Free Virtual Event: Thinking and Learning in 3D

Thinking and Learning in 3D: How to Create Successful Virtual Learning Experiences

Wednesday, December 7 from 2 – 3 pm EST in VenueGen

In this age of far-flung workforces, reduced budgets and digital communication, we’re all seeking a way to replicate the engagement of face-to-face instructor-led training (ILT) online. To do this, a growing number of organizations−corporate and academic alike−are turning to immersive 3D environments: virtual classrooms that employ live avatars to let remote teams interact and engage with one another as naturally and effectively as they would in the physical classroom.

Randy Hinrichs, author of "Transforming Virtual World Learning" to present in VenueGen

But what does it take to successfully train and learn in 3D? Join Randy Hinrichs, online training expert and author of the new book Transforming Virtual World Learning as he presents the latest research on how to plan, design, develop and implement a successful 3D virtual learning program. In this interactive VenueGen seminar, you’ll experience first-hand the value of immersive 3D learning while discovering the answers to questions like:

• What does it mean to think in 3D? How does thinking in 3D transform the way we learn?
• How is training and learning in 3D different than in a physical classroom?
• How can instructors adapt the social rules of face-to-face interaction to create successful learning experiences online?
• How can you leverage your current instructional design assets and methods in a 3D virtual classroom?

Register to win a copy of Randy's new book.

Randy will also share real-life case studies about the successful use of 3D virtual environments for managing faculty development, conducting intercultural collaboration, integrating departments, and more.

A drawing for a free copy of Hinrich’s book, Transforming Virtual World Learning, is being sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Everyone who <registers for the event> will be automatically entered to win, so the giveaway is not limited only to those who are able to attend.

Don’t have a VenueGen account yet? It’s fast, easy and free to sign up. Just click the Register button below to get started.

Virtual seats are limited to the first 40 people to arrive on the day of event, so register now to get a headstart!

Free Virtual Event: “3D Virtual Learning: Cheaper, Easier & More Robust”

A Second Glance at 3D Virtual Learning: Cheaper, Easier, and More Robust

Wednesday, September 28 from 2 – 3 pm Eastern in VenueGen.

Caroline Avey of ACS Learning Services, a Xerox company

Join training expert Caroline Avey, Director of Innovative Solutions at ACS Learning Services, a Xerox company, for this limited-seat, interactive virtual presentation. Learn from her first-hand experience helping clients evaluate, select and implement various immersive training environments.

• Discover what’s new in the next generation of immersive virtual training environments
• Compare the functionality and cost models of today’s platforms
• Learn the major factors that every organization should consider when evaluating virtual worldsvirtual

Only a few short years ago, the learning industry was enamored with the idea of immersive, or 3D, virtual worlds. They held promise of training more learners more efficiently than ever–without sacrificing the engagement and interactivity of the physical classroom. But for most of us, the love affair was quickly cut short by early problems with security, usability, bandwidth requirements, and cost.

3D worlds for business use may have faded from the spotlight in recent years, but behind the scenes, the latest virtual training environments have matured to fulfill their early promise: a viable online solution that’s as easy, natural, and effective as face-to-face instructor-led training.

Don’t have a VenueGen account yet? It’s fast, easy and free to sign up. Just click the Register button below to get started.

Virtual seats are limited to the first 40 people to arrive on the day of event, so register now to get a headstart!

Press Release: Immersive e-Classrooms Boost Engagement and ROI for ILT: VenueGen to Discuss at eLearning DEVCON and ICELW

VenueGen CEO and President will explore how virtual environments can make distance education as powerful as face-to-face instruction

(Research Triangle Park, NC: June 3, 2011) “Virtual instructor-led training (ILT) and distance education programs are only as powerful as their ability to truly engage dispersed teams,” says David Gardner, CEO and creator of VenueGen (www.VenueGen.com), an immersive virtual classroom and collaboration lab. “If learners are less involved, engaged, and present in the e-classroom than they are in the physical classroom, then where’s the ROI of going virtual? Even if you reduce travel and time out-of-field, a disengaged workforce is less effective and more costly over time.”

Gardner and VenueGen President Jeff Crown will explore this gap between face-to-face and virtual ILT, as well as the potential of new immersive e-classroom platforms to finally bridge it, with a presentation titled “Making Virtual Environments Work for Distance Education” at two June 2011 conferences.

