University Response to VWs

University Response to VWs

This presentation provides a first-hand take on academia’s response to virtual world learning over the last 15 years. Steve Van Hook / Kip Roffo brings more than 20 years’ experience as an educator, author, innovator, and course designer. He will cover university response to over a decade of Virtual World educational possibilities, citing administrator, instructor and student concerns including:

– Appeals and protests of Virtual World learning

– Cost-effective program development

– Best VW teaching tactics and practices

– Benefits and necessities of immersive experiential learning

– Field-trip invitation to a Virtual World campus

BIO: Dr. Steven R. Van Hook has designed and taught communication and culture classes for universities in the USA and abroad for 25 years, including one of the first hybrid virtual courses for UCSB in 2000. He is President of Educare Research, a nonprofit program advancing international education and technologies. He’s been a newspaper columnist, radio reporter, TV news anchor, and podcast host. He was a television producer and bureau chief in Moscow, USSR from 1989-91; and for three years directed public education media programs in Ukraine through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He served as a trainer and officer for organizations including VISTA, Head Start, and the US Coast Guard. He has a PhD specializing in transcultural learning, and is published in scholarly journals including UNESCO’s Prospects, and by SAGE. He has presented on virtual world education to administrators and groups at UCLA, UCSB, VWBPE, VWEC, The Science Circle, and elsewhere. Research website: http://wwmr.us