Second Life: A New World for Educating Students

Michelle Aebersold PhD, RNDana Tschannen PhD, RN

University of Michigan

What is Simulation?

• A ‘technique’ not a technology

• Artificial replication of a real-world domain to achieve a stated goal

• Training of individual and/or teams

• Evaluation of skills/competencies ©Michelle Aebersold

Simulation in Education

Discipline-specific knowledge– Processes– Organizations– Interactions with others

Educational Goals•Transfer of knowledge•Skill development•Application of both knowledge and skills

What is Second Life?

A World of Avatars and Virtual Landscapes

Open Source3 DMulti-User Virtual World (MUVE)

A Place to Learn

A Place to Play

Why Second Life?

Cost effective - students can log in from home – allows for immersive experience – adjunct to mannequin based sim

Wall Street Journal

Education Theories

Swan & Ice (2010)

Deliberate Practice

Ericsson (2008)

Current Use of Virtual Reality

• Play2Train• Duke University-School of Nursing• University of Kansas Medical Center

Background-UMSON

• Clinical Learning Center– Simulation program developed in 2008– Embedded in entire undergraduate program

throughout all clinical courses– Includes mannequin based and role play

simulations – Staff run all simulations

©Michelle Aebersold

Our Project Goals

• To create an 8-bed virtual hospital unit in Second Life that supports innovative teaching modalities and strategies.

• To design virtual case scenarios within the virtual hospital unit focused on simulating activities of the interdisciplinary healthcare team (i.e. ethics, patient safety, delegation, conflict management).

Our Project Goals

• To implement simulation experiences using a virtual hospital unit created in Second Life to advance undergraduate student learning in two nursing senior-level courses.

• To examine the relationship between student learning and use of simulated clinical experiences.

Study Design

• Quasi Experimental• Intervention group/control group• Intervention – two virtual simulations in

Second Life• Final simulation evaluation

Sample

• Undergraduate Senior Nursing Students• Leadership and Management • Transition to Professional Practice• 122 total students (61 in each group)

Second Life-Virtual Hospital

• Wolverine Island• Hospital Building

• 8 Beds• Medical equipment

Training• Introduced Second Life during lecture• Powerpoint created to teach basics• Overview at beginning of each simulation• Sims done in a computer lab/classroom

Virtual Sims

• Nurse Physician Communication and Conflict Management

– Baccalaureate Essentials-II, IV, VIII– QSEN Areas- Teamwork/Collaboration &

Safety

Virtual Sims

• Priority Setting and Team Conflict– Baccalaureate Essentials-I,II, IV,V, VI,VII,

VIII, IX– QSEN Areas- Teamwork/Collaboration &

Safety/Patient Centered Care

Virtual Sims

• Medication Error and Patient Safety– Baccalaureate Essentials-II, III,IV,V, VI,VIII,

IX– QSEN Areas- Teamwork/Collaboration &

Safety/Informatics

Evaluation• Emergency Medicine

Crisis Resource Management – Based on work of

Youngblood and colleagues

– Evaluates performance in ED teams in a virtual environment

– Adapted to use in SL

Show video

Future Work

• Evaluation of skills transfer to practice• Updating the SL environment• Expanding to other clinical courses• Use Voice Chat

Questions??

Contact

• Michelle Aebersold

• mabersol@umich.edu

• Dana Tschannen

• djvs@umich.edu