Gardner will speak Thursday, June 9 at the International Conference for eLearning in the Workplace (ICELW) 2011, from 2 – 3 pm EDT at Columbia University in New York, NY. To learn more about the Conference or to register to attend, please visit www.icelw.org.

Crown’s presentation will take place at eLearning DEVCON 2011 in Salt Lake City, UT Wednesday, June 15 from 11:30 am – 12:15 pm as part of the conference’s Project Management track. Conference and registration information is available at www.elearningdevcon.com.

Making Virtual Environments Work for Distance Education will explore the following topics:

• The value of immersive virtual training environments—beyond simply reducing travel costs—to enterprise organizations;
• The strengths and weaknesses of currently available immersive technologies;
• How to utilize these technologies to demonstrate measurable impact on learning;
• Common mistakes and pitfalls encountered when adopting virtual environments for ILT;
• Risks and critical success factors that should be considered when planning online learning strategies.

For more information, or to schedule an interview or meeting with Gardner or Crown at the events, please contact Kate Hendrick by phone at 919-727-9089, by email at khendrick@venuegen.com, or via Twitter at www.twitter.com/venuegen.

On Our Calendar: Join us for Partnering for Performance 2011

May 3 – 5. Raleigh Convention Center. Between Ballrooms 305 & 306.

Come by our table!

• Exclusive to conference attendees: Sign up for to try VenueGen free for 15 days.

• Discover how to train your remote workforce online without sacrificing the engagement of face-to-face instructor-led training.

• Demo how immersive e-classrooms for virtual ILT improve both learner engagement and trainer efficacy.

Partnering for Performance is hosted by TrainingIndustry, Inc. Visit the website to view the conference agenda and register.

Special Presentation – Virtual Training Environments: Solving the Engagement Problem

Presented by

April 25, 2011. 2 pm ET / 11am PT. Visit TrainingIndustry.com to watch the recording.

A special, limited-seat encore presentation will take place Wednesday, May 25 at 2pm Eastern in VenueGen. Contact us for an invitation.

In an effort to drive efficiency, many of us are exploring virtual environments for instructor-led training. But virtual ILT platforms, particularly those originally designed for web conferencing, can feel more like a barrier to learning than a solution. To improve learning outcomes online, the e-classroom must be just as engaging as the physical classroom.

Join us for this informative and challenging TrainingIndustry.com webinar, sponsored by VenueGen, as we tackle the problem of moving ILT online without sacrificing the engagement and outcomes of face-to-face learning.

In this free, one-hour webinar, we’ll draw from real-world solutions and learning psychology to:

• Quantify what engagement is and why it is so critical to learning outcomes;
• Identify the four subtle but crucial components that foster engagement in learning environments;
• Rank various modalities as to their engagement effectiveness

Join us Online for Virtual Worlds – Best Practices in Education (VWBPE)

VWBPE 2011 Presents:

The Four Factors that Create Engagement in Virtual Learning Environments

Join VenueGen CEO David Gardner for this special virtual presentation

Friday, March 18 2011 at 9am EDT in Second Life.

Abstract: Virtual educators know how difficult it is to maintain control over learners’ attention. Without the interpersonal cues and interactions we share when communicating face-to-face, the learning experience can feel unnatural and disengaging, extracting a heavy toll on knowledge transfer.

But why do virtual programs often seem less conducive to learning than ILT? The missing element is engagement. This session will examine:

1. The crucial nature of engagement to successful learning environments;
2. The four factors for creating engagement;
3. The ability of various online modalities to engage
4. How the immersive web can help simply and cost-effectively replicate the in-person experience.

Speaker Bio: David Gardner is a serial entrepreneur, technology investor and futurist with a proven track record of early identification of paradigm-shifting technologies. He is a trusted advisor concerning new technology trends who believes Web-3D is on the verge of dramatically transforming many web-based business models as we know them today.

Experienced in taking IT products and Internet-service model companies to market, Gardner has founded seven technology companies—including PeopleClick, the first hosted software-as-a-service enterprise application; and healthcare communications technology exchange ProviderLink, now owned by Compuware—without a single failure or loss of investor funds. He has served on several boards, spoken at multiple industry conferences, and published over twenty forward-thinking papers and articles on technical, business and managerial topics.

