iLRN2021 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network

Pluriversal Design Transitions for Higher Education Motivated by COVID-19
Lupita Guillen Mandujano(1), Erdas Kuruc(2), Jun-Li Lu(3), Paola Sanoni(4), Xanat Vargas Meza(3)
1: Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Campus Xochimilco, Mexico; 2: Eastern Mediterranean University, Cyprus; 3: University of Tsukuba, Japan; 4: Kyoto University, Japan
 
This panel seeks to overview how immersive learning technologies can be used for Higher Education (HE) in several non-westernized contexts amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the outline of pluriversal design combined with design transitions, we aim to explore how a world containing many coexisting worlds can resurge from the present educational challenges and become a fairer, sustainable place for everyone.

During this session, participants will work through a series of activities which will demonstrate how to integrate augmented reality into Writing lessons. Through hands-on experiences, participants will explore the use of augmented reality to bring students writing, personally composed music and artworks alive creating an immersive experience for learners in the classroom. 

This is a unit of work focused on bringing together a range of key learning areas allowing for students to interact with learning in a range of different ways. It is expected that by the end of the session, participants will have developed their own story cube which can be used as a work sample if they choose to integrate this unit in their classroom 

This presentation is important and relevant as it allows for educators to understand how they can help students explore a range of skills including coding and content creation within augmented reality. By integrating these skills within writing, allows for an authentic exploration by redefining the task and increasing motivation and the development of future skills needed by students.

This workshop will take participants through step by step instructions on how to teach this unit in the classroom including composing music, creating digital artwork and creating an augmented reality experience. 

Participants will need to sign up for a free CoSpaces account to access using a trial code and download and print a Merge Cube. 

Recreated! A WebVR Tour of an Asian American Historically Endangered Site
Keely Canniff, Dan Cliburn, Joshua Salyers
University of the Pacific, United States of America

NOTE: this entire session happens in Hubs and space is limited to 25.  If that limit is reached, you can still observe the session but not interact with the other attendees.
 
Join us for a virtual tour through a historically endangered landmark recreated in VR! Using webXR, participants will be guided through the historic area of Little Manila located in Stockton, California. Little Manila was once home to one of the largest populations of Filipinos outside of the Philippines. Unfortunately, most of the area was torn down to make way for the Crosstown Freeway. Today, only three Little Manila era buildings exist. The only way you can visit the historic town of Little Manila is in VR.

https://hubs.mozilla.com/B9i2Eo4/little-manila-ilrn-2021/

Rhapsodies in the 5th: Presenting Noma! An XR Experience
Nyambura M. Waruingi
Akoia & Company Ltd, Kenya
 
RHAPSODIES IN THE 5TH is a presentation providing a case study on language, culture and heritage practices as a result of the emerging art-based XR experiences created, produced, and disseminated to audiences in Nairobi, Kenya. It gives a local perspective on XR artwork development, production, and distribution. The focus is NOMA! AN XR EXPERIENCE, a location-based experience.
The experience ran from Jan 23rd to Feb 4th, 2020, at the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi, featuring XR artwork produced from experiments with visual arts and VR and AR tools. In directing and curating this experience, I was interested in how these XR experiences would work on smartphones and via web, particularly in Kenya where mobile penetration is highest in East Africa and the internet more widely available because of affordable data packages.
In turn, NOMA! functions as a cultural site for linguistic and technological translations in the creation and production of XR artworks. In producing this experience, I questioned how to make technologies accessible outside of English and in a local manner. This focus on access expands the conversation to include: the use of readily available software and hardware tools, and XR artwork production targeting a growing audience/market of smartphone users, which would translate into revenue via web XR experiences, mobile apps, and locally produced headsets.
In summary, RHAPSODIES IN THE 5TH presents: the emerging XR art experiences in Nairobi, Kenya, giving artists tools to explore different encounters of their work; how to develop access to cultural experiences outside of the designated galleries, museums, and libraries; the function of local languages in expanding technological access; and, emerging knowledge on developing audiences for XR art experiences for web and smartphones in an environment where mobile telephony penetration is rapidly shifting the digital landscape.
 

Immersive Storytelling in Virtual Worlds for Transcendence
Philp Heike(1), Helena Galani(2), Doris Molero,  Amany Alkhayat (3)
1: Let's talk online sprl, Belgium; 2: Independent teacher, Greece; 3: Independent teacher, Brazil
 
With the advent of Virtual Worlds, new horizons have opened up for Education, especially so in the pandemic era. During this iLRN2021 Panel Discussion, we will present the main challenges addressed and the outcomes produced towards inspiring the participants to transcend previous achievements throughout our workshop "Immersive Storytelling In Virtual Worlds". For five weeks earlier this year, with moderators and 110 participant teachers, our EVO session focused on the skills, methods and techniques required for promoting the use of VWs for Immersive Storytelling in the new classroom. The affordances of a 3D user-created Virtual environment such as OpenSim can prove indispensable to the language teacher, educator, tutor, course designer or trainer moving their classes online or resorting to hybrid and blended practices, at any stage of the Educational system. The process of recreating popular narratives in Virtual Worlds can effectively accelerate immersive language acquisition by motivating learners to take charge of their own education with an avatar, in a creative, imaginative and memorable way.