Swansea University has been awarded almost £900,000 to expand immersive learning through the development of custom training modules in English and Welsh languages.
The University is partnering with Hywel Dda University Health Board to develop the modules, aiming to meet the exacting standards of clinical education for undergraduate learners and healthcare professionals in Wales.
The funding bid was launched by Professor Joanne Davies, director of simulation education, receiving the funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.
The modules will be designed for multi-professional use, including topics such as healthcare team and communication scenarios, emergency management cases, patient empathy cases and a variety of healthcare training related scenarios and skill practice sessions.
The modules will also play a central role in providing information for a research project which aims to explore the effectiveness of VR training across health professions.
The team is currently tendering for a VR development company to create the modules, and will be inviting students and healthcare specialists to be part of the design and piloting phases of the VR build.
Davies commented: “I am delighted on behalf of the team that our bid was successful and thank HEFCW for its support of our vision to develop virtual reality for our future and current healthcare professionals.
“The use of VR will allow us to enhance our blended learning approaches to education and offer the opportunity to train individuals and teams in an immersive, engaging, and flexible way. It is more relevant than ever to help break the boundaries of when and where education can occur, especially with current pressures on all parts of the service.”
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