Kay McLennan is a Professor of Practice at the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement. Kay created the Tulane SoPA Metaverse (newly known as the SoPA Metaversity) and has been creating and using virtual world learning simulations in her online economics and business studies courses since 2008. Kay uses student feedback to continually refine and expand the educational simulations she creates to use in her e-courses. She has written about her creation and use of OpenSimulator-based learning simulations – see “Interactivity, Engagement, and Increased Learning Outcomes in 3D Virtual World Educational Simulations” (@ http://www.editlib.org/p/40849), “Prisoners’ Dilemma” simulation use case example (@ https://sites.google.com/view/the-prisoners-dilemma/home), and “Data Detectives Game” simulation use case example (@ https://sites.google.com/view/data-detectives-game). Also, the video clips from the December 2018 “Mainstreaming Virtual World Learning Colloquium” event – organized by Kay — can be viewed @ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLctERt0Fl50gLOgYPdfHDE8NcPtuO4wb0.

“VirtualPedagogy@mastodon.world
BlueSky@kaymc.bsky.social”

After 4 decades of writing code in the Real World, Kayaker Magic has been scripting in virtual worlds since 2008. By taking apart items made by Arcadia Asylum, Kayaker learned a great deal about building vehicles in OpenSim, animating, 3D modeling, UV mapping, texture mapping and efficient mesh. He wants to preserve Arcadia’s work so others can learn these lessons as well.

MikesKayakJournal.net

Having worked for many years as a DJ in RL, Kat brought her love of music and Irish charm to virtual worlds. She is also quite the 3D modelor, game designer, coder, and builder with that unique sense of humor and personality like no other. You can catch Kat’s shows at the 381 Club in sinespace where this witch from Northern Ireland spins tunes three times a week from 6-8 pm Eastern Time on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Wytchwhisper Sadofsky is a Multifaceted Artist, Singer/Songwriter, Advisor, Spiritually Enlightened Wiccan and Comedic Deviant. She has been singing in SL since 2009 Some of her songs can be sung in English, Domestic Cat, Domestic Potatoe and Domestic Chicken.Called a torch singer by some and a freaky fairy by others she has a unique sultry, sensuous, original, jazzy, alternative, oldies, demented, pop, rock sound at her shows. She supplies unique relaxing vocals, stress reducing melodies and life changing knowledge. Listen with caution while driving or operating dangerous equipment.

Max is an outstanding and masterful acoustic guitarist and singer with a relaxed, easy-going style of singing and entertaining. If music feeds the soul, Max is the food of the gods. His dynamic musical range and smooth groove provide listeners with a virtual buffet of auditory temptations. His awesome voice and sweet nature have made him one of the most popular performers in Second Life!

Music schedule: https://tinyurl.com/4vtymvbr
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MaxKEd
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/maxKEd11

Lyr is a Professor at Parker University in Dallas, Texas and a VR researcher. Since 2005, she taught 54 university classes in virtual worlds and mentored 800+ 13-year-old students. Her team won the $25,000 Grand Prize for their space simulation and she received the Thinkerer Award for her passion for virtual world education. She loves OpenSimulator and is proud to be a member of the OSCC Organizing Committee.

Joyce Bettencourt is co-founder and Vice President of AvaCon, Inc.(https://avacon.org), a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting the growth, enhancement, and development of the metaverse, virtual worlds, augmented reality and 3D immersive spaces. AvaCon were organizers of 2010 in Boston & 2011 in Oakland Second Life Community Convention, the Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds virtual workshops, and the ongoing OpenSimulator Community Conference. AvaCon also currently fiscally sponsors the nonprofit community of practice, Nonprofit Commons in Second Life, where Joyce has been a community leader and host of weekly Friday meetings.

In addition, she is Creative Director of The Vesuvius Group (http://thevesuviusgroup.com), a collaborative studio specializing in developing online immersive and social environments for community-building. Joyce is a 2012 graduate of the Singularity University Graduate Studies program, focused on applying exponential technologies to addressing Global Grand Challenges.

Previously she was digital media producer for the Online Leadership Program at the educational nonprofit Global Kids and helped produce digital media learning content including the Second Life Curriculum, many virtual and physical world events, and the social issue game CONSENT! As her avatar Rhiannon Chatnoir, she has organized numerous social good online events, including the Virtual Haiti Relief campaign within the virtual world of Second Life that helped raise awareness and $10,000 USD in virtual micro transactions.

http://about.me/joycebettencourt

Ubit is currently a lead Core Developer for OpenSimulator who has been working on the project since 2012. He was instrumental in coding and implementing into the OpenSimulator codebase many of the updates that were part of the OpenSimulator 0.9 update and developing many of the OpenSimulator 0.9.1 and upcoming releases. View his code contributions online: http://opensimulator.org/viewgit/?a=search&p=opensim&h=HEAD&st=author&s=UbitUmarov and please support this key developer by donating to him directly: https://www.paypal.me/UbitUmarov

Kevin has been coding for open-source projects since 1992 including being a member of the OpenSimulator Core Developer team since March of 2014, and created, or maintains several add-on modules including the OpenSimSearch (https://github.com/kcozens/OpenSimSearch), OpenSimProfile (https://github.com/kcozens/OpenSimProfile), and OpenSimMutelist (https://github.com/kcozens/OpenSimMutelist) modules which are used with the Open Simulator project. You can also find him reporting bugs, bug triaging, updating the OpenImulator project wiki pages, and helping users via IRC or the mailing list. Kevin also runs the OpenSimulator developer meetings held weekly in OSgrid (http://www.osgrid.org/). You can view his code contributions: https://www.openhub.net/accounts/kcozens or support him by becoming a Patreon donor to the work he does on open-source code projects: https://www.patreon.com/KevinCozens

As an OpenSimulator Core Developer, Melanie has been one of the most active contributors to virtual world software in general, and OpenSimulator in particular. As her avatar “Melanie Milland”, she was a long-time Second Life™ resident and gained much experience in using virtual worlds. Melanie has been involved in a number of virtual world projects including creating, with a team of up to 12 developers, her own “spin” of the OpenSimulator software which powered the Avination Grid. Much of the grid’s code, when shared back to the core code, was the base for many of the new OpenSimulator 0.9 update features.

