Shifting Learning: Lessons from Co-Creation of Virtual Online Simulations During the Pandemic
Channel: eCampusOntario
Date: 16/12/2021

Shifting Learning: Lessons from Co-Creation of Virtual Online Simulations During the COVID-19 Pandemic // Changer l’apprentissage : Leçons tirées de la cocréation de simulations virtuelles en ligne pendant la pandémie de COVID-19

Presented by:

Laura Killam
Professor, Cambrian College; PhD in Nursing Student, Queen’s University

Emily Campbell
4th Year Nursing Student, Cambrian College

Stephanie Hutton
Community and Health Systems Navigation program Graduate, Cambrian College

Students do not want to lose the connections and rapport that were created between learners and faculty as a byproduct of inclusive approaches to virtual learning. To return to pre-pandemic styles of learning would be a lost opportunity. During the pandemic, students and faculty maintained quality learning experiences through collaboration, openness, and authentic assessments. Giving students a voice in their own education led to feelings of empowerment and agency, which improved relationships between educators and students in the College community. 

In this presentation, we provide an overview of the importance of permanently shifting the learning environment towards humanistic approaches. During the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty with community and virtual simulation experience provided students with guidance through the process of co-creating virtual online simulations with learners from another discipline. The goal of this project was to encourage experiential learning for healthcare students who must graduate with empathy for clients. Students learned empathy in two ways: through the poverty focus of the project and by their professors showing them empathy during a stressful academic year.

Anecdotally, the co-creation of virtual simulations enriched the learning experience for students involved in the process and is recommended for replication and future use. Humanizing the experience through honesty and flexibility validated the difficulty that learning during a pandemic presented.  Students also appreciated the flexibility of their teachers and the opportunity to influence course design (such as influencing grading criteria). Educators plan to reuse content from consenting students in future courses, which is beneficial for past and future students.