Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality .. what is their place in learning?

We design learning experiences to facilitate different outcomes. But more often than not, we revert to the same approaches, and stay within the comfort of familiar technologies. Tried and tested 'safe bets', are familiar to ourselves and our stakeholders. Budgets can be tight as well, or completely non-existent --! So why take a risk on something new?
But... let's pretend that we're given every type of technology available to us today, and an unlimited budget. How would that shift our work and vision for what we are doing? Let's visit the world of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality -- to see whats possible and to get inspired.

SPEAKERS

Angie Marin - "The landscape of technologies"
Don't know where to start? Or don't know even whats out there? (I certainly don't)! Come and hear from Angie, about the landscape of technologies out there in the AR/VR world.

Dr Ray Hsu and Mario Cimet Dattoli
"Is the AR/VR utopian promise attainable?"
You've probably heard of the utopian promise of AR/VR for education. How, with the help of these technologies - and the interactivity and game-ification that they enable - we could dramatically improve student engagement and attain better educational outcomes. How much should we believe in this promise? The simple application of new consumer technology to education will only take us so far. To answer this question, and to truly see how far we can go, we have to take a broader look at the material conditions of learner's engagement with these technologies, and how they fit in with their motivations. Come hear Mario and Ray's perspective on this for some thought provoking views on what is, and what could be.

Chris Patch - "Getting Started with VR Development"

Want to get your feet wet with VR? Our resident guru Chris Patch will walk you through how you can learn the fastest, cheapest and most painless way to get started with developing your own Virtual Reality applications (60 bucks all in cheap!).

Using free software and phone based VR headsets Chris will walk you through what you'll need to start developing your own VR applications. We'll even deploy a pre-built VR application you can try yourself.

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SPEAKER BIOS

Angie Marin
Angie is a senior UX researcher for robotics, automation systems and videogames. She is passionate about conceiving and designing scenarios between humans and robots, to incorporate integrated points of view in the development of interaction elements with the user research that support it.

Dr Ray Hsu
Dr. Ray Hsu is Principal at Hsu Consulting and Co-founder of the Eyemole Arts and Technology Co-operative. Hsu served as Faculty Supervisor at the University of British Columbia's Emerging Media Lab, where they had previously served as Faculty in Residence.
Author of two award-winning books, Dr. Hsu lectures widely on emerging technology, political futurity, and world-making.

Mario Cimet Dattoli
Mario Cimet Dattoli is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Eyemole Arts and Technology Co-operative, Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of the Brave Technology Cooperative, and a graduate of the UBC Cognitive Systems Program. Before joining the co-operative movement, Mario was a researcher and learning analytics practitioner for several years.

Chris Patch
Chris is our resident guru, founder of this meetup, and eLearning specialist extraordinaire.

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You can find our meetup on the first Thursday of every month at Langara College, 100 West 49th Avenue. Room T228, 2nd floor of the new Science and Tech Building.