Virtual World Best Practices in Education 2025 Conference

 

Tomorrow at 8:30 AM is the start of one of the more educational yearly events in Second Life, the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, or VWBPE.  It is "a global grassroots community event, which focuses on education in immersive virtual environments." This year's theme is Transitions. Dancerina Starlight wrote about the event for the Newser.

 

Read Dancerina's article in Events. 

 

Some April Fools Pranks In Second Life, and Elsewhere

 

Yesterday was one of the Newser's traditions, the April Fools joke story. Sometimes it's poking fun at something done by the Lindens, and sometimes it's poking fun at real-life news. This year, it was the later, poking fun at a certain President's insistence that America "most have" a certain island. A couple readers didn't like it. Others thought it was hilarious, "Good thing I wasn't drinking my tea when I read this. Thanks for the scoop Bixyl, and maaaybeee check your calendar after reading this, folks."

But this wasn't the only April Foolery. Far from it.

 

 Those using Firestorm yesterday probably noticed things weren't quite right. Once, the viewer seemed slanted. Other times, there was a face poking up in the corner "I heard a mouse click.:And the bird had googly eyes. But there were also various messages in the popup window in the center.

Attention residents: An epidemic of uncontrollable laughter has broken out in Second Life! Proceed with caution, as spontaneous giggles may occur at any moment.

 

Fashion emergency: All virtual clothing has been replaced with banana peels and coconut shells. Embrace the tropical chic look!

 

Beware of rogue teleportation portals appearing randomly across Second Life. You never know where you might end up!

Due to a coding hiccup, all avatar voices have been replaced with chipmunk squeaks. Happy chatting!

 

And Linden Labs got into the act as well. Patch Linden would announce on the forums a new Linden Home theme.  

We are excited to introduce the latest addition to the Linden Homes family, now available for preview in the Welcome Hub Linden Homes Demo region. Residents have long awaited something fresh, and today we are unveiling a surprising new direction with the gravity-defying Topsy-Turvy Homes. Every detail of these homes has been carefully crafted to provide a completely inverted living experience. Gardens sprout beneath floorboards, welcome mats hang proudly from the ceiling, and chimneys point straight to the ground. These homes offer a whimsical and truly one-of-a-kind perspective of Bellisseria, inviting you to see the world from a whole new angle. Staying true to our finest traditions, the Topsy-Turvy Homes arrive as part of a broader effort to create more dynamic and evolving environments.

 

But this wasn't all.  "Along the coastlines, residents may notice the arrival of Offshore Oil Rigs. These towering structures have quickly become part of the seascape, giving a more industrial touch to the otherwise serene Bellisserian waters." 

 

Thankfully there were no reports of oil soaked birds. 

 

There were also reports of volcanoes, "In the Thousand Islands regions, volcanic activity has stirred, adding glowing rivers of lava and drifting ash to the air. Some believe it to be a sign of seasonal shifts within the grid itself."

 

The response so far to the Lindens' April foolery has been mostly positive, "Love the new houses, so much more interesting than the old ones/" "I want one of those homes!" "Just needs a little early 80's Lionel Richie music, and we'd be right at home!" A couple people didn't think much of the oil rigs, but the volcanoes seemed popular, "LOL - it's regurgitating cows!" "I'm a bit disappointed that I can't catch the volcano cows for my Ranch." "I'm a bit disappointed that I can't catch the volcano cows for my Ranch." "Great April Fool "

 

More later on April Fools in gaming.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs, Furry Fashion, and Club Scorn

 

Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver, Montecito Bay, Furry Fashion, and Scorn clubs.

Club Cutlass: Fire and Water, Beyond the Sea, Hard Rock

Happy Vixen: DJ Malit, DJ Arooo, DJ Scratch, DJ Squeaks, DJ Khyra

Club Zero Gravity: DJ Snowy - Wild and Domestic

 

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club:  DJ Snowy - TBA

Xanadu: DJ Jesse 

Club Squeaks: Closed to regular events

 

Montecito Bay:  CAYA, After Dark

Club Scorn: T 2-4, W 2-6, Th 2-12, Sat 2-12

 

Furry Fashion:  Hooves and Horns, Fantasy, Insects VS Arachnids, CAYA

 

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'

 

 

Breaking News: Linden Lab To Make Mainland Continent Satori Part of Bellisseria

 

 

Longtime residents will probably recognize the roughly triangular mainland continent of Satori, even if they forget it's name. Made up of plains, mountains, and shoreline, a number of residents have made it their home. But there's still plenty of abandoned land.

