Data Collection for this research is now complete. A huge thanks to the 2nd and 3rd year nursing students who participated. I’m excited to start analysing the results and sharing them with participants in the next 12 months.

Apologies for the delays in posting anything, although I’m pleased to say it’s been because of the amount of progress.

Starting in the next couple of weeks, I will be collecting data from 2nd and 3rd year Australian nursing students who have very kindly agreed to participate.

Here’s a screen shot of the final artefact as a taste:

 

A quick update: I am in the process of finalising my ethics submission, with the hope that my HREC is able to approve it well before the end of the year.

I know most people can experience nausea when contemplating an ethics application, but I have to say I’ve found the whole process invaluable in getting my head around some of the intricacies of the research.

I also need to give some kudos to the NEAF online ethics application system – it’s far from perfect but it does make the process a lot smoother than it used to be.

The past year has seen some good progress, but not of the variety worthy of sharing here. The reality is that I have been knee deep in Ethics applications, working on my PhD literature review and working as a sessional tutor in a related subject.

Further exciting updates are dependant on:

1. Securing funding to build the second iteration of the virtual ward. This will include an in-depth set of clinical / behavioural pathways forming a longer clinical story for the student to explore;

2. Approval of the ethics application for the research, and;

3. Getting the research / data collection completed in the first half of 2016

Thanks to a great suggestion from my supervisors (thanks Linda, Moira and Patrea), I’ve also started documenting in more depth the process of my research. A first step in this is the proposed establishment of a podcast looking at the intersection of technology, health and education. Titled Future Static, it will take a very in-depth look, with extensive interviews, at particular topics in the area.

When the first episode is completed prior to the end of the year, it will be posted here, or you can go to the standalone podcast website here.

Really excited with the work the Oztron have done. The video below provides an overview of the first draft of the prototype. Please set the video to full screen so you can read the dialogue. The dialogue itself is rudimentary – the clinical conversations will form part of my PhD research and weren’t in scope for the prototype.

This is a brief video showing the patient avatar animations. Although the prototype will not involve the patient speaking, for realism the animations are critical:

The prototype is nearing completion with the art essentially done: