10th Annual VCARA Conference: April 23, 2019

VCARA Blog

Published: March 7, 2019 by Alyse Dunavant-Jones

10th Annual VCARA Conference Poster: Keynotes10th Annual VCARA Conference - Call for Posters

Join VCARA for our 10th Annual VCARA Conference from 6pm-8:30pm SLT (Pacific) on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. This year’s theme is “Sands of Time: Looking Back to Move Forward” and will emphasize heroes and activities from VCARA’s past as well as prospects for future virtual world best practices and endeavors in both 3D and VR environments.

Introducing the Keynotes:

10th Annual VCARA Conference Valerie Hill KeynotePhoto of Valerie Hill and her Second Life avatar Valibrarian Gregg

Dr. Valerie Hill (Valibrarian Gregg in SL)

Keynote Title: “Ten Years as a Virtual World Librarian Educator”

Keynote Abstract: Dr. Valerie Hill has served as a librarian in Second Life and other virtual worlds since 2007. During the past decade, digital culture revolutionized education and communication with instant access to information on mobile devices and a plethora of apps. This cultural revolution put virtual worlds on the back burner because of the “steep learning curve”. Persistent educators have documented best practices for using virtual worlds for teaching and providing library services and programs with the advantages of contructivism, a sense of presence, and a sustainable space for critical thinking and deep learning.
 

About Valerie

Valerie received her PhD in Library and Information Science in 2012. Valibrarian (in virtual worlds) is the director of the Community Virtual Library in Second Life, Avacon and Kitely.  She served as a school librarian for twenty years and taught language arts and information literacy at all grade levels from kindergarten through college. She is currently an information literacy consultant with a research focus on the intersection of information literacy and libraries with virtual worlds and digital culture and a professor at Peninsula College.

 

10th Annual VCARA Conference Daniel Dyboski-Bryant KeynotePhoto of Daniel Dyboski-Bryant

Daniel Dyboski-Bryant (Danzig360 in SL)

Keynote Title: “May you learn in interesting times… Education with and in VR”

Keynote Abstract: Many factors are converging to create a ‘perfect storm in the classroom’. A new wave of immersive technologies stands to fundamentally alter how we think about education and learning.
It’s no longer a question of: “Should we get involved?” but “If we don’t start now, we might get left behind!”
What opportunities and challenges lie ahead as we set off on this grand adventure? Let’s find out together…
 

About Daniel

Daniel has been an educator for 23 years. He speaks 5 languages, teaches and trains ESOL and VR at Coleg Menai in North Wales, UK. He consults, speaks, writes and delivers training for and in VR. In his free time, he runs Educators in VR, a monthly meetup in AltspaceVR, as well as the associated Discord server, where a growing community of educators teaching in and with VR meet, discuss, share and learn together.

Are you interested in presenting at the conference? There are slots open for 10-minute mini presentations! Sign up to present by March 31, 2019.

For information about joining VCARA in Second Life, please refer to our Getting Started page. To request an orientation to Second Life and VCARA, please email Dr. Pat Franks (patricia.franks@sjsu.edu). To follow VCARA on social media, check out our VCARA on Social Media page. To visit VCARA in Second Life, use the iSchool Island SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SJSU%20SLIS/45/123/33