Crista Lopes (Diva Canto) is a professor within the Department of Informatics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California Irvine (https://www.ics.uci.edu/~lopes/) and a core OpenSimulator developer.

Lone Wolf has been programming since he was 16 and is now 57, he has built a number of major systems and Wolf Territories Grid is one of his biggest.

Gudule Lapointe is founder and public face of Speculoos World. Born in 2006 on Second Life, she boarded the OpenSimulator experience and created Speculoos World grid in 2011. She developed or contributed to several complimentary solutions for OpenSim grid, like 2do HypEvents, Teleport boards, flexible helper scripts, Debian installation helpers. Currently, she is mostly involved in the developement of W4OS, the OpenSimulator WordPress Interface.

https://van-helden.net/

https://w4os.org/

Kelso Uxlay started to explore virtual worlds via Second Life thanks to his RL partner known inworld as Dabici Straulino. Today, they share a grid that re-creates changing seasons of eastern Canada: the snowy winter, the greenery of the spring, the hot summer, and the colorful autumn. While Dabici focusses on landscape design, sound ambiance and construction, Kelso puts magics in the builds via scripting.

“Mastodon: @KelsoUxlay@opensimsocial.com
Co-owner (with Dabici Straulino) of CreaNovale grid: hg.creanovale.ca:8052
Seasonal region Novale: https://opensimworld.com/hop/76561-NOVALE
OpenSimWorld: https://opensimworld.com/user/1030287
Groupe Francophone: https://opensimworld.com/groups/1039”

Fine Art Photography for over thirty years, private/commercial from traditional to modern. Founding member of the Revere Public Arts Commission and Fort Point Arts Community member.

Provider of Virtual Content for over fifteen years for the Universities of Australia, Leeds University, and Berklee College of Music. Oxford University. Customizing interactive platforms on private platforms addressing educational, cultural, and art-based creative environments.

Andrew Stricker serves as an innovation and strategy analyst for LeMay Center at Air University. Previously, Dr. Stricker served Vanderbilt University as associate provost for innovation through technology. He has also served 27 years as an Air Force officer and scientist specializing in learning sciences and human-factors engineering. His research is focused on modeling adaptive expertise and the design of learning technologies. His graduate work was conducted at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas and Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Lyr is a Professor at Parker University in Dallas, Texas and a VR researcher. Since 2005, she taught 54 university classes in virtual worlds and mentored 800+ 13-year-old students. Her team won the $25,000 Grand Prize for their space simulation and she received the Thinkerer Award for her passion for virtual world education. She loves OpenSimulator and is proud to be a member of the OSCC Organizing Committee.

JJ Drinkwater is a Virtual Librarian in a Real World, or a Real Librarian in a Virtual World, or both, or neither. Curatorial experience includes the real & imaginary 19th c, American Culinary History, and Speculative Fiction. Current research is Interactive/Immersive/Improvisatory Narrative in Virtual Environments.

Frankie comes from the higher education world where she specializes in instructional systems and emerging technologies in support of learning. Frankie is also known to be a curious traveler immersed in virtual worlds for empowering learning experiences in the company of kindred spirits.

I am a writer, artist, creative guide. Art is my soul food, I could not exist without it. Currently, as I transition into a new stage of life and gain a different perspective, I am translating the experience into my art.

https://kismareidling.com/

“I will focus on why I am the best human to talk to an AI.
First: I am a time traveler.
Want proof?
-> https://www.amazon.com/Not-Sand-Sound-present-extracted/dp/197828070X

Second: Before I could drink I coded
-> https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Reiner-Schneeberger/dp/B0BF1W7JS8

Third: I was the first to publish a solution to save the Schneeferner (a glacier in the Bavarian Alps) from melting by calling ChatGPT4 for help
-> https://youtu.be/uuZBb5PBFCA

Fourth: Do you really need to know that I am in fact an AI?”

https://artxploder.medium.com/chatgpt-my-brainwaves-my-art-4c144e0110fe

I am a writer, artist, creative guide. Art is my soul food, I could not exist without it. Currently, as I transition into a new stage of life and gain a different perspective, I am translating the experience into my art.

https://kismareidling.com/

“I will focus on why I am the best human to talk to an AI.
First: I am a time traveler.
Want proof?
-> https://www.amazon.com/Not-Sand-Sound-present-extracted/dp/197828070X

Second: Before I could drink I coded
-> https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Reiner-Schneeberger/dp/B0BF1W7JS8

Third: I was the first to publish a solution to save the Schneeferner (a glacier in the Bavarian Alps) from melting by calling ChatGPT4 for help
-> https://youtu.be/uuZBb5PBFCA

Fourth: Do you really need to know that I am in fact an AI?”

https://artxploder.medium.com/chatgpt-my-brainwaves-my-art-4c144e0110fe

Fine Art Photography for over thirty years, private/commercial from traditional to modern. Founding member of the Revere Public Arts Commission and Fort Point Arts Community member.

