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Susan Toth-Cohen, Ph.D., OTR/L (SL – Zsuzsa Tomsen)
Jefferson College of Health Professions, Philadelphia, PA
Adventures in Research and Teaching at the Jefferson Occupational Therapy Center
in Second Life®Professional and Scholarly Publishing, Association of American Publishers,
Washington, DC, February 4, 2009
Basic Questions
What exactly are virtual worlds?How did they come about?Is Second Life the only one?What are academic researchers and educators doing there?
Virtual Worlds:Offspring of gaming &
virtual reality (Siva, 2008)
•A synchronous, persistent network of people, represented as avatars,
facilitated by networked computers. (Bell, 2008, p. 2)
•Many virtual worlds exist, for people of all ages, which may be used for many purposes
Virtual Reality
Gaming
http://www.virtualworldsreview.com/info/categories.shtml
Characteristics of Virtual Worlds
1. Shared Space: many users can participate at once. 2. Graphical User Interface: depicts space visually3. Immediacy: interaction takes place in real time. 4. Interactivity: users create or alter content. 5. Persistence: continues to exist regardless of whether individual users are logged in. 6. Socialization/Community: allows and encourages in-world social groups
http://www.virtualworldsreview.com/info/whatis.shtmlPlay2 Train
Unique Features of Virtual World Education
• Deliver information and reach new audiences in a cost-effective manner
• Collaborate with other disciplines and institutions to develop projects
• Meet needs of learners accustomed to virtual environments
The Jefferson Occupational Therapy Center in Second Life®
Current Aims of Project
• Provide exhibits on health and wellness for residents of the virtual world and conduct ongoing evaluation and improvement of these exhibits
• Collaborate with health professionals and consumers/residents to create the content and format of the exhibits, and
• Provide a way that graduate students can learn to deliver health information for consumers that is engaging, accurate, and benefits everyday life.
Exhibits Produced
• Healthy Aging
• Adaptation Home • Carpal Tunnel
Syndrome
• Backpack Awareness
• Stroke Awareness
Healthy Aging Exhibit
Theme: The “garden” of the brain never ceases being pruned and newly planted.
This quote from http://www.memoryzine.com/neuroplasticity.htm reflects the focus of much research on neuroplasticity.
Adaptation Home Exhibit
Displays adaptations for low vision, mobility challenges, and impaired cognitive functioning
Evolution of Second Life® Focus
• Bring classes into Second Life®
• Structured assignments
• Content provided through powerpoints, video, & quizzes
• Collaborative projects & exhibits– Program dev. &
evaluation
• Exploration & brainstorming
• Interactive displays
• Events
Keys to Success
of
Project
• Graduateassistants (paid)
• Graduate research students (final MS projects)
• Building andscripting classes
• ActiveCollaboration
• Project focus• Regularly
scheduled meetings &consistent presencein-world
• In-world GROUPS!
Program Development Process
Faculty-Student CollaboratorsTeam
Weekly Meetings Meeting schedule variesaccording to project
Program Evaluation
Data Sources: Online Survey – surveymonkey.com
– Demographics– Overall response to all exhibits– Specific response to the Healthy Aging exhibit
(newly developed)
Follow-up Interview• Optional with open-ended questions
Focus group (new healthy aging exhibit)
Purpose: To further develop and evaluate the
content and format of exhibits and visitor response
Institutional Review Board Application
3 levels of review: Full Expedited Exempt
• Approved with no revisions or questions• Procedures for recruitment and consent were patterned after a study conducted by Texas A&M• Participants recruited through education and healthcare groups and event notices • Notecard provided for consent•100L honorarium (about 50¢)
Results of Program Evaluation30 survey participants
– 11 male, 17 female (2 declined to give their gender)
– 40% >45 years of age– 83.34% with some years of college
23 follow-up interviews– Voluntary face-to-face virtual chats– Open-ended questions with probes if
needed– Constructive and supportive feedback
given
Survey Findings88.33% strongly agree/agree
visual, interactive 3-D displays help them learn better than 2-D websites
80% strongly agree/agree
the information will be beneficial in real life
93.33% strongly agree/agree
the materials were presented clearly
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
SA A N D SD
3-D Learning
Real Life Benefit
Clearly Presented
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Backpack Safety
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Healthy Aging
Adaptation Home
Most Useful Exhibit
Sample Comments: Real Life Applicability
• I thought the content was immediately applicable and practical…I think it is a great resource for the OT’s in the state.
• I never realized how hard it is for someone in a wheelchair to do basic tasks like get things out of the cabinet in the kitchen!
• I am dealing with aging parents at present and found the suggestions very helpful. We are thinking about re-modeling the bathroom, so it it was timely as well.
• I am in that (older) age group, and knowing that certain things I do…are actually part of a healthy aging lifestyle - and other points - will keep me focused on pro-active strategies.
• the backpack display really helped me out because I carry a lot of weight in my backpack with all my books.
Discussion of Program Evaluation Results
Virtual worlds appear to be a promising new venue for promoting health and wellness
Exhibits in the virtual world can have practical, real world applications
Participants in program evaluation are partners whose feedback helps improve and expand upon exhibits
Graduate Student Participation
Project-based approach provides rich benefits for both graduate students and researchers
Virtual environment affords unique opportunity for students to develop, test, and refine ideas for educating consumers about important health topics
Collaboration is key for development and review process
Questions about research and teaching in 2nd Life?
Want a full list of references? Email me.