Wearable, first-person camera technology used for instructional purposes made its debut in a limited premiere to an Introduction to Healthcare course at Central Georgia Technical College in 2015, but Jessica Willcox, Registered Nursing program director, has plans for it to star in cohorts and professional development sessions to come.
 
“Instead of being a bystander, students can now participate in the process,” Willcox said of the bright-orange, Panasonic A-100 Wearable Technology Camcorder, which allows her to demonstrate required tasks of healthcare professionals, both during and outside of the class.
 
The aim is to create a new angle to teach everyday technical tasks and techniques performed by healthcare professionals that her students are required to perfect. Through a camera and microphone system combo mounted on her head, she is able to instruct students with a flexible first-person perspective that adds a realistic touch.
 
Sterile gloving, hand washing, checking vital signs and testing an IV are some of the techniques she has demonstrated so far.
 
“At one point, I thought, well, I can upload videos (already created), but the ones available were not the same techniques I wanted to demonstrate,” Willcox said. “Now, I am able to demonstrate based off our check sheets and students can follow and practice at home.”
 
Feedback has been well-received. Her videos are shown to students in class, and are uploaded to their Blackboard Learning online accounts, YouTube and other video sites. The videos are vital to completing the requirements of the program as they follow the step-by-step procedures needed to finalize their check-off sheet.
 
Think of a check-off sheet as the script to their final play. It is every task, cue and response of the nursing professional. Shadowing the demonstration of Willcox in the video is the equivalent of a director blocking choreographed movements needed to perform a show.
 
“They have said that they enjoy having a CGTC instructor teach from this perspective, because it allows them to participate in the process,” said Willcox, who also said document cameras in class projected on screen provide a similar perspective, but with limited authenticity.
 
Discussions amongst Health Sciences instructors to use this type of technology in the peer revision process are ongoing, and Willcox plans to discuss its implementation with other program area instructors best suited for their respective fields. Jeanine Bernhard, an instructor of Practical Nursing and Terry Wilkins, the division head for Practical Nursing, plan to use the technology.
 
As to how Willcox will pitch it for an upcoming professional development session, “It’s just like a colonoscopy camera,” she said. “It can work in automotive or electronics where they can get under a vehicle or into a device and view and demonstrate what’s going on under there.”