The Next Step: The California Cybersecurity Institute’s Anti-Trafficking Virtual Reality Immersion Training

Digital gaming and virtual learning platforms have expanded the boundaries of experiential based anti-trafficking training. Virtual reality provides a technological mechanism for immersive storytelling through the simulation of a physical presence within an artefact using software and specialised hardware. The success of virtual-based immersive training is directly dependent on a series of factors, including realism, re-playability, and supplemental in-person training. This article describes the California Cybersecurity Institute’s anti-trafficking immersion training programme, which advances beyond awareness education to test law enforcement and first responder-specific skills and biases. This multi-layered programme looks to incorporate all concepts of ‘serious gaming’ within law enforcement and humanitarian communication.

A Survey of Blind Orientation and Mobility Specialists about the Accommodations and Teaching Strategies They Use when Providing Orientation and Mobility Services

Introduction: The purpose of the study was to survey orientation and mobility (O&M) instructors who are blind concerning the identification of accommodations, teaching techniques, and resources to teach students with visual impairments (i.e., blindness or low vision). Methods: The study utilized an online survey via Qualtrics (2019) with 27 closed- and open-ended items to identify accommodations, teaching techniques, and resources needed. The survey was e-mailed to membership and certification organizations requesting O&M instructors who are blind to participate for 12 weeks. The participants were 15 O&M specialists, mostly male and Caucasian. Survey data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Forty percentage of the participants reported that there were minimal standards that they had to demonstrate prior to their admittance into an O&M program. About one-fourth of the participants mentioned their program was modified because of their visual impairment. Eleven participants (73%) reported that their nonvisual instructional strategies and techniques were predominantly gained through their university programs or other visually impaired instructors (27%, n = 4). Discussion: Aspects of this study that are similar to the current literature are smaller faculty-to-student ratios for blindfold or simulation cane courses, accommodations used by participants, and suggestions for monitoring the safety of students. The results revealed the participants’ strong belief in the importance of immersion training, the use of the Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT), nonvisual skills during O&M instruction, sleep shades, and students’ problem-solving abilities. Implication for practitioners: Although the participants had received SDCT immersion training, most personnel preparation programs approved by the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of Blind and Visually Impaired do not use this method. For this reason, it is important for faculty to identify best teaching practices from among all programs and to integrate these practices into their curricula. Sharing best practices could strengthen all programs. Moreover, students with visual impairments should be taught early about self-advocacy and the ability to have helpful knowledge about one’s skills at a university and in the workplace.

Intensive Mindfulness-based Resilience Training in First Responders: A Pilot Study

first responders offered in a compressed, residential immersion format (MBRT-I). Methods: Participants (N = 31) attended a 2.5-day immersion training to receive training in MBRT-I, with a booster session 30 days later. Self-report data measuring aspects of stress and health were collected at baseline, immediately following MBRT-I training, 30 days after MBRT-I training, and 90 days after MBRT-I training. Results: Participants reported significant improvements in emotional intelligence, emotional regulation, occupational stress, and fatigue (p < .05), with further trends approaching statistical significance regarding perceived stress, anger, and mindfulness. Conclusions: Whereas larger studies with longer follow-up are needed to establish the efficacy of this intervention, preliminary results suggest a compressed-format version of MBRT is (1) feasible, and (2) may be beneficial in reducing stress, anger, and fatigue, and improving likely mediators of positive health outcomes, such as emotional regulation and mindfulness among a broad range of first responders.

The next nine minutes: Lessons learned from the large-scale active shooter training prior to the STEM school shooting

Objective: As the incidence of active shooters increase, local emergency response has also changed. South Metro Fire Rescue coordinated a series of hyper-realistic active shooter simulation drills involving multiple agencies.Methods: “The Next Nine Minutes” was one of the largest active shooter drills performed to date with 904 personnel that were trained in 18 mass casualty active shooter drills. Evaluation was from point of injury to and including care in the operating room (OR), and evaluation of real-time system logistics.Results: A total of 126 patients in Cut Suits® received a total of 479 procedures such as needle decompressions, cricothyrotomies, tourniquets, wound packs, and chest tubes. Central to this exercise, law enforcement (LE) established a warm zone from the initial shooting. EMS was able to move into the facility, locate casualties, extract the first victim, move them to a casualty collection point (CCP), and transport them to safety within 12 minutes.Conclusions: Strengths and weaknesses were identified in prehospital and in-hospital care. These included what roles agencies play in a true event, specific timing in establishing areas such as the warm zone and CCP, transportation, and logistics at the accepting hospitals. Only after the barriers to success were identified and addressed did the timing of casualty movement drastically improve. Lessons learned from this training were ultimately used to save lives at the STEM School, Highlands Ranch, and Colorado Shooting. This in situ immersion training should be practiced as a whole system.

The Effectiveness of the Summer Immersion Program for Developing Time Management and Metacognitive Thinking Life Skills among Female Secondary School Students in Saudi Arabia

This research aimed at examining the effectiveness of the Saudi Aramco Research Science Initiative (SARSI) Summer Immersion training program for developing time management and meta cognitive thinking life skills among female gifted secondary school students. The research sample comprised 31 female gifted students enrolled in various Saudi secondary schools. Their ages ranged from 15 to 17 years old with an average age of 16.23. The Abdul Salam scale was used for the measuring time-management performance and metacognitive thinking skills in the pre- and post-assessment of the SARSI program. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between the students’ pre- and post-assessments on: a) time management skills; b) the overall meta cognitive thinking life skills and c) two subcategories of metacognitive skills: planning and self-monitoring. However, no significant differences were identified in the pre- and post-assessment for self-assessment.

Using virtual reality in medical education to teach empathy

Objective: The project adopted technology that teaches medical and other health professions students to be empathic with older adults, through virtual reality (VR) software that allows them to simulate being a patient with age-related diseases, and to familiarize medical students with information resources related to the health of older adults.Methods: The project uses an application that creates immersive VR experiences for training of the workforce for aging services. Users experience age-related conditions such as macular degeneration and high-frequency hearing loss from the patient’s perspective. Librarians and faculty partner to integrate the experience into the curriculum, and students go to the library at their convenience to do the VR assignment.Results: The project successfully introduced an innovative new teaching modality to the medical, physician assistant, physical therapy, and nursing curricula. Results show that VR enhanced students’ understanding of age-related health problems and increased their empathy for older adults with vision and hearing loss or Alzheimer’s disease.Conclusion: VR immersion training is an effective teaching method to help medical and health professions students develop empathy and is a budding area for library partnerships. As the technology becomes more affordable and accessible, it is important to develop best practices for using VR in the library.

Implementing Chief Resident Immersion Training (CRIT) in the Care of Older Adults: Overcoming Barriers and Promoting Facilitators

The Chief Resident Immersion Training (CRIT) in the Care of Older Adults curriculum was developed at Boston University School of Medicine to improve the care of older adults through an educational intervention. The curriculum targeted chief residents (CRs) because their role as mediators between learners and faculty provides the greatest potential impact for transmitting knowledge. The goals of CRIT are to: (1) provide education on geriatric principles and on teaching/leadership skills, (2) foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and (3) complete an action project. This study demonstrates successful implementation of CRIT at a different academic institution in a rural state. The CRs indicated that their confidence in their ability to apply and teach geriatrics improved after CRIT. In addition, the CRs indicated that CRIT improved their confidence in their overall skills as CRs. The barriers and facilitators to implementation are addressed in order to promote successful adoption of CRIT at other institutions, including those in rural states.