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Review
. 2021 Mar;8(1):e79-e84.
doi: 10.7861/fhj.2020-0112.

The role of extended reality technology in healthcare education: Towards a learner-centred approach

Abison Logeswaran  1 , Chris Munsch  1 , Yu Jeat Chong  2 , Neil Ralph  1 , Jo McCrossnan  1
Affiliations
Review

The role of extended reality technology in healthcare education: Towards a learner-centred approach

Abison Logeswaran et al. Future Healthc J. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

The use of extended reality (XR) technologies is growing rapidly in a range of industries from gaming to aviation. However, how this technology should be implemented in healthcare education is not well-documented in the literature. Learner-driven implementation of educational technology has previously been shown to be more effective than a technology-driven approach. In this paper we conduct a narrative literature review of relevant papers to explore the role of XR technologies in learner-driven approaches to healthcare educatio. This paper aims to evaluate the position of XR technologies in learner-centred pedagogical models, determine what functions of XR technologies can improve learner-centred approaches in healthcare education, and explore whether XR technologies can improve learning outcomes in healthcare education. We conclude that XR technologies have unique attributes that can improve learning outcomes when compared to traditional learning methods, but there is currently a shortfall in learner-centred implementation of XR technologies in healthcare education, where these technologies have the capacity to cause a paradigm shift.

Keywords: augmented reality; extended reality; health education and training; immersive technology; virtual reality.

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Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Summary of the Stimuli-Organism-Response (SOR) framework produced by Suh and Prophet.
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