Virtual Nursing Medical Education

Halloween Prezi (an alternative to PowerPoint)

2011-10-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

http://prezi.com/rlzhppdbnkha/copy-of-happy-halloween/
Use a .edu email and get more Prezi than just the basic and for free.

TED Talk by Ben Goldacre, Battling Bad Science

2011-10-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

Great talk on how bad science is used to persuade people, including on how to stay or get healthy. http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_goldacre_battling_bad_science.html

Presented at International Bilingual Nurses Alliance

2011-10-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

Had a great time presenting at this conference near Seattle on Saturday, October 22, http://www.bilingualnurses.webs.com/. My notes are at this link in Google Docs, http://bit.ly/IBNA_JohnMiller .

Pushing Classes Out of Angel to Other Web Sites & Virtual Worlds, with Smartphones, Skype, & Tablets

2011-10-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

I am doing a presentation, Pushing Classes Out of Angel to Other Web Sites & Virtual Worlds, with Smartphones, Skype, & Tablets, at the NW Elearning Conference in Vancouver, WA, October 14. Here are some notes.

Presentation, Lilly Conference, Bethesday MD, June 3, 2011

2011-06-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

Link to the handout in Prezi, http://bit.ly/avatar-cpr-LillyConference
Link to handout at presentation, http://bit.ly/avatar-cpr-notes-LillyConference

STEM Presentation links in Prezi and Google Docs

2011-03-10T22:40:00.000-08:00

Prezi link

How does my avatar do CPR? And where is the heart surgery game? on Prezi

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1NhsR18lTCwxawGAsFLutpD7GSXJLL8rmUp8IIE8dQLA Link to notes in Google Docs.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Summit presentation

2011-03-10T12:54:00.000-08:00

I am doing a brief presentation on educator best practices tomorrow at the STEM Summit (STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) on Bellevue Community College's campus. http://www.coeforict.org/2011/01/1862/

STEM Summit: Emerging & Innovative Trends for Tomorrow’s Classroom

Nursing Clinicals are Being Taught in Second Life

2011-02-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

Senior nursing students have a training day at UNCPhttp://www.actofbravery.com/news/2011/nursing_training.htm

Short Video on Medical Simulations in Second Life

2011-02-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ1HIg7lcvQ

6 Top Tech Trends on the Horizon for Higher Education

2011-02-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

The new Horizon Report is out, http://www.educause.edu/Resources/2011HorizonReport/223122. Check out these top trends from the report from Ben Wieder of Wired Campus.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/6-top-tech-trends-on-the-horizon-for-education/29581

Presentation at Technology Day, at Peninsula Community College, Port Angeles, WA

2011-02-08T22:17:00.000-08:00

The video I showed is at this YouTube link, http://www.youtube.com/user/jsmillerRN .

The slides are at this link, in Google Docs. The handouts are at this link, in Google Docs.

Instructions on how to get to Evergreen Island, in Second Life, are in the SBCTC Second Life wiki, http://ctcinsl.wikispaces.com/.

My public course sites, in Google Sites, are at these links:

-Pharmacology Nursing, http://sites.google.com/site/pharmacologyjsmillerrn/

-Medical Surgical Nursing, http://sites.google.com/site/medsurgnursjsmillerrn/

Some interesting Second Life links:

-Egypt, with all of the current turmoil happening there now, http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Egypt/165/141/21

-EdTech Island, Teacher Education in Virtual Worlds, http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/EdTech/141/154/25

-Second Life education resources, http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Second_Life_Education/Resources

Please let me know if you have any questions, ideas, or want some space on Evergreen Islands for teaching.

John

Free software to consider using in courses

2010-12-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

Try to break free from your less flexible virtual learning environments, such as Blackboard, Angel, etc., and use content on the web. I still keep my grades and tests there though.

