Two virtual learning projects in the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) have received over $300,000 in funding from eCampusOntario.
The projects, which involve FHS faculty and students, were submitted in early 2021 after eCampusOntario announced a $50 million investment in support of the Government of Ontario’s Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS). The VLS aims to support virtual learning by funding projects that improve upon and expand on the possibilities of online and hybrid learning.
eCampusOntario has funded a total of 32 projects at Queen’s University, which cover a wide variety of virtual learning strategies and topics. The two FHS projects specifically address areas where inequities have persisted.
The first project is titled, Harnessing Cultural Humility Against Racism and Microaggressions (CHARMs): Co-creating a virtual simulation educational module to promote cultural safety in nursing education. CHARMs is created by Nursing faculty and learners at Queen’s University and University of Ottawa, in collaboration with the Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation (CAN-Sim). The team, which is co-led by Drs. Marian Luctkar-Flude and Monakshi Sawhney, aims to develop, implement, and evaluate an eLearning module with virtual simulation games regarding how to respond effectively to microaggressions in healthcare, clinical and classroom settings. Several Queen’s nursing students, including Michaela Patterson, Nathaniel Gumapac, Crystal Sau, Clara Kim, and Jenny Li were also involved in co-creating the initiative.
The second project is titled, Indigenous Healthcare Education and Practice: A Community Led and Community Informed Collaborative Initiative. This faculty development project is led by Drs. Klodiana Kolomitro, Denise Stockley, and the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship. While creating this initiative they collaborated with several partners and knowledge keepers at Queen's, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) and within their communities. The aim of the project is to create an interactive digital collection that translates the Truth and Reconciliation’s (TRC’s) Calls to Action into strategies that can be implemented in meaningful, accessible, practical, and culturally appropriate ways within healthcare education and practice.