Provider of Virtual Content for over fifteen years for the Universities of Australia, Leeds University, and Berklee College of Music. Oxford University. Customizing interactive platforms on private platforms addressing educational, cultural, and art-based creative environments.

Lyr is a Professor at Parker University in Dallas, Texas and a VR researcher. Since 2005, she taught 54 university classes in virtual worlds and mentored 800+ 13-year-old students. Her team won the $25,000 Grand Prize for their space simulation and she received the Thinkerer Award for her passion for virtual world education. She loves OpenSimulator and is proud to be a member of the OSCC Organizing Committee.

Joyce Bettencourt is co-founder and Vice President of AvaCon, Inc.(https://avacon.org), a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting the growth, enhancement, and development of the metaverse, virtual worlds, augmented reality and 3D immersive spaces. AvaCon were organizers of 2010 in Boston & 2011 in Oakland Second Life Community Convention, the Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds virtual workshops, and the ongoing OpenSimulator Community Conference. AvaCon also currently fiscally sponsors the nonprofit community of practice, Nonprofit Commons in Second Life, where Joyce has been a community leader and host of weekly Friday meetings.

In addition, she is Creative Director of The Vesuvius Group (http://thevesuviusgroup.com), a collaborative studio specializing in developing online immersive and social environments for community-building. Joyce is a 2012 graduate of the Singularity University Graduate Studies program, focused on applying exponential technologies to addressing Global Grand Challenges.

Previously she was digital media producer for the Online Leadership Program at the educational nonprofit Global Kids and helped produce digital media learning content including the Second Life Curriculum, many virtual and physical world events, and the social issue game CONSENT! As her avatar Rhiannon Chatnoir, she has organized numerous social good online events, including the Virtual Haiti Relief campaign within the virtual world of Second Life that helped raise awareness and $10,000 USD in virtual micro transactions.

http://about.me/joycebettencourt

Ubit is currently a lead Core Developer for OpenSimulator who has been working on the project since 2012. He was instrumental in coding and implementing into the OpenSimulator codebase many of the updates that were part of the OpenSimulator 0.9 update and developing many of the OpenSimulator 0.9.1 and upcoming releases. View his code contributions online: http://opensimulator.org/viewgit/?a=search&p=opensim&h=HEAD&st=author&s=UbitUmarov and please support this key developer by donating to him directly: https://www.paypal.me/UbitUmarov

Kevin has been coding for open-source projects since 1992 including being a member of the OpenSimulator Core Developer team since March of 2014, and created, or maintains several add-on modules including the OpenSimSearch (https://github.com/kcozens/OpenSimSearch), OpenSimProfile (https://github.com/kcozens/OpenSimProfile), and OpenSimMutelist (https://github.com/kcozens/OpenSimMutelist) modules which are used with the Open Simulator project. You can also find him reporting bugs, bug triaging, updating the OpenImulator project wiki pages, and helping users via IRC or the mailing list. Kevin also runs the OpenSimulator developer meetings held weekly in OSgrid (http://www.osgrid.org/). You can view his code contributions: https://www.openhub.net/accounts/kcozens or support him by becoming a Patreon donor to the work he does on open-source code projects: https://www.patreon.com/KevinCozens

As an OpenSimulator Core Developer, Melanie has been one of the most active contributors to virtual world software in general, and OpenSimulator in particular. As her avatar “Melanie Milland”, she was a long-time Second Life™ resident and gained much experience in using virtual worlds. Melanie has been involved in a number of virtual world projects including creating, with a team of up to 12 developers, her own “spin” of the OpenSimulator software which powered the Avination Grid. Much of the grid’s code, when shared back to the core code, was the base for many of the new OpenSimulator 0.9 update features.

Crista Lopes (Diva Canto) is a professor within the Department of Informatics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California Irvine (https://www.ics.uci.edu/~lopes/) and a core OpenSimulator developer.

Mal Burns is host of the “Inworld Review” – a weekly news and discussion program mostly focused on the hypergrid which has been running for over 15 years. Mal has used virtual environments for nearly two decades, is concerned about user interfaces in general and has a wealth of media and design experience behind him. In the organic sphere he is now retired and uses his experience to deploy and promote immersive spaces. He also has a twitter stream (@malburns) which provides news links on a daily basis.

Lyr is a Professor at Parker University in Dallas, Texas and a VR researcher. Since 2005, she taught 54 university classes in virtual worlds and mentored 800+ 13-year-old students. Her team won the $25,000 Grand Prize for their space simulation and she received the Thinkerer Award for her passion for virtual world education. She loves OpenSimulator and is proud to be a member of the OSCC Organizing Committee.

Robert Adams has been an OpenSimulator core developer for many years.
His OpenSimulator work includes the BulletSim physics engine, varregions, the DSG (distributed scene graph) simulator experiment, and many performance improvements.

Outside OpenSimulator, he has been a computer developer and researcher for 40 years.

His current interests are in distributed computing and robotics.

Inventor of ragdoll physics. MSCS, Stanford. The Nagle Algorithm in TCP. In Silicon Valley.

“Dr. Elaine Hoter is a trailblazer in collaborative online teaching, with over 25 years of experience in the field. A senior lecturer at Talpiot College in Holon, she taught an online collaborative course in 1995, organized and led the first-ever International online Teachers Conference in 2001, and co-founded the TEC Center (Education Technology and Social Diversity) in 2005. She has developed 20 virtual worlds, including two MOOCs on EdX which include virtual worlds: one an advanced spoken English course (B2 level) and the other is in Intercultural Education in Hebrew, Arabic and English.

