Virtual learning tools in health education and practice – benefits and challenges

Abstract

COVID-19 has magnified the need for online deliveries in higher education. This has further driven the necessity to create innovative learning and teaching tools to engage and motivate students. Further innovations can also assist in the training of practitioners to deliver quality health remotely. This panel will introduce virtual learning tools used in teaching and practice, and will discuss the benefits and challenges in developing and implementing these into curriculum across disciplines. The focus will compare the use of virtual learning tools to deliver health education, and related practices to its use in other disciplines of Teacher Education, Computer Sciences and the Arts. This session will explore how virtual reality (VR) technology, simulation and game engine have been applied across different disciplines and identify areas of challenge.  For example in pharmacology education, the decline of laboratory activities globally is the impetus to develop VR resources to fill this pedagogical gap