Simulated practice in healthcare: technology, resources and educational practice

Recently, whether it relates to face to face or distance learning, technology has had an increasing impact on the delivery of education to learners across all disciplines. It is sometimes apparent that the focus is too often put on the technology rather than its use in a sound educational manner or how it benefits students. This article will primarily be of interest to healthcare educators as it explores the use of patient simulators and related technology in the facilitation of scenario-based simulated practice with students. The argument is that “more is not necessarily better” for the students in the sense that the most expensive or latest piece of technology does not necessarily generate better learning outcomes for the students, but may instead become a distraction taking time away from the actual learning experience. It needs to be acknowledged that it is the educators (in this case, simulation facilitators) that are the most important asset in most educational experiences as simulation technology alone has a very limited potential.