriate resources that students need to build their knowledge and skills. As education administrators encourage faculty to use open educational resources (OERs) to save students money, librarians can facilitate locating and evaluating relevant resources. These OERs not only include digital textbooks but also learning objects such as simulations, case studies, tutorials, and videos.

Reading online text differs from reading print both physically and cognitively. For example, students scroll down rather than turn online pages. And online text often includes hyperlinks, which can lead to deeper coverage—as well as distraction or loss of continuity of thought. Also, most online text does not allow for marginalia that can help students reflect on the content. Teachers and students often do not realize that these differences can impact learning and retention. To address this issue, librarians can suggest resources to include in the course that provide guidance on reading online.

My note – why specialist like Tom Hergert and the entire IMS is crucial for the SCSU library and librarians and how neglecting the IMS role hurts the SCSU library
Similarly, other types of media need to be evaluated, comprehended, and interpreted in light of their critical features or “grammar.” For example, camera angles can suggest a person’s status (as in looking up to someone), music can set the metaphorical tone of a movie, and color choices can be associated with specific genres (e.g., pastels for romances or children’s literature, dark hues for thrillers). Librarians can explain these media literacy concepts to students (and even faculty) or at least suggest including resources that describe these features

My note – on years-long repetition of the disconnect between SCSU ATT, SCSU library and IMS
instructors need to make sure that students have the technical skills to produce these products. Although librarians might understand how media impacts the representation of knowledge, they aren’t necessarily technology specialists. However, instructors and librarians can collaborate with technology specialists to provide that expertise. While librarians can locate online resources—general ones such as Lynda.com or tool-specific guidance—technology specialists can quickly identify digital resources that teach technical skills (my note: in this case IMS). My note: we do not have IDs, another years-long reminder to middle and upper management. Many instructors and librarians have not had formal courses on instructional design, so collaborations can provide an authentic means to gain competency in this process.

My note: Tom and I for years have tried to make aware SCSU about this combo –
Instructors likely have high content knowledge (CK) and satisfactory technological content knowledge (TCK) and technological knowledge (TK) for personal use. But even though newer instructors acquire pedagogical knowledge (PK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) early in their careers, veteran instructors may not have received this training. The same limitations can apply to librarians, but technology has become more central in their professional lives. Librarians usually have strong one-to-one instruction skills (an aspect of PK), but until recently they were less likely to have instructional design knowledge. ICT literacy constitutes part of their CK, at least for newly minted professionals. Instructional designers are strong in TK, PK, and TPK, and the level of their CK (and TCK and TPK) will depend on their academic background. And technology specialists have the corner on TK and TCK (and hopefully TPK if they are working in educational settings), but they may not have deep knowledge about ICT literacy.

Therefore, an ideal team for ICT literacy integration consists of the instructor, the librarian, the instructional designer, and the technology specialist. Each member can contribute expertise and cross-train the teammates. Eventually, the instructor can carry the load of ICT literacy, with the benefit of specific just-in-time support from the librarian and instructional designer.

My note: I have been working for more then six years as embedded librarian in the doctoral cohort and had made aware the current library administrator (without any response) about my work, as well as providing lengthy bibliography (e.g. https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/08/24/embedded-librarian-qualifications/ and have had meeting with the current SOE administrator and the library administrator (without any response).
I also have delivered discussions to other institutions (https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2018/04/12/embedded-librarian-and-gamification-in-libraries/)
Librarians should seriously consider TPACK as a way to embed themselves into the classroom to incorporate information and ICT literacy.

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more about academic library in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=academic+library

more on SAMR and TRACK models in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2018/05/17/transform-education-digital-tools/

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2015/07/29/mn-esummit-2015/

Blurred Lines Between Security Surveillance and Privacy

Edtech’s Blurred Lines Between Security, Surveillance and Privacy

By Tony Wan     Mar 5, 2019

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-03-05-edtech-s-blurred-lines-between-security-surveillance-and-privacy

Tony Wan, Bill Fitzgerald, Courtney Goodsell, Doug Levin, Stephanie Cerda

SXSW EDU https://schedule.sxswedu.com/

privacy advocates joined a school administrator and a school safety software product manager to offer their perspectives.

Navigating that fine line between ensuring security and privacy is especially tricky, as it concerns newer surveillance technologies available to schools. Last year, RealNetworks, a Seattle-based company, offered its facial recognition software to schools, and a few have pioneered the tool. https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2019/02/02/facial-recognition-technology-in-schools/

The increasing availability of these kinds of tools raise concerns and questions for Doug Levin, founder of EdTech Strategies.acial-recognition police tools have been decried as “staggeringly inaccurate.”

acial-recognition police tools have been decried as “staggeringly inaccurate.”School web filters can also impact low-income families inequitably, he adds, especially those that use school-issued devices at home. #equity.

Social-Emotional Learning: The New Surveillance?

Using data to profile students—even in attempts to reinforce positive behaviors—has Cerda concerned, especially in schools serving diverse demographics. #equity.

As in the insurance industry, much of the impetus (and sales pitches) in the school and online safety market can be driven by fear. But voicing such concerns and red flags can also steer the stakeholders toward dialogue and collaboration.

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more in this IMS blog on
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=privacy
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=surveillance
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=security

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