Speaker Series: Transforming Teaching and Learning with Immersive Technology and AI: Applications from Nursing to K-12 Education

Drs. Jason Coley and Wendy Trevor are co-authors and recipient of a $770,000 Federal Congressional Community Project Funding grant to create the Reimagining Nursing Virtual Reality Simulation Hub and Center for Academic Innovation at Maria College. The project's aim is to aid student nurse clinical competency development and confidence and further retention of newly licensed graduates in the workplace during the critical first two years when 33% of new nurses leave the profession.

Since the opening of the Center, additional possibilities for the use of Extended Reality (XR) have been identified, which promote individualized and collaborative learning. This has led to integration of XR to provide graduate-level occupational therapy students additional experiential learning opportunities in preparation for work with pediatric patients, to foster therapeutic communication in healthcare practitioners, and further inquiry-based and situated learning through interactive realistic-like environments.  

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Wendy Trevor, PhD has eighteen years of higher education teaching experience in the UK and US. She serves as the Vice President of Strategic Innovation and Partnerships and Professor of English and Medical Ethics, at Maria College in Albany NY and holds a Departmental Tutor appointment at Oxford University Department of Continuing Education in England. She earned her MA and PhD at the University of Birmingham, England.

Jason Coley, PhD, is the founding Director of the Center for Academic Innovation at Maria College in Albany, NY, where he leads the integration of immersive technologies and generative artificial intelligence into healthcare education. His work focuses on advancing simulation-based learning and curriculum innovation through virtual and augmented reality. Dr. Coley holds a PhD in Communication and Rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.