Call for Workshop Participation

About the Workshop

The recent adoption of the Metaverse in various sectors indicates its potential for digital transformation. Technologies like XR, where X = Augmented/ Virtual/ Mixed Reality, will be its key enablers and can be powerful tools for developing nations’ digital educational transformation. These developing nations are often categorized under the Global South. This workshop presents a first step toward the socio-technical Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) aspects of the Metaverse to understand its impact on education in the Global South. The socio-technical approach helps cover human, social, and organizational factors, leading to more acceptable systems for end users and stakeholders. With the Metaverse, students and teachers can log in via different immersive devices and experience different virtual environments fabricated to their individual needs, learning, and teaching styles. It will open up possibilities to explore new situations and access facilities that might be impossible due to physical world constraints. Key concepts covered are – (i) A socio-technical HCI approach to the Metaverse, (ii) an Interaction Design perspective on Avatar representation, and (iii) Understanding human work interaction design in the Metaverse.

This workshop will initiate dialogs on (i) The socio-technical issues of the Metaverse for education in the global south, and (ii) HCI considerations for educational Metaverse human-work interaction design?

We envision a set of heuristics and guidelines resulting from this workshop that may be useful to Designers, Policy Makers, Researchers, Practitioners, etc. in developing the educational metaverse.

You can read the accepted workshop proposal here:-

Organizers

• Dr. Anmol Srivastava, Department of HCD, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi
• Prof. Torkil Clemmensen, Department of Digitalization, Copenhagen Business School
• Prof. Pradeep Yammiyavar, Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad
• Mr. Pankaj Badoni, School of Computer Science, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

Important Date: August 29, 2023 (Hybrid Mode)

Location: Interact 2023, York (UK)

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Workshop Organization

The workshop will bring together experts from various disciplines, including HCI, education, education technology, design, policy-making, sociology, and computer science, to share their experiences, ideas, and insights on this topic.

Interested participants are encouraged to make small presentations of their work and present it in the workshop. This will enable interesting exchange of ideas and also help in preparation of a report that will be put up on this website afterwards. The presentations by participants will non-archival and the participants are free to submit them in any venue afterwards.

Duration:
A one-day workshop will be conducted with a total of five sessions. The workshop will include presentations, group activities, and discussions. The workshop will primarily be conducted in an informal way to enable exchange of ideas and discussion. The detail of these informal sessions are as follows:-

Session 1: Introduction (30 minutes)
The first session will provide an overview of the workshop’s objectives, format, and expectations. The organizers will set the tone for the workshop and provide insights on the latest trends and challenges in metaverse-based education, sociotechnical design, and digital avatars.

Session 2: Case Studies and Presentations (45 minutes)
Participants will present their research papers, case studies, or project proposals related to the workshop’s theme in this session. Each presentation will be followed by a brief Q&A session, where participants can ask questions and share feedback.

Session 3: Group Activity and Discussions (45 minutes)
Participants will be divided into small groups to discuss the challenges and opportunities of adopting the metaverse in developing countries. Each group will be assigned a facilitator to guide the discussion and encourage participants to share their ideas and insights.

Session 4: Framework Development (45 minutes)
Based on the group discussions, participants will work together to develop a framework for a socio-technical HCI approach toward understanding the metaverse for education in the Global South. The framework will include the key socio-technical aspects to consider while designing metaverse-based educational systems.

Session 5: Wrap-Up (15 minutes)
The workshop will conclude with a wrap-up session, where the framework and concept will be discussed, and the next steps for future research will be identified.

Register for Workshop

Venue Location (for in-person attendance): Ron Cooke Hub, 133 Deramore Ln, York YO10 5GE, United Kingdom