In 2007, Gardner founded VenueGen (www.VenueGen.com), a company dedicated to creating a new standard of in-browser web-conference platform for more engaging, productive and efficient online training, meetings and events. He currently serves as CEO.

For  more information about how to catch the presentation, visit the VWBPE Conference website or contact Kate Hendrick, director of marketing at VenueGen.

Press Release: eTraining Experts O’Driscoll and Kapp To Host a Talk in VenueGen on Online Learning

Co-authors of the new book “Learning in 3D” will virtually join 40 attendees to explore the impact of the immersive Internet on the future of enterprise learning

(Research Triangle Park, NC: March 9, 2011) Two of the training industry’s most prominent figures, Dr. Tony O’Driscoll of Duke University and Karl Kapp of Bloomsburg University, are teaming up to share their immersive e-learning expertise in a free, limited-seat virtual event March 30 at 11 a.m. EDT in VenueGen. Online registration will open next week, and the 40 virtual seats will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Those who would like to receive an email alert when registration opens can sign up here.

Dr. Tony O'Driscoll

According to O’Driscoll and Kapp—both of whom specialize in the intersection of learning, business and technology—the reason behind the event’s exclusivity is simple. “We want the audience to fully experience how engagement and learning can thrive in an immersive Internet environment,” said O’Driscoll. “By limiting the event to 40 people, every attendee will be able to actively interact, communicate, learn, and share ideas nearly as effectively as if we were in a physical room together, instead of in 40 different locations.”

Karl Kapp, Ed.D.

“Most business-specific Web3D environments are much more simple and natural-feeling to use than many people realize,” added Kapp. “We want to demonstrate that the immersive Internet has a very real value to enterprise training. By boosting user engagement, these environments make it possible to improve learning outcomes online and, ultimately, to increase ROI.”

The panel will be moderated by VenueGen CEO David Gardner.”We are extremely excited about partnering with Tony and Karl for this event,” said Gardner. “Anyone who is interested in training and learning in business environments will benefit immensely from their research.”

O’Driscoll and Kapp are co-authors of a new book titled Learning in 3D: Adding a New Dimension to Enterprise Learning and Collaboration, published by Pfeiffer, an imprint of Wiley. In support of the book, Pfeiffer will hold a drawing for three free copies. Those who sign up for the registration e-mail alert will be automatically entered to win, so the giveaway is not limited only to those who are able to attend.

For information about Learning in 3D, or to purchase a copy, visit the Pfeiffer website.

For more information about the event, please contact Kate Hendrick, director of marketing at VenueGen by phone at 919-228-4995, by email at khendrick@venuegen.com, or via Twitter at @VenueGen.

Hypergrid Business: Arizona school goes virtual with VenueGen

By Maria Korolov

Read the article on Hypergrid Business

EXCERPT: Chris Lineberry is the principal of the Florence Virtual Academy in Florence, Arizona.

Chris Lineberry

“One of the problems with online schooling is building a sense of community,” he said. So the school decided to use the VenueGen Web-based meeting platform because it offered the ease of use and security his school needed at an affordable price. “This gives us a real ability to reach students,” he said.

Immersion.VenueGen users get a sense of immersion – of “actually being there” – when they attend virtual events on the platform. As a result, it helps bring students together who are located around the school district, or, in fact, anywhere in the state. The school also holds all its staff meetings in VenueGen, as well as meetings between teachers and students.

Staff meeting in VenueGen. (Image courtesy Chris Lineberry.)

“What I really like about it is the sense of immersion that the kids and the staff are able to get from it,” he said. The schools serves a wide variety of students…But they know the value of a high school diploma and a quality education,” he said.

Read the whole article on Hypergrid Business.

Training Industry: Gartner, Inc. Taps VenueGen as a “Cool Vendor” in Social Software & Collaboration

VenueGen, a leading 3-D Virtual Meeting and Training platform provider, has been named one of the Cool Vendors in Social Software and Collaboration in the April 6, 2010 research report published by Carol Rozwell of Gartner, Inc.

As stated in the Gartner report, “the five vendors profiled in this Cool Vendors research demonstrate the breadth of social-software tools. On one hand, they can use the social network to solve problems. In addition, they can provide a platform for engagement in virtual environments that’s superior to more traditional settings.”

