Virtual World Education Round table Discussion

On February 24th I attended the Virtual World Education Round table discussion: Which Grid for Me? Pros and Cons of VW Grids for Teaching.  It was really interesting to hear other educators discuss the pros and cons of open and closed grids for teaching. Many of the educators felt educators should have a presence both in the open (Jokaydia Grid, OS Grids etc....) and closed sims such as Second Life. I am contemplating renting space over in Jokaydia Grid as well as out in Second life.  Here are some pictures from the round table discussion.

Zelda forgot to change out of her scrubs for the event. :)  She even brought her stethoscope.

National League for Nurses Health Information Technology Scholar Program (HITS)

For the year 2011, I have been accepted to the National League for Nurses (NLN) Health Information Technology Scholar Program. (HITS).  This is a year-long immersive program with the following goals:
     1.  Transform teaching and learning in the 21st century – Merge informatics, telehealth, simulation and e-  learning to create powerful learning environments.

     2.  Improve Nursing Education and Practice – develop faculty to integrate IT in curricula to educate future practitioners.
     3.  Expand Infrastructure for clinical Learning Processes – Educate a cadre of well-informed faculty who focus on real-world applications of technologies in their education practices.
     4.  Optimize Patient Safety and Drive Improvements in Healthcare Quality – Better educate future workforce with competencies to provide safe, quality and efficient healthcare through use of technologies. 

There were: 253 faculty applicants (113 Schools; 36 States) , with 52 faculty accepted from 29 diverse schools in 20 states.   (NLN HITS PPT presentation January 28, 2011).  Here are the esteemed Executive Leadership Team:

                                                    Helen Connors, PhD, RN, FAAN

                                                    Diane Billings, EdD, RN, FAAN
                                                    Pam Jeffries, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF
                                                    Diane Skiba, PhD, FAAN, FACMI
                                                    Mary Anne Rizzolo, EdD, RN, FAAN

My project will involve using Nightingale Isle for simulations and role plays for baccalaureate level students. More to come as I fine-tune the project goals.

Society for Simulation in Healthcare International Meeting (SSH IMSH)

It has been awhile since I have blogged. Since last time, I graduated with a Doctor in Nursing Practice from St. Catherine University, and have begun to write up a couple manuscripts for publication.

I spent the last week in New Orleans at the International Meeting for Simulation in healthcare. I presented the avatar project, and there was much participant interest about the project. I also joined the Special interest group (SIG) for serious games for learning. There were over 2400 people in attendance and there were offerings such as Sim Wars, Immersive Sessions, and Serious Games.  For the full story of the events go to http://clinicalplayground.com/ to read musings from Eric Bauman. We are beginning to gear up for next year's conference. For starters, Nightingale Isle will be part of the serious games arcade. It will be fun to share information with nurses and physicians who are interested in how to use virtual worlds for educational purposes.

An Outfit from Azzura Supplee

Zelda finally found some clothes over at Jokaydia Grid. Thanks to @Azzura47 _Azzura Supplee for this lovely outfit. Thanks to Jokay for giving me some advice about using the hypergrid feature. Instructions for this can be found at hyperica.com Now, Zelda is in Jokaydia, Second Life, and OSGrid. whooohoooo.  More to come on the educational adventures of Zelda Fromund.

Zelda goes to Jokaydia Grid

Another great day out in the virtual worlds....... Today, Zelda visited the Jokaydia Grid. I don't have any pictures yet because she needs to spruce up a bit, and add some clothes and hair to make herself presentable. the most exciting thing that happened out there was Zelda got to meet the great Jokay!!! It was great chatting with her. She answered all my questions about Jodaydia grid, and I also got to meet her U.S. manager, Azzura Supplee! Tomorrow, Zelda will get a makeover and then I will post some pictures. I am also working on an application to the HITS scholar program from the National League for Nurses. More to come on that as well.

WOW! I just teleported into October!

Where have the last two months gone? I guess writing my final Doctor of Nursing Practice paper has taken more time than I thought it would. I just submitted the final draft, and will defend on November 2nd. In the meantime, I have submitted, and had an abstract accepted for the Society for Simulation In Healthcare International Meeting for Simulation in January. Once I defend, and graduate in December, it will be time to get going on Nightingale Isle. Once I am all finished, I will talk about the results here.

I hope to get some simulations set-up, and give some presentations out there. Zelda attended an interesting meeting today for the Virtual World Education Round Table (VWER) weekly meeting. It was a very interesting hour with Jokay Wollongong from Jokaydia.com. You can join the VWER on facebook. Jokay discussed the recent price hike for educational islands in Second Life, and the importance for educators to have their foot in many of the virtual world environments.


 Zelda hanging out at the VWER discussion

 She forgot to leave her stethescope at home. :)

A big group showed up to listen to Jokay discuss educating
students in the virtual world of Second Life.

Inclusivity in Nursing Education Project Results coming soon

The results from the Inclusivity in Nursing Education Project will be here soon! Also, some work will be done soon on Nightingale Isle to get it ready for students. Watch for Sloodle chairs and simulations. So....excited. And, also excited to be working with Tessa again! More to come soon.