Occupational Medicine SimulationA collaborative virtual environment research project between

the University of Otago and F/Xual Education Services

Simulation Overview• Cement manufacturing process in the

United Arab Emirates• OpenSimulator• Workers’ health outcome assessments

Student Cohort• Occupational medicine practitioners• Distance learners• Limited contact time

The Research Indicates:That immersive virtual environments• support situated learning;• provide an authenticity of learning experience;• are highly experiential learning spaces;• enable an enhanced sense of community;• support an improved student performance

Giving Meaning to the Learning SpaceAn amalgamation of the relationship between• the environment;• one’s self;• others

Fidelity of the Environment“the perception of space, size and distance; atmospheric factors such as dust and noise; each adding to the immersive quality of the environment and supporting a sense of being there.”Griffiths, A. (2015). Occupational Medicine Simulation Project. In T. Reiners, B.R. von Konsky, D. Gibson, V. Chang, L. Irving,

& K. Clarke (Eds.), Globally connected, digitally enabled. Proceedings ascilite 2015 in Perth (pp. CP:103-CP:107).

Engagement“the physical reality of the learning situation is of less importance than the characteristics of the task design and the engagement of students in the learning environment.”

Herrington, J., Reeves, T. C. and Oliver, R. (2007). Immersive learning technologies: Realism and online authentic learning. Journal of Computing in Higher Education. 19 (1), 80-99.

Students/Occupational Environment:Visually engaging with the physical objects in the occupational environment

Students/Occupational Data:Analytically engaging with the occupational data gathered

Students/Facilitator:Encouraging engagement through enquiry and discovery

Embodiment, PresenceThrough the use of avatars, “users do not simply roam through the space as ‘mind’, but find themselves grounded in the practice of the body, and thus in the world” (Taylor, 2002; 42).

Childs, M. (2010) Learners’ Experience of Presence in Virtual Worlds. Ph.D thesis, University of Warwick

Self-IdentityGoffman (1956, p. 17) talks on the performer’s belief in the part they are playing; how they can be “sincerely convinced that the impression of reality he stages is the real reality” (sic).

Goffman. E. (1956) The presentation of self in everyday life. London: Penguin.

“When appropriate technologies can be selected as required and used as cognitive tools to solve complex problems, the responsibility for learning moves back to the learner, rather than the designer of the virtual environment.”

Herrington, J., Reeves, T. C. and Oliver, R. (2007). Immersive learning technologies: Realism and online authentic learning. Journal of Computing in Higher Education. 19 (1), 80-99.

F/Xual Education ServicesDirector: Aaron Griffiths