Gartner, Inc. names VenueGen a "Cool Vendor" of 2010 for it's e-training app

VenueGen’s 3-D meeting and training platform is delivered as a browser-based software as a service. Users sign up just like a simple Web conferencing tool, and they instantly get a photorealistic avatar based on a picture of themselves. Unlike passive audio and Web conferencing, users are engaged, vocal, and actively participating, thanks to the virtual environment replication of a real conference environment. VenueGen starts at $90 per month, and free 30 day trials are available.

“Billions of dollars are spent each year on business meeting travel, training, and distance learning. The 3-D meeting, collaboration and corporate training markets are accelerating. 3D meeting platforms are becoming mainstream applications,” said David Gardner, CEO VenueGen. “We believe Gartner has identified this trend and we are proud to have been included in the Gartner Cool Vendor report. At $90 per month, VenueGen becomes attractive to every company using audio, video and web conferencing. Our video shows how VenueGen is remarkably different.”

VenueGen features:

• Automated setup - Sign-up is as fast as a Web conferencing tool. Users set their avatar profile and their avatar moves and acts like they would in the real world.

• Photo realistic avatar – Users can upload a photo, it maps to the avatars face, and people can see you and identify you instantly in a meeting. Avatars look just like their owners. No cartoons, no game characters — you look businesslike, and you get business done.

• Positional sound – Drag your mouse left, drag your mouse right, and you scan the room and will see and hear people exactly as they are positioned in the room. This dramatically reduces audio fatigue experienced in typical audio and Web conferences.

• Integrated content – Share documents, PowerPoint, or browse the web while you are in the 3D room.

• Ease-of-use – No menus, no keystrokes. Users simply right click their mouse, and options such as “sit in this chair,” “walk over here,” “point at this person” appear. Users are productive in minutes.

• Replicate the real world – You can be in Paris, London, New York in the same afternoon. Without any video equipment, you can conduct lifelike 3-D meetings with colleagues and partners around the world. All you need is a laptop, and either voice over IP, or any telephone line (standard dial-in like Web conferencing)

Used for Corporate Training & Collaborative Meetings

• Corporate training - Put dozens or hundreds of people in a virtual room, sharing content and ideas, and running productive virtual training classes that are truly engaging. Attendees learn more, retain more, and are more vested in the outcome. They leave training classes connected to their colleagues and revitalized, with high recall of information and ready for action.
• Meetings – Every business line manager has staff meetings, project meetings, informational meetings and more. Team members are all over the country or the world. VenueGen is used for these applications in small to large companies from millions to billions in revenue.

A 30 day trial is available at VenueGen.com.

Training Tech Talk: Tips for Creating Engaging Web Conferencing

Read the full article on Training Tech Talk

Creating engagement via Web conference is challenging even with small groups, and large groups can be almost prohibitively difficult to monitor. The ideal solution would recreate the natural engagement and interactivity of face-to-face instructor-led training (ILT) in a way that’s as easy, convenient, and accessible as Web conferencing. A handful of up-and-coming companies are introducing Web 3-D apps as a potential solution. They look similar to Second Life in certain basic ways, but are super-intuitive to use and are designed specifically for business use in terms of scalability, participant control, usability, and multi-screen, low-bandwidth content-sharing (a useful feature that ’2-D Web conferencing platforms don’t provide).

The best of these platforms have gone to great effort to recreate the essence of face-to-face communication, without a user learning curve, for better online learning. For example, they feature directional, actual-distance (but adjustable) sound, which studies indicate is crucial to the brain’s ability to quickly absorb information.

They also allow both learners and instructors to be in control of all the non-verbal communicators we semi-consciously use in-person that contribute to an engaging sense of presence. Instructors can tell by sight when learners are focused and engaged from anywhere inside the 3-D training room (and learners know it, so they’re naturally more engaged).

Collaboration flows more freely with more people participating and fewer people talking over one another or ‘checking out.’ Because they’re virtually sitting among their easily identifiable peers instead of alone in front of a 2-D Web conference, learners are more accountable for their presence, so they become more engaged in the course objectives. In essence, being in one of these Web 3-D environments ‘feels’ natural, so both training and learning become almost as naturally engaging as they are with in-person ILT.

- Kate Hendrick, director of marketing for VenueGen