Some free programs I am using include:

Web pages for content, wikis, discussion: Google Sites
Videos: YouTube, Community Clips, Fraps
Documents, presentations, spreadsheets, forms: Google Docs, Prezi
Virtual Worlds: Second Life
Social bookmarking: Delicious
Social web pages: Facebook
Mind maps and diagrams: Gliffy, Prezi
Chat and video conferencing: Skype, Google Talk
Classroom polling, surveys: Poll Everywhere, Survey Monkey, Google Docs
Photos: Picasa
Graphics: Gimp
Blogs: Blogger, Twitter
Email: GMail

New Link to Video Last Posted

2010-10-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

Ah, the link to the YouTube video is private but here is a link to it on another server. It is a .mov file, so allow it to download first. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Medical and Nursing Education in the Virtual World of Second Life Video

2010-10-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Pooky Amsterdam of Pooky Media Films for creating this video on some of the training we are doing in the virtual world of Second Life for Tacoma Community College's ADN (RN) nursing program. The virtual setting is Washington States SBCTC's Evergreen Island 2 (http://bit.ly/PatientRoleplayMUVErs).

Using our unique Patient Role Play system to interact in Second Life is far beyond what the virtual world was intended. Students have found this engaging, immersive, and lifelike enough to simulate real life medical situations and provide better learning as well as elicit real emotion. Cultural and gender issues can easily be incorporated. Contact us, John Miller or Cathy Walker, at MUVErs for more information.

National League for Nursing Education Summit in Las Vegas September 29

2010-09-19T23:49:00.000-07:00

Heading to Las Vegas on early on September 29 for the NLN Education Summit. Our nursing department is deep in a curriculum revision, the third complete overhaul in my nursing education career of 28 years!

Looking forward to seeing Patricia Benner, Diane Skiba and other presentations. I will be available to demo or discuss anything I currently am doing with the latest virtual patient simulator or other virtual world learning activities. Have a great video for viewing that I am not able to show yet on YouTube. If interested, please contact me at jsmillerrn@gmail.com; Skype, Facebook, or Twitter: jsmillerrn. My avatar in Second Life is JS Vavoom. I will be there until Sunday evening.

Acute Clinical and Learning Spaces in Second Life

2010-07-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the Second Life learning spaces for Tacoma Community College's nursing students. Preparatory content can be reviewed and discussed. Roleplay simulations are held in up to four different patient rooms. The area is currently open to the public on Evergreen 3 Island, http://bit.ly/PatientRoleplayMUVErs . Click on the picture to see a larger version.

A four bed learning-clinical space

A learning area prior to the roleplay

Video and weblinks are

interactive using Viewer2.

A observation and patient area

with a one a way window

Roleplays in Second Life Nursing and Medical Education: Different Patients and Equipment and Equipment

2010-07-19T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few examples of combinations for patient including gender, ethnicity, age, and body type. Many specific disease characteristics and equipment are available for the roleplays. Click on the images to a see a larger version.

Patient on oxygen with deep partial

and full thickness burns.

Neck immobilizer on a patient

with ascites and caput medusae.

Patient with halo traction, an arm cast,

and a leg immobilizer.

Patient using a small volume nebulizer and

wearing a sequential compression device on her legs.

Child with a craniotomy incision

and chest tube drainage.

This Blog is in Top 50 of Nursing Blogs

2010-06-21T14:05:00.001-07:00

Online Nursing Programs

Denver and ISTE2010, here I come.

2010-06-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

I am presenting at ISTE2010 in person, but will be in world, Second Life, too. Here is the schedule, http://sigve.iste.wikispaces.net/VEPg+Schedule.

Rapid Student Immersion in Second Life

Monday, June 28, 10:30a-11:00 mountain time (9:30a-10, PDT or SLT)
Denver, ISTE2010 Virtual Environment Playground
Second Life on Evergreen 3, http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Evergreen%20Island/72/168/28

Roleplays, Patient Simulations in Second Life Nursing Education

Tuesday, June 29, 11:30a-12:00 mountain time (10:30a-11, PDT or SLT)
Denver, ISTE2010 Virtual Environment Playground
Second Life on Evergreen, http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/201/46/2 3

Mayo Clinic explores the virtual world of Second Life

2010-06-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

From MedCity News, http://www.medcitynews.com/2010/05/weekend-rounds-mayo-clinic-uses-second-life-to-educate-train/, an article which includes MUVEr's Cathy Walker, a Linden Lab solution provider for the SBCTC's Evergreen Islands in Second Life.

[Reset] and do a 180º turn

2010-06-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

[Reset] and do a 180º turn (from gwynethllewelyn.net)

A detailed perspective on Linden Lab's recent changes...

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) 2010

2010-05-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

June 27-June 30, 2010, I am presenting at one of the largest gatherings in both educational technology, as well as in virtual world education, ISTE2010. The venue there will be at the hands-on playground for ISTE's Special Interest Group, Virtual Environments (SIGVE).