Dr. Hoter’s contributions to the field of education and research have been recognized globally, as she has given lectures and workshops on all continents. She is a Fulbright graduate and is known for her innovative approach to teaching, which focuses on creating inclusive and diverse learning environments. Her work has had a significant impact on the way educators around the world approach online teaching and learning.”

Jeremy has been developing Virtual World environments for education since 2006 and developing websites since 2001. His Virtual World projects include: Israel Island, TEC Island (for TEC), Mega-Cities (for CET Israel), MOOC Island (for Talpiot College), Spaces (for CET Israel), Paramedic Training Simulations (for Magen David Adom), Ipcha Island (for Ipcha, Israel), Beit Berl Island (for Beit Berl College), Kadima Island and many others. He specializes in creating interactive environments designed to assist and further the educational process with fun and immersive content.

Bruce became drawn to 3D Virtual Immersive Environments for training after being introduced to them at a professional association meeting for trainers. Bruce realized they created opportunities for both synchronous and asynchronous trainings for learners, and offered a very cost-effective solution for companies utilizing them. He realized that 3D environments enabled better engagement for learners, and began implementing use of 3D Environments as replacements for PowerPoint slides in webinars (where he had attendees watch via the webinar screen as he explored the topics in the 3D world). And he was able to convince the company leadership to try a pilot program using 3D worlds for training as a substitute for the expensive face-to-face, week-long training marathons that had been a staple of the company leadership development.

After completing the highly successful pilot 3D leadership training series, he was able to continue and expand the 3D course offerings and subsequently ran a 5-year 3D-based training program before retiring from the company. Holding certifications in DDI®️, Forte®️, and 3D Virtual Worlds from the University of Washington (2012), Bruce brings a broad spectrum of experience in training and enjoys using and sharing knowledge gained from his 15+plus years of training experience.

Kimm Starr is the creator of the OpenSim Brand “Virtual Vignette” Animesh found on the Kitely and Second Life Market. Kimm is an Artist in RL and has over 30 years of experience in Graphic & Visual Art. She became interested in 3d art after joining Second Life in 2007 and tries to find innovative ways to create worlds in OpenSim.

Carla Kincaid-Yoshikawa has worked as an Organization Development and Training Consultant for many years. Working in a wide range of industries in the private, public and non-profit sectors, she has designed, developed, and facilitated training programs on a wide array of topics including leadership development, strategic planning, change management, software navigation, new hire orientation, sexual harassment, and stress management. A deep curiosity about how people learn, change and grow has created a core resource for her ongoing work in Learning and Development.

She became interested in the use of 3D platforms after her son introduced her to 3D games as she recuperated from an injury. She saw them as powerful tools with significant capabilities that would enhance online/remote learning and began exploring how to use them as part of a comprehensive blended learning solution. Carla continues to use many technologies in her work, relying on skills developed creating and facilitating face-to-face training, as well as self-paced e-learnings and traditional remote learning (e.g., Zoom, aka webinars) to design effective learning

Bruce became drawn to 3D Virtual Immersive Environments for training after being introduced to them at a professional association meeting for trainers. Bruce realized they created opportunities for both synchronous and asynchronous trainings for learners, and offered a very cost-effective solution for companies utilizing them. He realized that 3D environments enabled better engagement for learners, and began implementing use of 3D Environments as replacements for PowerPoint slides in webinars (where he had attendees watch via the webinar screen as he explored the topics in the 3D world). And he was able to convince the company leadership to try a pilot program using 3D worlds for training as a substitute for the expensive face-to-face, week-long training marathons that had been a staple of the company leadership development.

After completing the highly successful pilot 3D leadership training series, he was able to continue and expand the 3D course offerings and subsequently ran a 5-year 3D-based training program before retiring from the company. Holding certifications in DDI®️, Forte®️, and 3D Virtual Worlds from the University of Washington (2012), Bruce brings a broad spectrum of experience in training and enjoys using and sharing knowledge gained from his 15+plus years of training experience.

Maria Korolov is a published author and covers artificial intelligence for CIO magazine and cybersecurity for CSO online. She is also the editor of Hypergrid Business since 2009. During her twenty years as a journalist, she’s run a business news bureau in Shanghai, covered wars in the former Soviet Union, and wrote about local politics for the Chicago Tribune.

Maria Korolov is a published author and covers artificial intelligence for CIO magazine and cybersecurity for CSO online. She is also the editor of Hypergrid Business since 2009. During her twenty years as a journalist, she’s run a business news bureau in Shanghai, covered wars in the former Soviet Union, and wrote about local politics for the Chicago Tribune.

My name is Maria Magdalena, and I am known as Marcel Mosswood in SL. I’m the founder and teacher of Suluh Bangsa Mulia, a metaverse school based in Indonesia.

I am also known as Marcel Mosswood in SL.

https://about.marcellinamaria.my.id

Marie Vans is an an associate professor in the department of Systems Engineering at Colorado State University where her research is focused on the use of Augmented and Virtual Reality for education. I am currently teaching a course on design and implementation of educational experiences using social virtual reality platforms. She is also on the faculty of the San José State University, School of Information.

