Boston Summit Adopts Immersive Education Theme

Immersive education is the theme for the upcoming 2008 Boston Digital Media Summit, to take place at Boston College Jan. 12 and 13. Immersive Education is defined for the summit as the combination of interactive 3D graphics, commercial game and simulation technology, virtual reality, and other rich digital media in education. The immersive education content for the summit is developed by the Immersive Education Initiative, a non-profit international collaboration of universities, colleges, research institutes, consortia, and companies that are working together to define and develop open standards, best practices, platforms, and communities of support for virtual worlds and game-based learning and training systems. Presentations at the summit from educators, researchers, and students will provide an in-depth overview of immersive education and how virtual worlds and game-based learning technologies are used in and out of t he classroom today. Speakers will represent local and national institutions, including Boston College, MIT Media Lab, Amherst College, Federation of American Scientists, Harvard University, Duke University, United States Department of Education, and NASA. Additionally, the conference will feature hands-on workshops and demonstrations of virtual worlds, interactive learning games, and innovative educational technologies The two-day event is open to the public. Teachers, trainers, administrators and students are encouraged to attend both days to participate in open discussion periods that follow the scheduled presentations, panel discussions, and roundtables. For a complete schedule of events and to register for the Boston Digital Media Summit, visit ImmersiveEducation.org.