The program evaluation of the Occupational Therapy Center at Jefferson in Second Life has just been published in the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research. Occupational therapy educator Rashid Kashani (from University of Alberta in Canada) wrote a “think piece” for the same issue that suggests occupational therapists may be especially well equipped for program development roles in virtual worlds. There are many other interesting articles related to 3D virtual worlds for health and healthcare, check it out!
On June 11 we held an Open House Event to celebrate the newly renovated Adaptation Home. At the six hour event Sweeney, Lynnze, and Shay all added their own special spin to the talk about graduate student contributions to the exhibits.
grad student presentation
In addition to the adaptation home, we have moved the Stroke Challenge exhibit formerly at HealthInfo Island to the area in back of Project Theater. A copy of the Caregiver Strategies holodeck is next to the Stroke Challenge.
A total of 34 visitors attended the presentations and/or explored the exhibits.
Last night we met with Kathee Gibbs (top photo, far left) to discuss final renovations to the Adapted Home. We have a duplicate of the home at our sandbox where we experiment. Kathee made some suggestions that Sweeney (“Holodeck queen,” pink jacket) will put in place and was very pleased overall with the displays. Later on, Plato Pizzicatto (our collaborator from Penn State Abington, white shirt) stopped by. Carly Charlesworth also stopped by unexpectedly (and serendipitously). Carly provided insights and suggestions from her experiences of severe sciatica when she used a wheelchair and crutches.
The renovation gives visitors the option to click on the light switch for each room (labeled holo-emitter, above) and choose Mobility, Cognitive, or Low Vision scenes. Additional information can be accessed by clicking the icon board in each room (labeled more info, above). Grad student Lynnze Inglewood has done the scripting for the boards. We will also launch a Wiki that provides web links and information about home adaptations, universal design, and healthy aging (which we will renovate next with particular attention to psychosocial issues in aging). We expect to announce an Open House upon completion of renovations next week or early the following week.
On Monday, March 11, first year graduate students Shanna Corbin, Lindsay Allan, and Shyvonne Gallagher provided a lively presentation about the Jefferson OT Center in Second Life®. In attendance were 5 students from Kitasato University in Sagamihara, Japan, and about 70 students and faculty in health professions at JCHP.
The audience response was interesting, too. After Shanna explained the benefits of SL for some persons who have severe physical disabilities, one of the JCHP physical therapy students stated his opinion that SL discouraged people from being involved in real life. Another point raised was that people might accomplish a lot in SL, at the expense of real life. It didn’t seem to dawn on the student who asked the question, that accomplishments in SL can be “real.” The OT student presenters did a great job fielding questions, and people seemed to enjoy the presentation and find it interesting.
This slideshare from Judy O’Connell is well worth the view, if you are an educator who wants to be part of real learning and teaching in the 21st Century and can be open to the pardigm shift required.
Alana Scorbal (Therese, left) and Wrenna Beerbaum (Suzanne, right), completed their final Masters in Occupational Therapy projects on December 7, 2008 at the Department’s Final Project Presentations. Alana’s focused on the program evaluation of The OT Center at Jefferson in Second Life, and Sue’s consisted of development and evaluation of an exhibit on Healthy Aging and Neuroplasticity. Congrats to both on a fantastic job! See report of evaluation.
The program evaluation commenced on November 8, 2008 with opening of the Garden ofHealthy Aging and the reopening of the Adaptation Home and Main Building exhibits. The Garden of Healthy Aging provides interactive displays in a serene setting to allow one to discover various ways to keep your mind and body active as you age. The Adaptation Home permits the user to explore (with or without a wheelchair) different ways to modify a home to increase safety and independence when a limitation is present in mobility, vision, or cognition.
The Main Building encompasses informative videos, materials, and quizzes on a range of health topics, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, backpack awareness, and assistive technology.
So far, the overall opinions from the participants have been positive! We have had 29 participants take the survey and 20 of whom have taken part in follow-up interviews to further elaborate on their impressions of the exhibits.
Ø86% of respondents strongly agree/agree that visual, interactive 3-D displays help them learn better than reading the same material on a 2-D website.
Ø79% of respondents strongly agree/agree that the information given in the exhibits at the OT Center in SL will be beneficial to them in real life.
The interviewees have given complimentary and constructive feedback which we will use to enhance the exhibits to maximize the learning experience for user.
There were some difficulties during the preparation stage. Things did not go exactly as planned, but in the spirit of the AdaptationHome exhibit as well as occupational therapy, we ADAPTED and OVERCAME. We modified some of our original plans (using holodecks throughout the house) to an interactive, well-received display that illustrates typical problems and adaptations that can be made.
We hope you will stop by the Jefferson OT Center @ Eduisland II and explore our exhibits…Please check back on the blog for updates as the data continues to be collected and analyzed.
Alana Scorbal (Therese, left) and Wrenna Beerbaum (Suzanne, right), completed their final Masters in Occupational Therapy projects on December 7, 2008 at the
