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Quality, reliability and safety are primary concerns in your professional world—and in ours. At SiTEL of MedStar Health, we provide a comprehensive education and training solution to those who work in healthcare. As seasoned professionals, we have many years of experience in the practice and management of medicine and healthcare, respectively. We understand how training impacts performance in hospitals.
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Blog
05
Oct
2010
2010
Virtual World Users Break One Billion
Posted by Todd Borghesani
Virtual Worlds, and their incumbent technologies, offer men and women, who operate in high-risk environments, a valuable training platform. The growth of virtual worlds is mind-boggling.
More telling perhaps than just the record-breaking number of one billion is the demographic where this is occurring: 468 million virtual world registered users are between the ages of 10 and 15, an increase of 24 million from the second quarter of the year. The second largest group is 15 to 25 year olds, which increased by 15 million to hit 288 million accounts. Although the number of people over the age of 25 participating in virtual worlds isn’t increasing at this same rapid rate, the numbers have still almost doubled since 2009.
Recently published, The PSI Handbook of Virtual Environments for Training and Education, Developments for the Military and Beyond offers insights into how to apply these technologies to training.
The increasingly complex environment of the 21st century demands unprecedented knowledge, skills and abilities for people from all walks of life. One powerful solution that blends the science of learning with the technological advances of computing is Virtual Environments. In the United States alone, the Department of Defense has invested billions of dollars over the past decade to make this field and its developments as effective as possible. This 3-volume work provides, for the first time, comprehensive coverage of the many different domains that must be integrated for Virtual Environments to fully provide effective training and education. The first volume is dedicated to a thorough understanding of learning theory, requirements definition and performance measurement, providing insight into the human-centric specifications the VE must satisfy to succeed. Volume II provides the latest information on VE component technologies, and Volume III offers discussion of an extensive collection of integrated systems presented as VE use-cases, and results of effectiveness evaluation studies. The text includes emerging directions of this evolving technology, from cognitive rehabilitation to the next generation of museum exhibitions. Finally, the handbook offers a glimpse into the future with this fascinating technology.
“Editors Schmorrow (virtual environment science and technology), Cohn (lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy), and Nicholson (applied cognition and training, U. of Central Florida), and more than 100 contributors offer a comprehensive treatment of the different domains that need to be integrated for virtual environments to provide effective education and training. The three-volume set contains the most current thinking and research available in applying training technology. Topics include virtual environment components and training technologies, integrated systems, training evaluations, and future directions. The collection is intended for researchers, students, and managers.” —Reference & Research Book News 5/1/2009
This groundbreaking set will interest students, scholars and researchers in the fields of military science, technology, computer science, business, law enforcement, cognitive psychology, education and health. Topics addressed include guidance and interventions using VE as a teaching tool, what to look for in terms of human-centered systems and components, and current training uses in the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marines. Game-based and long distance training are explained, as are particular challenges such as the emergence of VE sickness. Chapters also highlight the combination of VE and cybernetics, robotics and artificial intelligence.
Related Articles
Most Influential Virtual Worlds
The Future of Google’s Street View (kmeme.com)
Virtual Justice (terranova.blogs.com)
A ‘Thriller’ of a Virtual World (chasingeyes.com)
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Authors
Hollie Adejumo
Hollie Adejumo has been a high school intern at the SiTEL Clinical Simulation Center since 2010. Her principal areas of academic interest include chemistry, calculus, and global health. She is interested in providing medical services to the public and serving as a health advocate for underrepresented populations. Hollie hopes that her research will help to reduce unnecessary deaths in the future. She will pursue a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, which will enable her to combine her interests. Proceeding to obtain an MD/PhD will give her the ability to have autonomy in the practice of medicine. This year Ms. Adejumo will be assessing the need for orthopedic simulators, and hopes to begin designing a program for an orthopedic simulator by the end of the year. Outside of school, Hollie participates in a variety of activities. Although she has been a competitive swimmer for most of her life, she also enjoys running cross country and track.
Joyce Donnellan
As the Director of Learning Management, Joyce Donnellan brings over two decades of experience in critical care nursing education and professional development to SiTEL, Medstar’s Simulation and Training Environment Laboratory. She oversees the development and operation of SiTEL’s learning management system. Ms. Donnellan specializes in the development and integration of the learning management systems in complex and decentralized environments. She has extensive experience in education and training, including the development of curricula for both live and e-learning platforms. Ms. Donnellan enjoys collaborating with program directors, educators, and other stakeholders to develop training events and effective curricula. Her research endeavors include studying the impact of online learning on organizational behavior, as well as the integration of educational games into curriculum development. Joyce has presented nationally on e-learning topics, and on innovation in emergency preparedness training. She earned her Master’s of Science in Nursing degree from George Mason University.
Pamela Leonard
Pamela Leonard brings over 15 years of experience in critical care nursing and management to her role as the Director of the SiTEL’s Clinical Simulation Centers. Pam established the first simulation center for MedStar Health and now oversees the operations of several clinical simulation centers in the greater Washington, DC and Baltimore areas. She leads the Clinical Simulation Consulting Services at SiTEL, leveraging best practices pioneered at MedStar to integrate simulation training and education programs into healthcare operations. Pam works closely with Advanced Initiatives in Medical Simulation. AIMS is a coalition of individuals and organizations committed to promoting medical simulation as a way to improve patient safety, reduce medical errors, ensure provider competency, train people to respond to public emergencies and combat situations, and reduce health care costs.