Bethany Winslow is the director of online learning for the School of Information at San José State University. Prior to joining the iSchool she worked as an instructional designer consulting with faculty to assist in revising high quality online courses, and also to integrate a variety of teaching technologies with the curriculum. Bethany studied sociology at the University of California Santa Cruz, graduating with honors. She earned a master’s degree in education, specific to online teaching and learning, from the California State University at East-Bay.

Cuga Rajal is an active content creator and assists with OpenSimulator core development. He provides physics engine support and testing, produces unmanaged libraries for Apple/macOS hardware, and developed a process to update Bullet to the latest version 3.25. He leads the DMV at Burn2, the Burning Man regional in Second Life, where he manages scripting and resources for a large collection of “art car” land vehicles, along with cross-grid scripting compatibility.

Blending the beautiful sounds of her native Portugal with her love of her the songs of her life in the US, Zoree Jupiter’s voice and performance is undeniably real, powerful sensual and yet with a whisper of the fragility of the soul in every song she sings. Whether it is Pop, Disco, Blues, Rock , Latin, Burlesque, other favorites – or even Portuguese Fado Singing – Zoree Jupiter is a performer that you do not want to miss, and will return again and again to see and hear. An accomplished and successful artist in both Second Life and First Life as well as having sung at such famous venues as Carnegie Hall, Zoree shares her amazing talent for the poetic, the passionate and the emotion now on stage with her voice.

James Olmos (SL: Acoustic Energy) is a songwriter & photographer who finds creative outlets through life’s moments. His inspiration and muse, along with medium often changes as he discovers and crosses new paths. James takes chances with his art and is constantly evolving. He is curious and can’t sit still. James gets anxious and craves exploration on many levels. His social network posts range from songs he has written, photographs he’s captured and blog ramblings about his philosophical thoughts and life’s moments. James also enjoys a healthful lifestyle and is passionate about obstacle course racing, mud runs, trail runs and the all-out, kick ass times he has while breathing, living, and journeying through life’s moments. As for his music, James is one of those artists who doesn’t need 1,000 listeners; he only needs one to listen. He doesn’t need a 1,000 viewers; just one to see.

Soft spoken Macy came to Rockin’ the blues in 2015 with no DJ Experience, just a love of the Blues! She was scared and shy but knew she wanted to play music that people would love. With the help of DJ Kira and Macy’s peers at Rockin’ the Blues, she became a seasoned DJ with a loyal following! DJ Macy spins every Friday night at Rockin’ the Blues on Wyldwood Bayou Grid. Rockin’ the Blues has been in existence for 11 years and features an eclectic mix of blues genres and fun every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday beginning at 6 pm. Hot Daddy’s is a DJ’s choice venue with a wide variety of music types & themes every Monday beginning at 6 pm.

OpenSim World for Rockin’ The Blues venue: https://opensimworld.com/hop/80282
OpenSim World for our Hot Daddy’s venue: https://opensimworld.com/hop/80784
OpenSim World for the WWB Roleplay Hub: https://opensimworld.com/hop/83426

Kay McLennan is a Professor of Practice at the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement. Kay created the Tulane SoPA Metaverse (newly known as the SoPA Metaversity) and has been creating and using virtual world learning simulations in her online economics and business studies courses since 2008. Kay uses student feedback to continually refine and expand the educational simulations she creates to use in her e-courses. She has written about her creation and use of OpenSimulator-based learning simulations – see “Interactivity, Engagement, and Increased Learning Outcomes in 3D Virtual World Educational Simulations” (@ http://www.editlib.org/p/40849), “Prisoners’ Dilemma” simulation use case example (@ https://sites.google.com/view/the-prisoners-dilemma/home), and “Data Detectives Game” simulation use case example (@ https://sites.google.com/view/data-detectives-game). Also, the video clips from the December 2018 “Mainstreaming Virtual World Learning Colloquium” event – organized by Kay — can be viewed @ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLctERt0Fl50gLOgYPdfHDE8NcPtuO4wb0.

“VirtualPedagogy@mastodon.world
BlueSky@kaymc.bsky.social”

Lisa Laxton is the Founder of Infinite Metaverse Alliance® (IMA) and President of Laxton Consulting with experience providing various solutions for education, research, business, and defense clients. You may have seen her around the Hyperverse as Shelenn Ayres busy building content or engaged in testing but she is available via meetings to anyone in the Open Simulator community interested in collaborating to advance virtual worlds technology and/or to improve accessibility by design.

https://www.opensimfest.com/
https://echovoice.infinitemetaverse.org/

Frank Rulof is a retired Senior Systems Engineer from Thales Netherlands with expertise areas in Training & Simulation. He led research and innovation activities related to Open Simulator technology within the Thales Global Company using multiple Open Simulator grids focused on user needs. He continues project efforts during his retirement by continuing collaboration with IMA.

Mike has been working in software development and IT for over 40 years. His experience with Virtual Worlds and OpenSimulator goes back to 2006 as an SL user and as a developer early involvement in OpenSimulator as well as many years of volunteer development on the InWorldz OpenSimulator variant – Halcyon, Mike provides development support for the Utopia Skye Grid, operating since 2018, and is leading the OpenSimulator-NGC project.

Ori Shapira is a High-tech entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in educational technologies and
14 years of research and development of virtual worlds CEO and co founder of Eureka World. 3D3C platform for learning, teaching and training

“Dr. Elaine Hoter is a trailblazer in collaborative online teaching, with over 25 years of experience in the field. A senior lecturer at Talpiot College in Holon, she taught an online collaborative course in 1995, organized and led the first-ever International online Teachers Conference in 2001, and co-founded the TEC Center (Education Technology and Social Diversity) in 2005. She has developed 20 virtual worlds, including two MOOCs on EdX which include virtual worlds: one an advanced spoken English course (B2 level) and the other is in Intercultural Education in Hebrew, Arabic and English.

