March 13, 2014By Lance Baily

Train Healthcare Learners Through Virtual Simulations with MUVE

medical simulation second life

Ever wish you could just build or redesign a hospital floor to train your healthcare students in? Or just want the space to yourself with environmental scenarios easily repeatable? The online avatar world of Second Life has evolved to become very good at providing just that kind of opportunity! I recently learned of John Miller and his company MUVErs, which provides online teacher training through online virtual platforms such as Second Life.

Check out this great introduction video to see what is possible in Second Life and MUVE:


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Interested in seeing the Research around virtual environments in healthcare training? Check out this NLN published article “Learning in a Virtual World: Experience With Using Second Life for Medical Education” and “Second Life for Medical Education“. Highlights from these articles include:

“The results of this pilot suggest that virtual worlds offer the potential of a new medical education pedagogy to enhance learning outcomes beyond that provided by more traditional online or face-to-face postgraduate professional development activities. Obvious potential exists for application of these methods at the medical school and residency levels as well.” &

“More than 90 percent of participants were enthusiastic about the concept of PBL being explored through a virtual environment. All of the participants were interested in seeing virtual PBLs become available in the future and more than 80 percent felt that the degree of virtual world immersion was suitable to facilitate the virtual PBL process.


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More than 85 percent of participants agreed that the clinical content delivered in the virtual PBL was comparable to that of a classic PBL session. Additionally, 95 percent of participants felt that the clinical content was well suited to the interactive virtual world environment. Moreover, more than 80 percent agreed that equal or more clinical content was retained using the virtual PBL process.

Participants rated the Second Life PBL experience on the following attributes with accompanying positive participant feedback scores listed; Engaging (95%), Realistic (86%), Intuitive (59%), Efficient Learning Tool (77%), Ability to Deliver Practical Knowledge (86%) and Overall Experience (100%). A total of 82 percent of participants reported positive scores in support of having their next PBL delivered using the virtual Second Life experience.”

Now that Second Life has been around for quite some time, the community has built a lot of tools that newcomers can use — sometimes — for free! Learn more about these resources through John.

Contact John and MUVE to explore the following through online simulated worlds:

  • Collaborate using tools for group work.
  • Experience cloud computing for word processing, spread sheets, presentations anywhere and anytime.
  • Communicate using tools with voice, video, IM, chat
  • Explore 3D course platforms such as Second Life
  • Create games that make learning fun.
  • Create, edit and upload videos.
  • Develop interactive slides that engage the learner.
  • Utilize video and audio formats to their maximum.
  • Create with mostly free tools.
  • Provide interactive learning, where students apply their knowledge, rather than just read a textbook and watch some boring PowerPoint slides.
  • Explore learning management systems such as Blackboard and Angel.

John also has a great news feed of articles relevant to medical simulation in online worlds at http://jsmillerrn.blogspot.com/, so check it out today!


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