 

But late yesterday, Linden Lab announced Bellisseria would be annexing the land and making it into Linden Home space.

 

Due to the demand of Linden Homes, the limited paths of expansion by sea, and the amount of unclaimed mainland, the landmass known as Satori will be incorporated into Bellisseria. This means that those living there will need to sign up for Premium accounts and eventually get notices to take down their builds in order to receive their Linden Homes. 

The forums were soon filling up with responses from people with homes there not happy with the idea of being annexed. A Joe Greenland wrote, "This is our home, and we like things as they are." Jane Dane, a former tenant of renters on Satori, wrote, "It's not the neatest place in the world, but it has charm, and it would be a shame if it were to simply become just another part of the Linden Home continent. Besides, they'd have to move if they couldn't pay. Was that ever taken into consideration?"

 

But Don Linden would write, "We're so sure the people of Satori want to become Bellissarians, we're going ahead with the annexation." He insisted, "Bellessaria needs Satori, and Satori needs to be part of Bellisseria. We're going to make Second Life great again."

 

To read the Linden announcement in full, Click Here.  

Bixyl Shuftan

 

RFL Sunbeamer Air Show Takes Place

 

 Saturday had one of the big events for the Relay's Team Sunbeamers, probably it's biggest yearly event aside from the Relay Weekend: the Annual Air Show at Farshore Field. Besides the aircraft on display on the ground, the balloon, and the dunk tank, there were four aerial performances, plus the music and dance party. 

How much was raised during the event is not yet known, but the "Sunnies" have raised a total of 890,138 Lindens so far this season, currently making them sixth of the 175 registered teams.

 

We'll have more pictures soon. In the meantime, enjoy some from Wildstar Beaumont.

 

Go Relay! 

 

*Addition: Cynthia Farshore informed the Newser that a total of 102.390 Linden dollars had been raised. She would say it was 35,250 for Roos With a Dream, 67,140 for the Sunbeamers

 

Picture from Cynthia Farshore

 

 Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: VWBPE 2025 Conference TRANSITIONS 3 - 5 April 2025 in Second Life

 

The 18th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, beginning on Thursday, April 3rd, 2025, will be an online distributed conference happening in multiple virtual spaces. This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes including virtual and augmented reality.

This year we are returning to our Earth build. Each region represents a park featuring a different terrestrial biome, including wetlands, desert, badlands, grasslands, and forests. Conference attendees will be able to explore 3D immersive virtual representations of these biomes.

To the best ability possible, VWBPE provides educational and networking opportunities that are relevant to educational curriculum development utilizing virtual environments and “best practices”. These include

helping to build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and
providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education

One of the key challenges faced by the educational community is how to make the best use of new immersive technologies in a way that is sustainable and accessible based on limited budgets available to both instructors and students. Platforms that are free or open source, or that can be shared across a broad audience, are showcased, including methods and research around best practices in their use and applicability.

Our theme for this year is Transitions.

Transitions, like pivotal shifts in a story, capture the profound changes educators and students have faced in recent years. These shifts highlight the need to adapt and redefine social dynamics within virtual environments as education evolves to meet new challenges.

Join us as we all share experiences and successes in how virtual technologies used in the classroom have helped shape education for the better.

This year's keynote speakers are Phylis West Johnson and Rabindra Ratan. The VWBPE conference keynote speakers and their respective presentations are featured on the conference website (http://vwbpe.org), along with a program of exciting presentations, social activities, and networking events that will set extraordinary discussions in motion.  

The VWBPE Immersive Experiences showcase unique and interesting work being conducted across the metaverse. We invite you to join us as we explore eleven interactive and engaging locations across five virtual environments. The Immersive Experiences are scheduled from March 17th through April 17th (exclusive of the conference dates). Details and access instructions will be provided when the program is published

Additionally, this open and free conference would not be possible without the generous contributions of our VWBPE sponsors; for more information see https://vwb.pe/sponsors.

The Rockcliffe Registration Portal is open for people to register new Second Life® avatars and find out more about the VWBPE conference in-world. Go to https://urockcliffe.com/virtual-environments/second-life/. The instructions are there to get you and your friends started at this educator-friendly newcomers’ region in Second Life®.

The VWBPE conference will also be streaming live from YouTube during the conference. The livestream schedule can be accessed at https://www.vwbpe.org/watch.