Dr. Hoter’s contributions to the field of education and research have been recognized globally, as she has given lectures and workshops on all continents. She is a Fulbright graduate and is known for her innovative approach to teaching, which focuses on creating inclusive and diverse learning environments. Her work has had a significant impact on the way educators around the world approach online teaching and learning.”

Jeremy has been developing Virtual World environments for education since 2006 and developing websites since 2001. His Virtual World projects include: Israel Island, TEC Island (for TEC), Mega-Cities (for CET Israel), MOOC Island (for Talpiot College), Spaces (for CET Israel), Paramedic Training Simulations (for Magen David Adom), Ipcha Island (for Ipcha, Israel), Beit Berl Island (for Beit Berl College), Kadima Island and many others. He specializes in creating interactive environments designed to assist and further the educational process with fun and immersive content.

Ori Shapira is a High-tech entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in educational technologies and
14 years of research and development of virtual worlds CEO and co founder of Eureka World. 3D3C platform for learning, teaching and training

Mal Burns is host of the “Inworld Review” – a weekly news and discussion program mostly focused on the hypergrid which has been running for over 15 years. Mal has used virtual environments for nearly two decades, is concerned about user interfaces in general and has a wealth of media and design experience behind him. In the organic sphere he is now retired and uses his experience to deploy and promote immersive spaces. He also has a twitter stream (@malburns) which provides news links on a daily basis.

Lyr is a Professor at Parker University in Dallas, Texas and a VR researcher. Since 2005, she taught 54 university classes in virtual worlds and mentored 800+ 13-year-old students. Her team won the $25,000 Grand Prize for their space simulation and she received the Thinkerer Award for her passion for virtual world education. She loves OpenSimulator and is proud to be a member of the OSCC Organizing Committee.

Nara Malone is an award-winning author, poet, and game writer. In addition she is a pioneering virtual world explorer, environmentalist, and game developer. Nara loves pushing the boundaries of all that is creative or geeky.

https://www.youtube.com/@nextdimensiontales

Award Winning author Siobhan Muir lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and writes kick-ass adventure with romance for men and women to enjoy. She’s been working in OpenSimulator for 11 years, meshing written stories with visual and virtual scenes that readers can walk through. She’s created hypergrid stories with sometimes amusing results – disappearing teapots, anyone? – and is bridging the gap between non-gamers and virtual storytelling.

Dorena: Dorena Bree, who used to go by Endora Twinklens in OpenSim, has been a part of Nara’s Nook since 2014. This was her first experience in 3D story building and she continues to learn something new every day. Primarily, she enjoys helping the writers at the Nook by making props for their stories. Her own stories tend to be comedically entwined with her love for campy B movies.”

Romance Author, Graphic Artist and Content Creator.

Lyr is a Professor at Parker University in Dallas, Texas and a VR researcher. Since 2005, she taught 54 university classes in virtual worlds and mentored 800+ 13-year-old students. Her team won the $25,000 Grand Prize for their space simulation and she received the Thinkerer Award for her passion for virtual world education. She loves OpenSimulator and is proud to be a member of the OSCC Organizing Committee.

Mal Burns is host of the “Inworld Review” – a weekly news and discussion program mostly focused on the hypergrid which has been running for over 15 years. Mal has used virtual environments for nearly two decades, is concerned about user interfaces in general and has a wealth of media and design experience behind him. In the organic sphere he is now retired and uses his experience to deploy and promote immersive spaces. He also has a twitter stream (@malburns) which provides news links on a daily basis.

I work at the intersection of design, research, technology, & market to develop innovative products leveraging AI and spatial computing for entertainment, games, AVs, robotics, intelligence augmentation, and augmented ecosystems. Currently I’m working on a simulation game about the future of our planet and life centered AI that brings together nature, humans, and AI. In our divided world we are unable to address the global challenge of our collective future. Through play we are creating an opportunity for us to design together a better future for our planet and AI.

Mike Lorrey has a long history in Virtual Worlds and VR. As an editor of cyberpunk author Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver Metaweb wiki, and an early participant in Blaxxun, he has been affiliated with the Extropy Institute transhumanist futurist think tank, developing proposals and solutions for many technology based problems foreseen by the organiztion in the 1990s. Since joining Second Life in 2006 he became one of the top 25 land barons and developed the first virtual stock exchange, capitalized the first commercial opensim grid, as well as being a pioneer in blockchain technology development. He is currently a Director of the International Spaceflight Museum with facilities in SL and Kitely, and is founder of Galactic Systems and the Galactic Virtual World grid. He cofounded the OMRG earlier this year.

Retired CPA, opera singer, fiber artist. I’ve been making character avatars since 2006, rigged mesh since 2010. Co-founder of Avatar Repertory Theater 2007-2017 and AnonLiterary Magazine 2007-2009 with Iain McCracken. Founder of New Media Arts Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity whose mission is virtual community libraries, arts and education, since 2010.

RuthAndRoth
Organization Members:
Ada Radius (3D CGI artist, avatar design & rigging);
Ai Austin (professor emeritus The University of Edinburgh, software engineer, tester);
Serie Sumei (resource management, scripter, graphics).

https://www.linkedin.com/in/judith-adele-13a3b616/

https://www.pinterest.com/adaradius/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063886281550

Ai Austin is the virtual worlds avatar of Austin Tate, Emeritus Professor, AIAI, University of Edinburgh and Coordinator for the Virtual University of Edinburgh.

https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/~ai/
https://blog.inf.ed.ac.uk/atate/

Serie has developed and managed multiple Open Source software projects and is currently an admin in the RuthAndRoth Github organziation.

