St George’s e-learning project wins Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year 2009

St George’s e-learning project wins Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year 2009

16 October 2009

St George’s, University of London’s pioneering project that trains paramedics in the virtual world of Second Life has been awarded the Times Higher Education (THE) award for Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year 2009.

The project was judged on its demonstration of an ‘innovative, strategic and potentially far-reaching use of ICT in support of the goals of that institution’. Key criteria were innovation, institutional impact and implications for the HE sector.

The award was presented to St George’s e-learning team, who developed the initiative, by TV presenter Clive Anderson during a black tie dinner event at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, on Thursday 15 October 2009.

Award sponsor and judge David Baker, deputy chair of the Joint Information Systems Committee, stated St George’s was the “clear winner” and described the project as “an imaginative use of Second Life and very appropriate for the subject field.”

The award-winning project, launched in October 2008 and developed with the help of David Burden from Daden Ltd, helps to train paramedic students using problem-based learning (PBL) in the virtual world of Second Life. It sees students enter the virtual environment as paramedics on the St George’s Island, where they are immediately called to one of five different emergency scenarios. They work in small groups to assess and treat patients in the same way they would in the real world, before safely transporting them to hospital.

The virtual paramedics are able to replicate real-life tasks such as speaking with the patients, checking vital signs, dressing wounds and administering drugs. The scenario unfolds in response to their actions. Once they have reached the hospital, they submit handover notes on the patients, which are emailed to their real-life tutor for feedback.

Emily Conradi, e-Projects Manager, explains why the project has proved so useful to paramedic students: “Paramedic students spend a lot of time in work placements, which can be based anywhere in the country, so it can be hard for the students to meet face-to-face with each other and with their tutors. The advantage of Second Life is that it feels more real. Students get a sense of being there together and can decide what to do from what they can see in front of them.”

The application, developed by St George’s, is now available free of charge through Google Code to other institutions that wish to develop their own training courses. The universities of Coventry and Greenwich have already trialled the scenarios in their paramedic courses, and the concept has the potential to be used in other disciplines.

For the THE judging panel, this initiative excelled amongst competition from higher education institutions all around the UK and a final line-up of ICT projects from Bucks New University; Cardiff University; London School of Economics and Political Science; Queen’s University Belfast; and the University of Reading.

The Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year category is one of 18 areas in which universities were recognised for their work and impact during the annual award ceremony. Other categories include Most Improved Student Experience, University of the Year and Technology and Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community.

The 2009 THE awards attracted 600 entries from 137 of the UK’s higher education institutions. 

Members of the team are pictured collecting their award on the THE website