Friday, March 31, 2017

Scenes From the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Press Day


By Bixyl Shuftan



The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) Conference is going on this week. Last week on Sunday March 19, the Newser was invited for an early peek on the Press Day.


The theme for this year's conference: "Legacy." It had been ten years since the first VWBPE conference in Second Life. And so the people of the organization want to celebrate their past successes in addition to looking forward to what the future will bring and what the present has to offer.


"The more things change, the more they stay the same." This wasn't just a theme, it would be the theme of one of the discussions on the first day of the conference.


Noted blogger Strawberry Singh was there. She would do her own article about the VWBPE.


There was a press badge giver we could pick up one from.


And there were souvenir sailor hats one could also get.


One could teleport to various spots using the interactive maps in various spots.


One spot we were shown was the Legacy area, still under construction, that looked back at the previous nine years of the VWPBE.


 We would be shown other areas.


 Including the auditorium



 Then came the place that was named the Social Area.



At one point, we were directed to some stairs leading down (hold your breath).


The stairway led below to an underwater area, of plants and fish around the remains of an ancient town.


 We then headed inside the Social Area building.


 Inside was an opening to the water below, and an underwater scooter.


After the tour was done, we were invited to take rides on it (the scuba gear was my own, not provided by them).


 Back down into the watery underwaterworld to explore






Stay clear of the tentacles.





Back on the surface, I had a little more time to explore the Social Area building before events called me away


Saturday April 1 is the last day of the VWBPE conference. There is much to see and some to hear. So if you have some spare moments, have a look.

Bixyl Shuftan



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