Enhancing Communication Skills Development within Immersive Virtual - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Enhancing Communication Skills Development within Immersive Virtual Environments (ECSDIVE): Applying Collaboration Aware Applications and Spatialised Sound. Learning and Teaching Innovation Fund Learning and Teaching Innovation Fund September 2009 September 2009 Nigel Wynne Nigel Wynne Ian Archer Ian Archer Timothy Marquis Timothy Marquis

Project Aim • To apply application rich 3D virtual worlds technology in order to enhance communications skills in health care students.

Problem being Addressed: Quality of Care within the Health Sector 'We became horrified by the standard of nursing' “NHS trust “Quality of patient inquiry care is top priority for NHS” chiefs resign” “Basic care “Failing hospital 'caused 'lacking' in deaths‘” hospitals”

Communication Skills deficits: Leading contributor to patient death and illness

Current Approaches to Enhancing Communication Skills across HE Health Care Faculty • High Fidelity Simulation • Multimedia Learning Objects & 2D online simulations

High Fidelity Simulation • High degree of immersion • Expensive to resource • Geographically fixed • Not scalable • Promotes anxiety

Existing BCU Online Simulation Projects • Virtual Case Creator Simulations • Shareville Resources – Each supports online interactive multimedia resources – Neither provides an immersive 3D virtual environment – Neither supports VoIP communication or shared applications in terms of communication skills development and support for collaborative working. – However each promotes exciting synergies with the Wonderland platform

Current Approaches to Online Simulation at BCU • Virtual Case Creator • Shareville • Both offer significant value but both have limitations • Relatively narrow emotional bandwidth • No 3D immersive environment • No VoIP communication • No application sharing • No synchronous collaborative learning support

Informed by Extensive VW Scoping Exercise

Wonderland value to student communication skills learning? • Provides a truly 3D immersive environment. – Space provides context. • Spatialised 3D Audio and Gesture control enables quality verbal and non verbal communication skills rehearsal • In-world Open Office and Shared Desktop App enables collaborative written tasks in context.

Cones of Silence • Cones of Silence ensure that conversations in-world can only be heard by those within the zone. • Role allocations to students within their groups if certain behaviours need to be modelled. • Opportunity to simulate confidential/sensitive conversations with simulated health care staff or relatives.

Shared Web Browser – perhaps the most exciting feature! • Fully functional in-world Firefox Browser • Synchronous access and control to www resources • Interactive web resources may be repurposed as collaborative, VoIP supported situated tools e.g. VCC and Shareville

Re-purposing Learning Objects

Telephony Integration Enables students to make referrals from in-world to real world. e.g. student assesses patient, makes decision to refer to medic, required to make call. doctor questions student decides whether to appear in world

Digital recording of in-world performance • In-world sound and movie recorder • ? Responsibility given to students • Provides rich triggers for reflection post scenario

How the project will run? • Project Management – NW • Stakeholder Analysis – NW • World Build and Configuration - IA • Trials and Formative Evaluation - EW • CITC Benchmarking - IA • Summative Skills Transfer - EW • Dissemination - NW

Student Engagement • Membership of Faculty Project Review Group • Student involvement in stakeholder analysis • Student contribution to formative assessment and piloting • Student contribution to dissemination activities e.g. blog entry, presentations

Challenges to delivering Immersive Education to NHS Trust Staff • Key challenge = poor articulation of the barriers • Shared internal network • Confidential Information • Strict Firewall Policy • High Risk Associated with attacks • First priority = explore issues fully and identify possible solutions • Second Priority = in house training redesign to facilitate home access to resources.

Benefit to JISC and Wider Community • Enhanced technical and pedagogic understanding of the Wonderland toolset • Important benchmarking for ICT community • Shared Resources, guides and reports • Demonstration of rapid response to quality care concerns • Greater understanding of the challenges and potential solutions re: immersive education and work based learners • Access to Public World • Potential to use “spare nodes” – sustainability model.

Project Team • Nigel Wynne – Senior Academic L&T, National Teaching Fellow, CHSCR, Health • Emma Winterman – Senior Lecturer, Acute Adult Nursing, Health • Ian Archer – Software Engineer, BIAD, • Timothy Marquis – Learning Technologist. • Sinead Mehigan – Head of Department Initial and Acute Nursing Practice - Key Contact – Middlesex U. • Debbie Talbot – Assistant Director of Nursing - Key Contact – Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust