Group items tagged

Medical training programs are springing up in virtual reality, and they may bring big changes to the way health-care professionals learn their craft. Example of medical school training simulation in Second Life

Virtual poll center used for training poll workers.

Poll worker training in Second Life by UCF.  

EDTECH Island Two Years Later: Training Teachers in Virtual Worlds Lisa Dawley of Boise State Implications for design of space, activities and social support to serve learners in virtual worlds

Google Site of Second Life Resources compiled by Brenda Boyd (and others). Geared towards education and training uses of Second Life.

Hospitals, medical schools and health foundations are staking out space in the online community Second Life, in order to train medical and nursing students in clinical skills and to improve hospital efficency and response to emergencies.

Ernst & Young Simulation using Second Life. Nice video showing the entire process. Very good example of using 3D social simulations to train in processes and procedures. Notice the coaching opportunities.

video IBM: Inclusive Leadership training via Second Life Demonstrates some of the 3D Instructional Design strategies mentioned in http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2010/12/ibms-principles-of-virtual-design/

Business / training examples of virtual worlds (Second Life)

PIVOTE project at St. George's University (England). Scenario based training (paramedic) examples. SLURLs listed in blog

Islamic sites in Second Life used for information and training. Good use of learning objectives and justification of use of 3D environment. A Virtual Makkah, Masjid Al-Haram, Al-Andalus

Examples of workplace uses of virtual worlds for training simulation and prototyping. Links and examples.

Expanding on the Air Force's MyBase effort in Second Life, all new Air Force recruits will have avatars used for distance training. Details workplace applications useful in the general workplace as well as military. Good example of how today's learners will function in tomorrow's workplace.

Quest Atlantis (QA) is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-16, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. Participation in this game is designed to enhance the lives of children while helping them grow into knowledgeable, responsible, and empathetic adults. Does this interest you? They offer extensive educator training and support. Really an exemplary project. HIGHLY recommended.

What originally piqued my interest in this site was the "Training for Traffic" that I read on the SL Work Success Stories site (http://work.secondlife.com/en-US/successstories/case/tuvnord/). No small wonder that that topic caught my eye, what with my 15 year old constantly begging me to let her drive. TUV NORD created several traffic situations that they turned into interactive driving tasks. I vaguely remember being in driver's ed and watching a movie in a "simulator" when I was 15. Once I found out that I could spin the steering wheel in any direction and it made no difference, I went on to what was, at the time, my next priority: sleeping. Parenthood brings new perspectives; I shudder at the thought that my child might do the same during her own driver's training class. This sim sounds realistic enough to not only keep a kid awake at the wheel, but give them experience before they get behind the wheel of a deadly weapon. Unfortunately, the sim was not up and running when I visited. This island also has some other interesting items of educational value. You can learn how to use ground penetrating radar (GPR) to find tree roots and underground electrical lines that you might not want to cut through. There is also a huge interactive fuel cell that you can fly through to investigate the inner workings of the thing, which would be useful in a discussion of chemistry, even at the grade levels that I teach (4th & 5th). The only drawback is that most of the notecards you get are in German. Most of the signs do have a translation tool, though (click on the British flag for English). SLURL: http://work.secondlife.com/en-US/successstories/case/tuvnord/

Edtech in 3D group notes: Site Description: Imperial College's virtual hospital where professionals can train and rehearse and patients can learn about healthcare facilities and procedures that they might need to use. Overall impressions: We were immediately impressed with the Medical School. The grounds were beautiful, and the buildings were designed with learning in mind. We liked the patient rooms, and the introductory podcast was a useful start to the experience. Unlike Vassar Island, we felt that we wanted to spend more time in this location - and we were left with a desire to return and learn more. How learning is taking place: Tour guides give visitors a wide range of ways to discover the island. Visitors can visit patients and learn about various medical conditions. From what we could see, lectures and demonstrations are also a large part of learning at the medical school. Likes: We liked the podcast that started playing as soon as we arrived. There were numerous tours and visitor aids, making it easy to get started. We also liked the immediate access to information. This set expectations up front, helping us to enjoy the experience. Dislikes: Because the island is full of information and is very immersive, the user has to go through several layers (tours, walking around, searching) to get to things. Applications to learning in virtual worlds: The patient rooms take advantage of the virtual world to create an experience that can't easily be created in the real world. They are a great example of how Second Life allows deeper learning than can be found by simply reading a book or listening to a lecture - without endangering an actual patient. Other learning experiences could apply this same tactic to become more immersive.

It's no secret that the US Government and Military have been investigating virtual environments for some time, and Second Life has been a popular playground for both simulation research and recruiting.  In an interview on Second Life's blog, Douglas Maxwell from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) talks about how they've integrated Second Life into their environment.

Satirical video promoting real life meetings over virtual meetings. Good video to use to introduce discussion of affordances of virtual meetings.