Suzanne Tytler

I learned that this technology can replace the need to dissect a real frog, which is a kinder approach to learning without harming.

One thing I am puzzled about is this ... Who actually designs the content in the AR or VR world? For example, if there are problems with our current learning management systems (LMS), we have the IT Department to call. They help with the software, connectivity issues, etc. It is usually faculty who design, create, and upload the learning materials (content) to the LMS platform. If I had to take content currently in use and re-configure it to be deliverable in a AR / VR / MR format, I would be lost! 

Like some of you who have already posted, I too teach nursing students. Sometimes it seems that students have come in to the program without having a full realization of what the jobs entails - the glamorous (Grey's Anatomy) does not translate well to handling and emptying a bedpan :( Perhaps a future for VR would be to use this technology as part of the admission screening process. This could help students realize "nope, nursing is not for me" or it may prompt the student to ask more questions before proceeding ahead with the application process. 

One of the aspects of this technology that I could not help but consider was covered in the challenges section; the cost may be too challenging to overcome. In the Ted-X presentation, if I heard correctly, the presenter said that 2.6 billion people [2016 era] have smart phones. If we are ~8 billion on the planet, what about the remaining 5.4 billion? Reasons why they may not have a smart phone: age (both extremes), cognitive abilities, physical abilities, etc. My sense is that poverty may play a huge role in why smart phones are not more prevalent around the world.… >>>

At a recent faculty meeting, during a presentation from our librarians, I experienced gaming while learning more about APA, 7th edition. Colleagues who were enrolled in and/or had recently acquired degrees had the upper hand and remained in the leaderboard position. Myself and two colleagues [our guild] felt confident in the early stages [i.e., easier stages] but then realized how much we did not know when we were knocked off the Top 5 leaderboard :( Overall, it was a fun way to learn and it is easy to see how students can grasp technology while in a social learning theory… >>>

I was most surprised that instructors visit a student's home to see what kind of complex cultural living environments students come from!

In one of the courses I teach, I am in the clinical setting (e.g., long-term care facility) with internationally educated registered nursing students. These students have received a nursing degree in another country and are now becoming acclimatized to our health care system in Canada. Some of these students adjust quickly as they may have worked elsewhere in the world, such as in Saudi whereby they spoke English in a health care environment. Other students seem to struggle to understand and sometimes even express themselves. I can see they know what they are doing but they might not be able… >>>

Comment on Ora Robinson's post:

Hi Ora, I also teach nursing and find that having the ability to function at a technical level - that is to respond to a patient in distress - can be challenging for any learner new to the profession but is compounded if that learner also contends with an ELL aspect. I recall one student struggle with comprehension and execution of English speaking skills because English was her 5th language! Now, being multi-lingual is a skill set I do not possess, so I marveled at her abilities; however, patient safety was in question without… >>>

A good reminder for me: "Because language is learned through trial and error, students must feel comfortable making mistakes. Creating a safe space in which students can experiment with language without feeling scrutinized is essential to their learning." I teach nursing and sometimes I struggle with some medical diagnoses, names of medications, etc.. For ELL students, being able to practice these words helps their self-esteem and acquisition of English-speaking skills... and if I laugh at myself for butchering a word, then I've added humor to the mix :) 

One of the important take-aways from this module is that "colleges presuppose knowledge of the majority culture." Not being able to mesh into cultural aspects of post-secondary school may also be detrimental to ELL students.