** WEB PAGES **

Conference Information: http://vwbpe.org  
Registration: http://vwb.pe/register   
Sponsors: https://vwb.pe/sponsors
Rockcliffe Gateway to Second Life®: https://urockcliffe.com/virtual-environments/second-life/  


** SOCIAL MEDIA **

Second Life® Group
secondlife:///app/group/8b03480a-793d-ba5b-5b6b-dd10afb5d38e/about

Discord Channel
https://discord.gg/Xjp5nn9D

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/vwbpe

Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vwbpe_org/

LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/3754644/

Twitter
http://twitter.com/vwbpe

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/VWBPE

 

 

Cartoon of The Day: Morning Coffee

 

 

 Picture from Winter Paige Shuftan. While shopping, she saw this angry-looking wolf. Now, why would he be grumpy? I can think of a few reasons.

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

 

Reminder: Sunbeamer Air Show Today

 

Just a reminder, the Sunbeamer Air Show is today, It starts at 11 AM, and goes on to 6PM SL time. Events go on for the whole six hours, and will provide plenty of entertainment, from aerial acrobatics to DJ music.Plus, there's the balloon rides, the dunk tank with the German 88, and the aircraft displays that have been part of the show for years.

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunlight%20Bay/174/67/22 

 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 

Saturday March 29

 

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

    SC Moon Base Project Immersive Experience

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/sc-immersive/

    Organized by Phil Youngblood

    Moon Base

 

    ~*~

 

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

SL22B Open For Performer Applications

 

Earlier this month, Linden Lab announced the theme of the upcoming Second Life Birthday, the SL22B, as well as that it was open to applications from those interested in being exhibitors. Yesterday, Thursday March 27, they announced they were now accepting applications from performers as well. 

We are opening applications for the performance schedule. We are looking for all types of performers to join the week-long festivities. Are you a DJ who can spin up a great party set or a live performer who can jam all night? You might be one of the grid’s amazing Dance companies, or perhaps you’re a Particle Performer? One of the things that makes Second Life so vibrant and exciting is the wide range of performers who share their talent with our Residents. Whatever your medium, we would love to hear from you!

Those performers interested in taking part in the event need to fill out a form on Google docs (here). Performers need to show up an hour before their allotted time, there is a land impact limit to whatever props are desired, and while the stage in the adult regions has no restrictions, all others require that all songs must be fit for a general audience (ie clean).

The deadline for performer, and exhibitor, applications is May 19, 2025.

 

Press Release: Fantasy Faire Opens April 17

 

 

Celebrating its seventeenth year, Fantasy Faire 2025 is the largest gathering of fantasy designers, enthusiasts, roleplayers and performers in the virtual world. From Thursday, April 17 to Sunday May 4, treat yourself to shopping, dance and theater performances, DJ parties, auctions, questing, our Literary Festival, thematic events and roleplaying as thousands of Second Life residents and creators bring their own visions together to support the American Cancer Society’s vision of a world without cancer.

You’ll find fantasy avatars, clothing, furnishings, gadgets and exclusive items available from over 300 of Second Life’s top Fantasy Creators across 18 stunning regions designed by the visionary artists behind many of the most adored spots on the Second Life destination guide.

In addition to the fourteen shopping regions there will also be Faireland realms that take us beyond commerce and give us places to celebrate together as a community.  Party with fairies, demons and tinies at the Fairechylde. Adventure with the Bard Queen as you complete the Fairelands Quest. Explore the Fairelands on the Litfest Tours. Immerse yourself in a world of stories with the Litfest, Roleplay and Performance events. Remember loved ones with the Memorial Garden and embrace new dreams with the Worldling Cradle.

Fantasy Faire 2025 will be open to the public April 17 – May 4, full eighteen days. The SLurl to the event will be found on the website on our opening day. We welcome you to come and join the story.

 

RFL: Mama Bears Scavanger Hunt

 

 

 

 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩:
This is a magical scavenger hunt that will take you on a journey across Second Life to 18 fantastical lands, in search of a glowing purple orb that holds a clue to the next location.  Each location was donated by a different Relay For Life team!

Your initial donation (𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘬) of L$250 will gain you the first clue and the landmark to your first location.  When you find the glowing purple orb, you must click on it for your next clue and location.

When you get to the final location, you'll receive a landmark to the prizes location, where you can collect all your free gifts, from 8 generous designers.

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙩?
No problem, we got you covered!  For a donation (𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘬) of L$1000, you will receive a notecard with the landmark to the final prize destination.

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜?
March 22 - 31st

𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨
Please be fair and do not share locations of clues.  This event is for charity, and is supposed to be fun.  As the hider of the orbs, I promise, they're not hard to find.  I tried to make the clues as obvious as I could.

𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨, 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙨
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send an IM to Sass Winchester (or drop a nc).  For faster answers, send me a message on Discord @ sass_winchester

 SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sassafrass/111/133/21