Spotlight on Digital capabilities webinar 2

About the Event

Virtual Stratified Medicine Lab – intro to basic lab skills. (Designing a virtual lab tour to promote the learning and teaching of Stratified Medicine).

The postgraduate Stratified/Personalised Medicine MSc is a fully online distance learning course; providing flexible and distributed learning. Currently, for this distance learning course, there is a need for students to gain an insight into the laboratory techniques involved in research in this area as well as increasing knowledge of the research areas within Personalised Medicine.

It is essential for student employability that they have an in-depth knowledge of experimental techniques and this is not currently possible online without interactive digital content. Being a fully online course, it is not possible for UK and international students based outside of Northern Ireland to travel to the Northern Ireland Centre for Stratified Medicine to gain this essential experience. Ulster developed a virtual laboratory to provide students with experience of the laboratories within the Stratified Medicine centre, allowing the students to view experiments within the lab and to improve understanding of the processes and interactions within the experimental methods. Assessment was used to enhance the learning experience of the students. The digital content also provides students with an insight into what is involved in research and Stratified Medicine through interviews with researchers and industry experts.

This impressive feat of creating a virtual laboratory is of interest to all, with the current pandemic restricting the feasibility of traditional face-to-face learning. Those members interested in the possibilities of Technology Enhanced Learning to overcome the challenges currently faced by the sector will find inspiration in Ulster University’s example.

Purpose of the workshop:

• Outline the underpinning pedagogy for development of the virtual lab.
• To discuss the design principles used to design and build the virtual lab.
• To assess the usability of the digital content and look at the transferability to undergraduate students.
• To reflect on the technologies used and compare technology with emerging technologies.