My presentations will be Rapid Student Immersion into Second Life and Roleplays, Patient Simulations in Second Life Nursing Education. Depending on funding, I will be there virtually in Second Life or possibly in person in Denver.

Cathy Walker, a colleague and also a founding member of MUVErs, will virtually present her recent Kingston University, UK, keynote, My Second Life- a Series of Small Acts, Little Rebellions, and a Small Revolution.

Monica Monk, a colleague at Tacoma Community College, will also be presenting (virtually or in person) on her teaching using Second Life in courses for her English for Academic Purposes students.

Top 50 Blogs in Nurse Education

2010-05-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

I am honored but humble. Although, much unpaid energy goes into the topics I cover in this blog. http://bit.ly/top50nursingblogs

Narration and Video added to SBCTC Assessment, Teaching and Learning Presentation

2010-05-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

Teaching in the Real World and Virtual World, Using a Mashup of Web 2.0 Tools, Roleplay, and Virtual World Communities in ESL and Nursing, with added narration and videos, by Monica Monk and me. If you missed the presentation or want more, check out this link .

Digital Nation, a PBS Frontline Presentation

2010-05-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

Video link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/#
I watched this video recently and found it to bring up some important issues about learning, including virtual worlds and web 2.0.

Presentation Links for the SBCTC Teaching-Learning conference

2010-05-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

Some at the conference got a prompt to create an account when going to the links that were in the handout, so I added alternate links below.

Evergreen Island location link: http://tiny.cc/SecondLifeEvergreenSBCTC or http://bit.ly/axZpOv
Second Life account location link: same as above
PowerPoint link: http://tinyurl.com/SBCTCconference2010MillerMonk or http://bit.ly/azWMz3
Presentation notes link: http://bit.ly/diXJaC
DimDim video presentation for the SBCTC conference link: coming soon
Second Life videos from my Pharmacology course, http://bit.ly/buZJ19

Essential Second Life Skills video, http://bit.ly/9DdGvV
Orientation to the medical patient simulation, http://bit.ly/91zqV4

My presentation from Yakima Valley Community College's Center on Excellence, Allied Health's webinar conference, Healthcare: Emerging Issues, Trends, and Promising Practices:

Using Virtual Worlds, such as Second Life, for Nursing Education, http://bit.ly/ahRP5J

Presentation today

2010-04-30T22:08:00.001-07:00

If you were trying to connect to the presentation today with DimDim, we experienced some technical problems at the conference hotel. Stay tuned to this blog for links on the presentation content on this Sunday.

SBCTC Assessment, Teaching, and Learning Conference coming up

2010-04-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

Monica Monk and I are looking forward to presenting at the SBCTC Assessment, Teaching, and Learning Conference on April 30, 2010 in Vancouver, WA, USA.

Our session is at 9:30a and is titled:

Teaching in Virtual World and Real World, Using a Mashup of Free Web 2.0 Tools, Roleplay, and Virtual World Communities for ESL and Nursing Education.

We will show you how we teach using the virtual world of Second Life, as well as other web 2.0 tools and learning management systems such as Angel.
The location in Second Life for much of our teaching are the four virtual islands owned by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.
The main orientation area is at this location: http://tiny.cc/SecondLifeEvergreenSBCTC.

If you cannot come to the presentation in Vancouver, there are still two other ways to join us.

In Second Life with your avatar at the above link. Use the above link to create an account and be born right on the islands.
At the DimDim conference site: http://my.dimdim.com/jsmillerrn, which will show my desktop during the presentation and have audio.

See you there!

More info:

Sound teaching strategies using interactive, game-based learning activities that address multiple learning styles will be discussed for ESL and nursing education to help apply knowledge. Participants will leave with instructions and resources for getting easily started teaching in the virtual world of SecondLife. Through the interactive presentation format, they will experience firsthand Web 2.0 tools that can be used together with virtual worlds to enhance the classroom experience. Free common teaching space at the SBCTC's property in SecondLife will be shown for promoting educational activities and social networking for different classes, courses, and campuses.

