Virtual- and Augmented Reality-Supported Teaching for Professional Caregivers

Virtual reality is used to support teaching in the professional caregiver educations. Virtual reality can visualize the anatomical part of the body and provide interactive content that support and motivate students. This paper presents a preliminary study of an ongoing development of two new virtual and augmented reality applications with teaching material about leg ulcer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. We have conducted workshops and interviews with a total of seven teachers at a caregiver program who have provided information about the potential uses of virtual and augmented reality including their design ideas and feedback on a prototype of the applications. This have contributed to insights into how future solutions should be designed and how these may support teaching. The results indicate that virtual and augmented reality can be useful for achieving many different learning goals. It also indicates that it is not always an advantage to use immersive virtual reality or augmented reality, but it is possible to achieve at least similar results using a non-immersive version through mobile phones or tablets.