11083

11083

General Session - Conference Presentation Only (no formal paper)

Transforming a Contemporary Health Event into a Case Study
Anne Hewitt, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, USA, anne.hewitt@shu.edu Riad Twal, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, USA, riad.twal@shu.edu

Real world health events offer excellent teaching opportunities for faculty to introduce essential course concepts and skills. However, the development of a traditional, narrative case study requires significant time and input that often delays the availability resulting in a loss of the teachable moment. Virtual worlds offer immersive learning environments that can be manipulated quickly to mimic a real world health situation. Applications based on this interactive technology offer the potential for students to substantively increase their knowledge and participate in a contemporary problem solving applications. Using a virtual world platform, Second Life, the presenters describe a coordinated series of activities implemented to create a scenario based on the recent Gulf Oil Spill. The case study focused on the impact of this catastrophic environmental disaster on the quality of life for local communities. Best practices for planning and integrating virtual world simulations into a graduate curriculum are presented. The session will include a viewing and discussion of sample video clips from a press conference held in Second Life where students assumed roles of community (YouTube Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqVATpEdSh8&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SP5EE248C87B41D1B0 )

All Audiences virtual world learning case study simulations transforming real life events into virtual scenarios