Avatar II: The Hospital Health-care facilities are discovering that practicing in the virtual world can have major benefits in real life

2010-04-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a Wall Street Journal article about some of my colleagues and our work (with MUVErs), as well as others in the medical area. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703909804575124470868041204.html

Online Nursing Degree Programs Teach Using Second Life Virtual Simulation | GetEducated.com

2010-04-14T11:06:00.001-07:00

Online Nursing Degree Programs Teach Using Second Life Virtual Simulation | GetEducated.com
A recent article from GetEducated.com on nursing programs in Second Life, including Tacoma Community College's.
Posted using ShareThis

X10, Extensible Virtual Worlds Workshop

2010-03-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

At X10, Extensible Virtual Worlds Workshop ( http://tinyurl.com/x10-IBM) in Second Life, attending a breakout discussion with Neil Katz and Craig Becker from IBM and others, discussing applications.

Health Information Technology Scholars Program Workshop Presentation in Second Life

2010-03-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

A MUVErs colleague, Cathy Walker, and I briefly showcased the Patient Roleplay System in Second Life this morning at the HITS Workshop (Health Information Technology Scholars Program) for nursing faculty to infuse technology into their curriculum in Denver. The training was sponsored by the National League for Nursing and several universities. Alice Krueger of Virtual Abilities, Inc was gracious enough to invite us to present at the event and guided her audience using her avatar, Gentle Heron. She has also hosted over the years many of my Tacoma Community College's nursing course fieldtrips into Second Life to visit various support group meetings there. MUVErs recently was accepted as a Linden Lab Solution Provider creating medical and other virtual world education and training simulations.

Nursing Student Survey Results Show Promising Training Using Virtual Worlds and Web 2.0 Tools

2010-03-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

I just finished a term with a class of eighteen associate degree RN (ADN program) nursing students in a one quarter credit pharmacology course at Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, WA, USA, with over 88% responding to an end of course survey. The course is 100% online and consisted of group wikis using Google Sites, Articulate Presenter voiced over slide presentations, games, videos, Google Talk, Gliffy, and group patient simulations in the virtual world of Second Life using MUVEr's interactive and proprietary patient role play system. The simulation is located on Evergreen Island in Second Life at http://tiny.cc/SecondLifeEvergreenSBCTC. All the activities were asynchronous except for the two patient simulations with the instructor for each of the five groups.
Below are some of the responses in the survey.

Previous experience using web 2.0 technologies:

93 % used text messaging.
87% used instant messaging.
81% had MySpace or Facebook pages.
25% had played before the course in an online game in a virtual world, such as World of Warcraft, The Sims, or other virtual worlds (not Second Life).

Learning preferences in the course

100% of the students reported that group activities increased their collaboration with others, which included patient simulations, wiki presentations, wiki evaluation, and flowchart creation with Gliffy.
93% felt that providing a variety of learning activities in the course helped them learn.
81% acknowledged that pictures and video helped them learn better and 50% felt that interacting with the course material in a simulation game helped them learn better.

Virtual world patient simulations

100% said that the simulations in Second Life helped them apply the theory and make real time decisions about patient assessment and treatment.
93% felt that working in groups helped them use the virtual world better.
93% reported that orientation and instructor assistance help them get an adequate start into the Virtual World of Second Life.
68% of the students felt that the patient simulations in Second Life assisted their ability to learn the steps of the nursing process for the course content: assessment, analysis, intervention, and evaluation.
61% would prefer a Second Life option in a future course.

Wikis on Google Sites

93% of the students stated that their ability to to learn the content was increased by contributing to and evaluating the wikis in groups.

Unlike simulations in campus labs using high fidelity mannequin simulators, patients can be animated and can be quickly changed as to their culture, gender, and physical appearance. This includes showing the effects of disease and trauma to understand the pathophysiology. These results provide some evidence that teaching with web 2.0 technologies, including wikis and virtual worlds, can increase engagement, group process, knowledge, and application for the students to further increase their preparation for working with patients and team members.

Get Faculty and Students into the Virtual World of Second Life for Classes, Quickly and Easily

2010-03-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

On Friday, March 17 and March 25, from 2:30-3:30 PDT, I will demonstrate some easy ways to get faculty and students into the virtual world of Second Life for classes and talking about some of the advantages for the new Beta Viewer 2.

Bring your avatar to or create an account at this link, http://tiny.cc/SecondLifeEvergreenSBCTC. Be sure to click on this link after account creation but before logging in.

