Virtual Training in Second Life

Have you experienced Second Life yet?  It’s a virtual world where you can live, work, and play using an avatar with your characteristics.  It’s become so popular that now some universities are beginning to use the virtual reality world as a means of training nurses and other medical professionals. 

Using the virtual world gives students access to medical experts from all over the world that they may not have had access to in a traditional classroom setting.  It also allows access to volunteers who act as patients that the students can diagnose using various diagnostic tests without accruing the costs associated with such an effort in a real medical setting.

Should a virtual world be used to train the individuals who care for us and our families?  What happens when these individuals are thrown into a real-life situation? Sometimes it’s easier to diagnose and treat a problem from a distance when you know that your mistake won’t necessarily cost someone their life.  Could this potentially be detrimental to the medical profession? 

I can definitely see this being a fantastic resource in that it will connect world-famous specialists with medical students from all over the world.  They can tap into the minds of these specialists and learn about their techniques and thought processes which can only enhance their own skill-set.  BUT, I’m still a little skeptical.   What do you think?

Posted on November 10, 2009 12:22 by pennfosterblogadmin
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November 10. 2009 13:20

A medical programme cannot be based solely on virtual reality because of the intricacy of the career and tasks.

However, it's almost general knowledge now that medical professionals from around the world collaborate in real time, in a kind of VR environment, to help with complex medical surgeries etc. These are on exceptional cases.

So a mix of both the real and VR is welcome.

Josh

November 19. 2009 17:39

Second life was not built to be an educational platform. While the avatar gives the impression of actually meeting someone, I still look at the avatars and think "cartoon." With time, the option will probably be available to have more realistic looking avatars.

However, there are nuances in medicine that most readily available computing has not caught up with yet. A virtual setting such as Adobe Connect, Elluminate Live, Vyew, or Webex very well might be more helpful than Second Life. With a webcam and a headset or judicial microphone use, two people can readily converse with each other and actually see their conversation partner. A medical practitioner may be able to pick up on things by watching the patient's eyes and face when he or she asks questions like "Have you been following your diet?" An avatar's response is what the person wants it to be.

As for the environment itself, Second Life has its boundaries. Another program, such as OpenSIM allows the user to modify parameters that are locked to Second Life users.

In terms of training, though, I can say that if I was to log on to Second Life and then be delivered a Power Point presentation while sitting in a virtual auditorium, I would be furious. But you'd be surprised how often such nonsense occurs.

Douglas

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