The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference is pleased to announce Stephen Downes as a 2016 keynote speaker. Downes, a leading advocate for open educational resources and free learning, will talk to us about going beyond online support systems and into learning scenarios with authentic environments.
Stephen Downes is a specialist in online learning technology and new media. He has developed and deployed a series of progressively more innovative technologies that have led to open learning. He is the originator of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and is a leading proponent of connectivism, a theory describing how people know and learn using network processes. He has also published several open access ebooks, such as “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge” and “Free Learning”.
His work has made possible countless opportunities for people to connect, learn, and engage in a variety of environments, including multi-user domains (MUDs), which share commonalities and development histories with massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs).
Stephen will be discussing virtual worlds on the go, in particular the intersection of learning, performance support, and mobile virtual worlds and simulations. In this keynote, he will focus on the following:
- What does the learning ecosystem look like in a world where mobile devices are preferred?
- What type of infrastructure is needed to engage learners in mobile virtual worlds that have real world application?
- How will the roles of educators and content publishers change to be able to provide learning support and scaffolding for virtual worlds on the go?
Submit a proposal today and join us with Stephen in making VWBPE 2016 the best conference yet. The clock is ticking down fast to the deadline of January 17!