Bring your headset to voice through Second Life, Skype, or Google Talk.

Recipe for Making Your Course More Engaging and Student Friendly

2010-03-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Create simple interactive lessons or tutorials that students can view on their own.
Reduce some of the face to face time with students each week.
Open the communication channels with your students.
Provide options for more than one learning style.
Give students real life uses for their education.
If it is not fun, reconsider it's importance in your teaching.

Create simple interactive lessons or tutorials that students can view on their own. Tired of saying the same lecture each quarter and for multiple sections? Worried about having enough face to face time to cover the content? This can be gradually done with free software, such as crosswords, Jeopardy like games, and other games that modifiable and free on the web. PowerPoint is definitely not the answer for all learning but it can be spiced up with interactive games, weblinks to articles, tutorials, videos and animations, and for a cost, add-in software like Articulate. Softchalk is useful for tutorial creation also. The learning management systems like Blackboard and Angel have some plugins that can be of help too. Many of these activities can take your class beyond knowledge and recall to the higher levels of application, synthesis, evaluation and more. Work on a little at a time as it does take some time, but the payback will be enormous and you will have creations that will last for years.
Reduce some of the face to face time with students each week. This frees up their schedule and yours more. The hybrid approach uses the valuable face to face sessions for what works best there, group interaction and discussion and other activities that are hard to do online only. Everything else can go online. Students will appreciate the availability of the information. If you are talking for most of your class, then you should record your audio and make it available instead. Questions can be asked and answered in the face to face, in email, and more innovative methods, such as Twitter, Elluminate, Skype, Google Talk, wikis, Facebook, Delicious, and more.
Open the communication channels with your students. This creates community and shows you are human and caring. Email is not the best answer. Discussion boards are helpful when linked to your email or text messaging. Get an inexpensive camera to have face to face sessions with your students. It is far less threatening than coming to your office but is more intimate than the trying to answer questions at the end of a face to face session as a new class comes in. There are free video conferencing systems, including Skype and many others. Have a Facebook page for your students as many of them spend much of their time there.
Provide options for more than one learning style. This will reduce anxiety and increase retention. It also shows you really care about their learning in a way they can relate to. Make the options fun though, so they will use them and you will enjoy looking at them. Providing mainly content in text is so 19th century and does not meet many learner needs. Students need to be able to gain knowledge in this format but adding pictures, videos, wikis, and links makes it more relevant and current, as well as being more fun to learn.
Give students real life uses for their education. Remember why students are learning. They need application in multiple scenarios, not a bunch of facts. Most want to make a living out of their educational investment. Simulations are essential to getting students thinking about real people with real problems. In the medical area, mannequin simulations are so important, as well as the less expensive virtual simulations. The latter can be tailored beyond the purchased equipment specs and can be available 24-7. Simulations allow for variables, so students learn to now follow a list but adapt as input comes in. Be sure to use groups in simulations and other activities, such as wikis, so students can work as a team, an essential survival skill in any business. Virtual worlds, such as Second Life, offer group experiences, even those at a great geographical distance, which trigger emotions that one might feel in a real life situation.
If it is not fun, reconsider it's importance in your teaching. You will teach better and your students will learn more if it is an enjoyable experience.

Questions? Please either respond here, by email at MUVErsLLC@gmail.com, or by any of the communication methods I mentioned above. My username for most is jsmillerrn.

Virtual Worlds – Best Practices in Education Conference

2010-03-05T10:33:00.001-08:00

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, March 12 and 13. You do not need to spend a whole day arranging and filing a travel authorization. What a deal!
Conference Website: http://www.vwbpe.org/2009-slc

Shared Media with New Second Life Viewer

2010-02-26T22:40:00.000-08:00

I am typing on a prim (box) in Second Life and blogging this rigth now.

Free Classroom Response System, PollEverywhere.com

2010-02-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

An alternative to Clickers is Poll Everywhere, with a free account to create a poll for 30 responses. The responses are sent by texting with a cell phone, by Twitter, or as an online poll. The responses can be collected and shown to the audience in real time and stored for later viewing. No special hardware is needed. Polls can be multiple choice or short answer. The poll results can be downloaded and shown in a PowerPoint.