After 4 decades of writing code in the Real World, Kayaker Magic has been scripting in virtual worlds since 2008. By taking apart items made by Arcadia Asylum, Kayaker learned a great deal about building vehicles in OpenSim, animating, 3D modeling, UV mapping, texture mapping and efficient mesh. He wants to preserve Arcadia’s work so others can learn these lessons as well.

MikesKayakJournal.net

Retired CPA, opera singer, fiber artist. I’ve been making character avatars since 2006, rigged mesh since 2010. Co-founder of Avatar Repertory Theater 2007-2017 and AnonLiterary Magazine 2007-2009 with Iain McCracken. Founder of New Media Arts Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity whose mission is virtual community libraries, arts and education, since 2010.

RuthAndRoth
Organization Members:
Ada Radius (3D CGI artist, avatar design & rigging);
Ai Austin (professor emeritus The University of Edinburgh, software engineer, tester);
Serie Sumei (resource management, scripter, graphics).

https://www.linkedin.com/in/judith-adele-13a3b616/

https://www.pinterest.com/adaradius/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063886281550

Dr. Valerie Hill is a library and information science educator with a research focus on the intersection of information literacy and global digital participatory culture. She has taught at all age levels, served as a school librarian, and is a National Writing Project trainer. She is a co-coordinator of the Virtual Worlds Education Consortium and Director of the Community Virtual Library.

https://valibrarian.net/

https://about.me/valibrarian
https://www.metaverselibraries.org/
https://communityvirtuallibrary.org/

Dr. Becky Adams has been in education as a teacher, instructional designer, and Higher Education administrator for 26 years. She was the Director for Online Course Development at the University of New Mexico until her recent retirement. She has been using Virtual Worlds for her undergraduate and graduate students in both face to face and online classes since 2009 and finds it a creative environment for project based teaching and learning. She is co-coordinator of the Virtual Worlds Education Consortium and serves on the board of several virtual world organizations.

Bruce became drawn to 3D Virtual Immersive Environments for training after being introduced to them at a professional association meeting for trainers. Bruce realized they created opportunities for both synchronous and asynchronous trainings for learners, and offered a very cost-effective solution for companies utilizing them. He realized that 3D environments enabled better engagement for learners, and began implementing use of 3D Environments as replacements for PowerPoint slides in webinars (where he had attendees watch via the webinar screen as he explored the topics in the 3D world). And he was able to convince the company leadership to try a pilot program using 3D worlds for training as a substitute for the expensive face-to-face, week-long training marathons that had been a staple of the company leadership development.

After completing the highly successful pilot 3D leadership training series, he was able to continue and expand the 3D course offerings and subsequently ran a 5-year 3D-based training program before retiring from the company. Holding certifications in DDI®️, Forte®️, and 3D Virtual Worlds from the University of Washington (2012), Bruce brings a broad spectrum of experience in training and enjoys using and sharing knowledge gained from his 15+plus years of training experience.

Shannon Broden (Kreatya Shannon) is a Masters of Library Science and Information Science student at San Jose State University. She volunteers helping the VWEC with the metaverse database project.

Sally S. Cherry, MLS(ASCP) aka SallyC is a Medical Laboratory Scientist specializing in STI Laboratory Methods Training and Consulting who is also a tech geek. As a 3D Immersive Virtual Worlds Evangelist and Virtual Content Creator, she is passionate about creating 3D immersive virtual environments for the purpose of sharing special interest information; conducting laboratory training; promoting public health messages; raising public awareness about medical laboratory science careers; and fostering collaborative networks. Her real (physical) life and virtual worlds projects and activities are inspired by her vision… “Real To Virtual; Virtual To Real” (R2V2R).

https://Linktr.ee/CherryNetwork

https://opensimworld.com/user/SallyCherry/blog
https://discord.com/channels/sallyc4614
https://www.youtube.com/@sarvonne
https://www.tiktok.com/@r2v2rliving
http://virtualnetworkweaver.com”

Beth Ghostraven has been playing around with her appearance in virtual worlds since 2010. Tired of hunting for non-skanky clothing to wear to meetings and events, she started designing system and prim clothing for educators and other professionals. Her clothing is available FREE at the Ghostraven Professional Attire shop at OSCC, in Region 5.

Dr. Rachel Umoren is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Adjunct Associate Professor of Healthcare Simulation Science and Global Health at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on innovative uses of technology to improve the quality of newborn care.

Mr Cook is a Research Engineer at the University of Washington and lead developer for the virtual ENC project.

Joyce Bettencourt is co-founder and Vice President of AvaCon, Inc.(https://avacon.org), a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting the growth, enhancement, and development of the metaverse, virtual worlds, augmented reality and 3D immersive spaces. AvaCon were organizers of 2010 in Boston & 2011 in Oakland Second Life Community Convention, the Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds virtual workshops, and the ongoing OpenSimulator Community Conference. AvaCon also currently fiscally sponsors the nonprofit community of practice, Nonprofit Commons in Second Life, where Joyce has been a community leader and host of weekly Friday meetings.

