April Richardson on the UKSL island, 2011-12

Recently we received an awesome list from Dr. April Richardson of the UK Dept. of Anatomy and Neurobiology (aka Kezia1618 Landar in Second Life) on the work she’s currently doing on the UK Second Life Island.

Summary 11 abstracts 1 publication 3 publications in preparation 10 national/international meetings; 1 international virtual conference 9 undergraduates in ANA395 4 graduate students in ANA503 2 master’s thesis projects

Ongoing Second Life Projects

1. The Virtual Anatomy Lab on the UK Island in Second Life: An Introduction to Regional Anatomy (ANA309) was approved recently (it had to go through five levels of approval this past year), so it will be offered in Spring 2013. This will include a regional approach to anatomy via online Blackboard modules, and students will meet in Second Life once a week for a team-based learning session on the topic for that week. Matt Hazzard of UKIT Academic Technologies has been instrumental in getting this ready, as well as Chris Bentley (an undergraduate who has helped with some of the coding in SL). The class will cap at 24 the first time, so we can see how the technology/course will run at first.
2. The Cranial Nerve Skywalk: Built in collaboration with Dr. German Ramirez, an oral biologist at the University of Manitoba, this is a 3D tutorial of the cranial nerves III, V, VII and IX. It was presented at the American Dental Education Association in Florida in March and at the American Association of Clinical Anatomists in Grenada in July. Approximately 90 Physician Assistant/Physical Therapy students and approximately 40 dental students used this in Spring 2012; it was also used for 120 students in the medical class this fall 2012.
3. Cultural Competency in Medicine: a collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Brueckner-Collins, Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville.
4. Virtual learning and telehealth: a collaboration with nurse Dianna Vice, a UK Telecare clinical coordinator, using the virtual world to simulate clinical experience/case studies for nursing students. We are in the process of submitting a publication to the Journal of Nursing Education this summer.

Congratulations!