Leogane Haiti Nursing School Needs Help

2010-01-24T22:45:00.000-08:00

I know about this school from a colleague, Tim Bristol, who has been there. These links talk about the situation:
http://www.facebook.com/haitinursing?ref=ts&v=wall or http://www.haitinursing.org/. They are in need of help right away, mainly in funds, since much of the aid has been going to Port-au-Prince and not to the smaller towns affected by the quake. They have taken the students and have served more than 5,000 residents in the first few days and that number is much larger now. Many of them are living around the school now too.

Trying LMS-Google Sites-Second Life Virtual World Mashup for My Nursing Pharmacology Course

2010-01-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

I have moved much of my course outside the LMS this quarter to increase the speed of access and be more open with my teaching. See this link: http://sites.google.com/site/nurs143f09/. The announcements use Blogger imbedded in Sites. Was already using Sites for student group projects, instead of the dreaded discussion boards, both by myself and my students. Testing, grades and a few other private items remain in the LMS, Angel. The Google calendar can send SMS out to cell phones too. Created links within the virtual world of Second Life, so students can start in world, in the LMS, or in Sites. Evergreen Island is our base in the virtual world: http://tiny.cc/EvergreenIslandOrientationSL .

San Diego: Mosbys Faculty Development Institute

2010-01-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

Forgot how nice 70s weather is during winter, people were actually swimming in the outdoor pool.

Attended and presented in part of Tim Bristol's pre-conference session and showed some of our new patient simulation roleplays that MUVErs has developed with others in Second Life. NurseTim presented very useful information on simulations and other interactions for the classroom and labs, as well as online.

Mosby's Nursing Faculty Development Institute 2010

2009-12-29T13:34:00.001-08:00

I am heading to San Diego to Mosby's Nursing Faculty Development Institute 2010 in a few days, January 3-5.

I will do a short demonstration of my Second Life teaching in Tim Bristol's, NurseTim's, session, Virtual Reality that Can Be Reality in Your Curriculum. The session is at 10:00a on Sunday, January 3.

Medical Roleplays in Second Life, a virtual world

2009-11-17T18:44:00.000-08:00

Click to view larger image.

MUVErs has been busy working on HUD based roleplay areas in Second Life, including specific focuses on cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, endocrine, musculoskeletal, and burns, each with it's own room setting and design. The patient is played by the instructor or another student, inputing the patient information, medical orders and assessment data. Students can work in small groups, assessing, communicating, and intervening with the patient.

Assessment data includes ECG, BP, pulse, HR, SpO2, temp, breath and heart sounds, and lab or test ordering. Treatment options are included in interactive objects, such as a medication dispenser, IV pump, crash cart, defibrillator, CPR, oxygen, and more. The simulation data is recorded in a searchable database on the web.

My nursing students have used the roleplay objects and are engaged and learning, despite the fact they are newbies in this virtual world. The roleplay equipment can be adapted for physician, paramedic, EMT, or medical records-billing training.

3D Virtual Patient Roleplays

2009-09-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Finishing up a cardiovascular roleplay where a faculty or student plays the patient, entering in assessment data, including vital signs, ECG, and more. Students interact with that patient by selecting assessments and treatments that are appropriate. The patient scenario and medical orders can be customized for each roleplay. Interactive objects include a medication dispenser, ECG monitor, crash cart and defibrillator, lab and testing, ausculatation, and oxygen.

Also, working on other versions of the roleplay for the respiratory, neurological, musculoskeletal, diabetic, liver, and burn areas of study.

Bringing New People Into Second Life the Easy Way

2009-09-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Use the link below to bring in new students and faculty into Second Life so that they are "born" right at the Washington State's SBCTC's property, Evergreen Island. This focuses them on a unique orientation, without encountering the rest of the world.

Also, remember to email Linden Labs a request for whitelisting of your school, so that multiple accounts can be created and are not interpreted as against the terms of service.

Another strategy is help others get started with their accounts by creating a name and a newly created email. While this does not allow them to pick their name, it does help them with the process and may reduce problems.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Evergreen%20Island/75/166/28 Click on the link. If no account, then click on large orange button and proceed to get one. If have an account already, can log into Second Life and and after clicking teleport, while arrive at orientation location.

Healthcare Reform

2009-09-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

Interesting article from the Washington Post, which seems to answer many of the opponents' claims: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/01/AR2009090101027.html.

Welcome to my new blog site.

2009-08-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Archives of past blogs and other information are available at this link.