A trend I see in adult education related to health care is the use of Computer-based learning models with Virtual reality and Artificial intelligence scenarios. The use of AI and virtual reality is changing the landscape of nursing and medical schools for the better and the worse.
Simulated computer models provide excellent learning opportunities without the risk to clients. However, they remove the human element of connection and caring from the equation. These programs will make learning skills more efficient but may take us further from learning the art of caring.
This technology will impact my practice profoundly. It will mean that we need fewer instructors in the lab environment where the learning is skills-based and normally requires a heavy investment in salaries tied to this teaching. If technology can reduce the investment educational institutions need to run their programs, they will pursue this technology to improve their bottom line.
I can also see the downside of this technology as we move towards perfecting skills and move away from connecting with our human patients. Nursing has always been a caring profession that depends heavily on a mix of social emotional domains as well as the science component. Skills based learning is a large part of nursing training but if we teach skills in the absence of the human will we produce the kind of nurses that we want caring for us?
In preparation for these advances, I will need to continue to be an adult learner and engage in learning to prepare me for AI advancement and the integration of this into the current learning plan. I will also need to engage and learn the new software and programs that will come with all this technology. Stay current or get left behind!
There is so much room to use technology in learning, keeping in mind that there are things that we do as humans that are more than the task or the skill. In healthcare, we the human are the delivery unit for health care and how we deliver this care matters. The need for human connection and to feel cared for will always be an important component of the healthcare profession.
Artificial Intelligence for Health Professions Educators – PMC (nih.gov)
(20+) vcc – school of instructor education – Search Results | Facebook
References
Lomis, K., Jeffries, P., Palatta, A., Sage, M., Sheikh, J., Sheperis, C., & Whelan, A. (2021). Artificial Intelligence for Health Professions Educators. NAM perspectives, 2021, 10.31478/202109a. https://doi.org/10.31478/202109a
Adult learning 
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