UPM NTHC Conducts Lecture in Virtual World

May 21, 2011 3:22 am | by Sid Cardenas, RN | Posted in News

ONeHealth presented in Second Life

The University of the Philippines Manila National Telehealth Center (UPM NTHC) recently held a lecture about eHealth last May 18, 2011. What’s unique about this instance is that the lecture was delivered in a different world.

Mr. Isidor Cardenas, eHealth Nurse of UPM NTHC presented an introduction of the Center’s banner program – One Network on eHealth (ONeHealth) through an online Virtual World called Second Life^® where people (called residents) interact within the virtual environment collectively called as ‘The Grid’ through graphical representations of themselves, known as avatars(http://secondlife.com/). Second Life^® is like a cross between a web browser, a social network, and a massive multiplayer online Role Playing Game (MMORPG).

The lecture was held at the Healthinfo Island of Virtual Ability, Inc – a non-profit organization based in Colorado, USA which aims to “enable people with a wide range of disabilities by providing a supporting environment for them to enter and thrive in online virtual worlds” (http://virtualability.org). To accommodate some of the participants who have hearing disabilities, the lecture was delivered through text chat. The topics presented were about Electronic Medical Records, Telemedicine, and eLearning.

The Center is also planning to conduct a virtual version of the eHealth Seminar some time this year as part of its effort to diversify in its eLearning services. You may contact Mr. Cardenas (sidcarden@gmail.com) if you are interested to attend this event.

Virtual Worlds such as Second Life® allow organizations to conduct distance education with a better and more vivid real life representation.