A Virtual World Training Application For Medical Personnel Education and Training (Parker/Parker/Stone)

"There is no going back..." Any environment, regardless of age, will have technology move forward...never backward. With that in mind, our training should do the same. Good opening statement to set the mood...

Demonstration will be shown on the Droid, but, according to the speaker, the iPhone and iPod can support their software, as well. Next speaker indicates that Virtual Worlds will be 'the way of the future'...hmm...maybe to an extent, but never completely (in my opinion, of course). Covers the definition of virtual world, and presents their Virtual World training model:

Plan --> Prepare --> Execute --> Review

How is this any different from any other training approach? I don't know that I'm following what makes this unique to Virtual Worlds. Introduction to Virtual Worlds continues...and continues...and continues. Not sure if this was supposed to center around a medical training app or serve as an intro to virtual worlds...

Third speaker transitions into their application...now I'm into it. Covers the four steps of their VW development cycle. Top 10 Virtual World Medical Communities are reviewed...part of the handout to review later. Community guidelines are reviewed, as well, although these are somewhat common sensical, I guess if you were using a VW, this would be significant to review with your users. Heart murmur simulation is part of their VW. Click here to check out the simulation itself.

In summary, speaker mentions that "Medical staff will need to learn to negotitate and use a Virtual Environment with a mobile app". Here's the thing I don't get...and, again, this may be my hang up and nothing more. If the simulation is housed within this virtual world, what's stopping us, as trainers, from cheapening the bill significantly and not even worrying about the VW? Am I the only one here who finds the VW unnecessary and de-focusing, if you will? Like parsley on the plate, are Virtual Worlds there to just make the actual instructional content look good...nothing more?

Good presentation, well put together...don't get me wrong. But maybe I'm too much the purist, as this one missed me.