What the world needs now...

Zoe Weil is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education (www.humaneeducation.org).  According to Zoe, what the world needs is "solutionaries".  Watch her video to see if you might not agree.

Check Out the New Google Body Browser

Google has just released its new Body Browser, a detailed 3D model of the human body that allows you to view various anatomical systems such as the nervous system, muscle structure, organs, etc. One can zoom in or search via key word to identify organs. The site indicates that one can create a URL that will allow you to send someone else to the exact view you are seeing.

One must have the latest Google Chrome Beta version of the browser installed but that is free and only takes a few minutes to load. Check it out at http://bodybrowser.googlelabs.com.

AERA Curriculum Studies (Division B) Newsletter

Bill Ayers, Vice-President of AERA Division B - Curriculum Studies has announced that the division now has a new website http://www.curriculumstudies.net/ and a new Division B Newsletter known as "The Well-Spring." The site and newsletter are available to all regardless of whether or not they are AERA members. The current issue has many interesting features including a book review by Professor William Schubert from the Curriculum Studies Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a thought-provoking message on Art, Democracy, and Education by the recently retired Dr. Ayers. To access the newsletter, go to the site above and click "Newsletter Archive" in the menu bar at the top of the page. It's "well" worth your visit. --Jerry

GME (Residency Education) Discussion at ISTE

A group of University of Kentucky Second Life researchers and their colleagues will discuss their work using Second Life for medical resident education at the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) speaker series in Second Life on Tuesday May 25. Thanks to Beth Kramer from UK for posting the following information regarding the presentation to the Second Life Education Listserv.

Title: The Doctor is In(world)
Venue: ISTE Island Auditorium: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/204/46/23
Date: Tues, May 25
Time: 5:00 PM SLT (7:00 PM Chicago)

Avatar presenters:
Vincent Hillburton (Mark Thomas)
Ingram Gericault (Mark Ryder)
Bobb Kalamunda (Bob Hutchins)
Sammantha Raymaker (Sandra Challman)

Description: The small group seminar has long been the mainstay of medical resident education. Second Life offers an opportunity to bring groups of avatar residents and faculty from different institutions together to share clinical cases, best evidence, and insights on patient management strategies. That vision led to a series of in-world seminars between the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry (UKCD) and College of Medicine and Baylor College of Dentistry and, later, UKCD and the University of California (San Francisco) School of Dentistry. Dental students and faculty from these institutions met in-world in a conference room created on the UK Island. The faculty involved in these sessions will discuss their experiences and feedback from their residents and speculate on the role of SL in medical residency training programs.

New from UW! Games and Simulation for Healthcare Library and Database

Eric Bauman and his colleagues ad the University of Wisconsin have just published a wonderful new resource for those who want to integrate games and simulation into their scholarship and patient care strategy. It's called the Games and Simulation for Healthcare Library and Database. The site includes an entire inventory of items dealing with everything from anatomy to disaster preparedness to patient education. One can search by vendor, audience, platform, and topic or any combination of these. I did a quick search using the audience "attending physicians" and the platform "iPhone" and came up with three items including an ACLS review tool using 800 flash cards, an interactive anatomy tool, and another set of flash cards for the iPhone. Searching Second Life currently yielded 17 clinical simulation sites including our own SLICE2 (just renamed the NewWorld Initiative for Clinician Education). The site also includes a listing of associations and labs as well as current news/events and reference materials. Anyone with an interest in patient and clinician education, and clinical research taking advantage of games and simulation-based learning will want to bookmark this site: http://projects.hsl.wisc.edu/healthcaregames/

Guide to Using Second Life in Medicine

John Lester of Linden Labs posted a link on the Second Life healthcare listserv for a guide to using Second Life in Medicine published by Webicina. The guide looks very interesting and has much helpful information about how various organizations are using virtual worlds in healthcare, how one can organize meetings and presentations such as case discussions in Second Life and how patients might use Second Life. I am not familiar with the company, but according to the information on their site, "Webicina is a privately held company aiming to build a bridge between physicians and e-patients. Webicina provides services that help medical professionals and patients enter the web 2.0 era." They apparently offer a number of subscription services for both professionals and the general public but the guide is free and is available on the web at "http://www.webicina.com/medicine_in_second_life/what_is_second_life_75/" at least for the time being. I found it to be full of useful information and wanted to share it with you.

MacArthur Foundation Creates a Presence in Second Life

The MacArthur Foundation has opened an island in the virtual world of Second Life. The island is a new laboratory for MacArthur’s two-year exploration of virtual worlds, led by the University of Southern California and the nonprofit Global Kids. The island is designed as an alternative space to educate grantees and others about the potential for philanthropy in virtual worlds and allow grantees and Foundation partners to showcase their work and connect with new audiences. The new island is located adjacent to an archipelago in Second Life dedicated to the public good, called the Nonprofit Commons. Visitors to MacArthur Island can interact with installations created about the work of MacArthur and its grantees. They include a giant pair of 3D headphones that visitors can use to listen to stories by independent radio producers as part of Public Radio Exchange, and a map about Chicago neighborhoods through which visitors can learn about a comprehensive community development effort being carried out in Chicago.
“We are just beginning to understand the potential of virtual worlds for social good, and MacArthur Island will make it possible for us to take the next steps in our investigation,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “Although the use of virtual worlds is exploding, we need to better understand when and how nonprofits should invest their scarce resources. Now is the time to do this work. Philanthropy should be an active player as these new spaces take shape.”

Virtual worlds, such as Second Life and Whyville, are user-created 3D communities that allow users to connect with real people from all around the world. Participants engage using avatars, or simulated representations of their physical selves, which they can manipulate using their computer to fly from island to island, talk with others, and even show emotion. Virtual worlds have been especially powerful for communities that are spread out across the globe to convene on issues of shared interest, and have also been used for fundraising, spreading awareness and increasingly for education.

The island is the latest of a series of MacArthur-supported projects carried out over the past two years to explore the power of virtual spaces for social good. They include a number of MacArthur-hosted events in virtual worlds on a range of issues from human rights to community development. The exploration of virtual worlds is part of the Foundation’s $50 million digital media and learning initiative, which seeks to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life. Answers are critical to developing the social institutions that can meet the needs of this and future generations. (Press release courtesy of the MacArthur Foundation.)