In addition, she is Creative Director of The Vesuvius Group (http://thevesuviusgroup.com), a collaborative studio specializing in developing online immersive and social environments for community-building. Joyce is a 2012 graduate of the Singularity University Graduate Studies program, focused on applying exponential technologies to addressing Global Grand Challenges.

Previously she was digital media producer for the Online Leadership Program at the educational nonprofit Global Kids and helped produce digital media learning content including the Second Life Curriculum, many virtual and physical world events, and the social issue game CONSENT! As her avatar Rhiannon Chatnoir, she has organized numerous social good online events, including the Virtual Haiti Relief campaign within the virtual world of Second Life that helped raise awareness and $10,000 USD in virtual micro transactions.

http://about.me/joycebettencourt

DJ Kith Whitehawk is the owner of Rockin’ The Blues and other music venues on Wyldwood Bayou Grid. Rockin’ the Blues has been in existence for 11 years and features an eclectic mix of blues genres and fun every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday beginning at 6 pm. Hot Daddy’s is a DJ’s choice venue with a wide variety of music types & themes every Monday beginning at 6 pm. DJ Kith performs at Rockin’ The Blues on Saturday nights starting at 7:30 pm, 1st & 3rd Sundays at 6 pm and at Hot Daddy’s on the fourth Monday of each month at 6 pm.

Grid location: https://opensimworld.com/hop/80282

Rosa brings her “Latin Party” to her mixes in many virtual worlds with tunes from all your favorite Latin superstars of music! You’ll hear songs from artists like Carlos Santana, Pitbull, J-Lo, Christina Aguilera, Celia Cruz, Rick Martin and several other artists from Latin countries!

After 4 decades of writing code in the Real World, Kayaker Magic has been scripting in virtual worlds since 2008. By taking apart items made by Arcadia Asylum, Kayaker learned a great deal about building vehicles in OpenSim, animating, 3D modeling, UV mapping, texture mapping and efficient mesh. He wants to preserve Arcadia’s work so others can learn these lessons as well.

MikesKayakJournal.net

Andrew Stricker serves as an innovation and strategy analyst for LeMay Center at Air University. Previously, Dr. Stricker served Vanderbilt University as associate provost for innovation through technology. He has also served 27 years as an Air Force officer and scientist specializing in learning sciences and human-factors engineering. His research is focused on modeling adaptive expertise and the design of learning technologies. His graduate work was conducted at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas and Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Lyr is a Professor at Parker University in Dallas, Texas and a VR researcher. Since 2005, she taught 54 university classes in virtual worlds and mentored 800+ 13-year-old students. Her team won the $25,000 Grand Prize for their space simulation and she received the Thinkerer Award for her passion for virtual world education. She loves OpenSimulator and is proud to be a member of the OSCC Organizing Committee.

Having worked for many years as a DJ in RL, Kat brought her love of music and Irish charm to virtual worlds. She is also quite the 3D modelor, game designer, coder, and builder with that unique sense of humor and personality like no other. You can catch Kat’s shows at the 381 Club in sinespace where this witch from Northern Ireland spins tunes three times a week from 6-8 pm Eastern Time on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Joyce Bettencourt is co-founder and Vice President of AvaCon, Inc.(https://avacon.org), a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to promoting the growth, enhancement, and development of the metaverse, virtual worlds, augmented reality and 3D immersive spaces. AvaCon were organizers of 2010 in Boston & 2011 in Oakland Second Life Community Convention, the Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds virtual workshops, and the ongoing OpenSimulator Community Conference. AvaCon also currently fiscally sponsors the nonprofit community of practice, Nonprofit Commons in Second Life, where Joyce has been a community leader and host of weekly Friday meetings.

In addition, she is Creative Director of The Vesuvius Group (http://thevesuviusgroup.com), a collaborative studio specializing in developing online immersive and social environments for community-building. Joyce is a 2012 graduate of the Singularity University Graduate Studies program, focused on applying exponential technologies to addressing Global Grand Challenges.

Previously she was digital media producer for the Online Leadership Program at the educational nonprofit Global Kids and helped produce digital media learning content including the Second Life Curriculum, many virtual and physical world events, and the social issue game CONSENT! As her avatar Rhiannon Chatnoir, she has organized numerous social good online events, including the Virtual Haiti Relief campaign within the virtual world of Second Life that helped raise awareness and $10,000 USD in virtual micro transactions.

http://about.me/joycebettencourt

Michael Bailey has been working with technology for the past 24 years. Originally a programmer, he discovered Second Life in 2007, and then became invested in the OpenSimulator project in 2009. Since then, he has acquired expertise scripting and building in virtual environments, as well as familiarity with the OpenSimulator software and it’s configuration. As an open source advocate, he makes heavy use of tools such as Blender and Open Broadcaster Studio. He’s streamed for the OpenSimulator Community Conference (OSCC) since 2014. He was instrumental in the OSCC 2016 live streaming setup, coordination, training, and A/V promotional materials. Currently a staff member at AvaCon Inc., he is dedicated to promoting projects for social good by means of video tutorials, presentations on useful software, and content creation.

David is a Character Creator, MOCAP and iClone MOCAP Animator, Unity Game Designer, and Metaverse Consultant in the area of Charleston, South Carolina. His past work has included game-based design for the military and designing an undergraduate course on virtual worlds for Rasmussen College. He is a digital aborigine, who aspires to find new, innovative, and creative ways to use gaming and virtual world technologies to make the world a better place.
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– Portfolio: http://character-animator.weebly.com/

AvaCon volunteer staff member and fan of Open Simulator. Also does a weekly webcast with Mal Burns.

AvaCon staff member for many years.