When selecting your team, it is important to reflect upon and infuse equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) concepts throughout the development process.

EDI is a specialized area that continuously evolves with changes in society. It is important to remember, when educating yourself about EDI, that it is an ongoing process which requires commitment by you. In this chapter, EDI is briefly defined according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (n.d.) and it is encouraged that you continue to seek out resources to further your understanding. This page highlights the importance of incorporating EDI into your own virtual simulation and throughout the development process.

The following EDI definitions are outlined by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (n.d.):

“Equity includes treating some people differently, to take into consideration some people’s particular needs and situations.”

“Diversity is the presence, in an organization or a community, of a wide range of people with different backgrounds, abilities and attributes, including ethnicity, race, colour, religion, age, gender and sexual orientation.”

“Inclusive design is taking into account differences among individuals and groups when designing something (e.g., policy, program, curriculum, building, shared space) to avoid creating barriers.”

When designing the VGS, you want to recognize the value and importance of incorporating EDI throughout the development stage (e.g., faculty, students, content experts, production team), as well as reflect on the learners that will be playing the game (i.e., students, institution, community). As an educator and creator of the VGS, reflect on your positionality in the scenario topic: how your personal and professional identity and experiences have shaped your decision for the topic and goals of the VGS. Every component of the game will have meaning to you and influence your decisions on choosing the development team, and how the VGS will affect learners. It is important to acknowledge your position and power to uncover unconscious biases and become more self-aware and intentional with your decisions.

The following video, Understanding unconscious bias by the Royal Society (2015), provides an overview of what unconscious bias means and how it can affect our decisions.

Equity

How do we incorporate equity in virtual game development?

When choosing your team members, everyone will have different skills and knowledge, experience, time commitment, and learning needs. To nurture an equitable environment, it is important to be transparent regarding each team member’s roles, expectations, project timeline, and goals for the VGS. For example:

• Scheduling team meetings that acknowledge every member’s schedules to ensure their voices are heard and they are able to actively contribute.
• Respecting each team member’s experience and accommodating particular needs for the individual to achieve their assigned project role.

A team member’s first time on a VGS project, compared to another team member who has participated in multiple VGS projects, will require different support.

When creating the VGS scenario, you want to reflect on the student learners who will be playing the game. Incorporating universal design for learning (UDL) guidelines throughout the VGS can address potential barriers for learners. For example:

• Designing a gaming platform that includes visual, auditory, and written content supports an inclusive learning environment.
• Creating a free, open-access VGS allows learners to play the game at any time (e.g., inside and outside assigned class time) and on any device.
• Adding a self-debrief component for learners provides an opportunity for self-directed learning and allows them to reflect on their experience and decisions made throughout the simulation. Learners can share their insights in a group debrief.

Each of these points will be further discussed and explored in Chapter 2.

Diversity

Choosing a Diverse Design Team

Choosing a team that includes a diverse range of people can foster voices that reflect various attributes including gender, abilities, sexual orientation, race, age, ethnicity, background, education background, cultural practices, socioeconomic status, generational differences, and health experiences. It is important when designing a virtual gaming simulation to represent diverse voices and use inclusive language throughout the development process to address potential unconscious/implicit bias within team members.

One way to achieve this goal is to choose team members that have diverse personal and/or professional experience related to the simulation content, because their voices will be authentic to the storyline of the game. When reflecting on your storyline, think about who the client is, who their personal support systems are, and the healthcare team members that would be involved in their health care. Each individual’s voice within the story should be acknowledged and heard. 

Choosing Students from Different Educational Years and Clinical Experiences

Another strategy is to incorporate diverse student perspectives from the novice to pre-graduate learner. A first-year student may care for a client with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a long-term care facility by assisting with their daily living activities. However, a second-year student’s experience caring for a client with COPD may be in an acute setting, and a third-year student might be in a community setting while supporting an individual seeking a social support group. Each student’s personal clinical experience is different and will provide a unique perspective to enhance the virtual gaming stimulation storyline.  

The Importance of Representation

As the student learner engages in the virtual gaming simulation, it is important for them to see themselves in the role of the nurse or main healthcare discipline leading the scenario. Students respond positively when they play virtual gaming simulations that illustrate diverse healthcare providers and experiences (Lapum et al., 2022).

When students see themselves represented in the role of the nurse and healthcare team, they feel more engaged and motivated to learn (Lapum et al., 2022). Seeing virtual gaming simulations that highlight healthcare providers who share similar gender identity, abilities, ethnicity, ancestry, language, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and culture can create a sense of belonging within the profession (Lapum et al., 2022).

Representation is important!

Inclusion

Building an Inclusive Design Team

Creating diverse teams brings together individuals from different backgrounds, experiences, learning needs and ideas. Acknowledging these differences when designing the outline for the virtual gaming simulation will help to create a safe, open environment that supports learning, communication, and creation.

Establishing an inclusive environment can help to decrease barriers amongst team members and create a sense of belonging within the team. It is important to encourage team members to share their views and perspectives during the decision-making process to demonstrate that their contributions are valued.

Open communication can highlight the uniqueness in each member’s role (e.g., student, educator, expert, videographer, actor, make-up artist, instructional designer) and provide opportunities for everyone to learn from each other and develop as a cohesive team. One strategy to achieve this goal is to clearly identify the roles, expectations, and timeline for each team member. Being transparent, using clear communication and active listening will help to facilitate an inclusive team environment.

Designing an Inclusive Virtual Simulation

When designing the virtual gaming simulation, you also want the student learner to feel included within the virtual simulation experience. Inclusive language and strategies should be incorporated in the pre-brief, throughout the virtual simulation, and in the debrief.

To create an inclusive environment, it is important to design the game specific to your student learner. For example, if the virtual gaming simulation is for first-year students, then it should address first-year concepts. If more advanced concepts are incorporated, the student may feel disengaged and excluded during the virtual experience.

Another strategy to support an inclusive environment is to incorporate UDL guidelines to remove potential barriers for learners. For example, create the virtual simulation as an open-access resource for students to use without limitation. Or provide the option for students to download additional resources (e.g., reflective questions, skill checklists).

Attribution

Content from this page was remixed with our original content and revised and adapted from:

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) by Darla Benton Kearney is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

References

Lapum, J., Bailey, A., St-Amant, O., Garmaise-Yee, J., Hughes, M., & Mistry, S. (2022). Equity, diversity, and inclusion in open educational resources: An interpretive description of students’ perspectives. Nursing Education Today, 116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105459

Ontario Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Appendix B: Glossary. http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/human-rights-and-policing-creating-and-sustaining-organizational-change/appendix-b-glossary

Portland, G. (2020). Inclusion by design: Insights from design week Portland [Blog post]. Gensler. https://www.gensler.com/blog/inclusion-by-design-insights-from-design-week-portland

The Royal Society (2015, November 17). Understanding unconscious bias [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVp9Z5k0dEE

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) by Darla Benton Kearney is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.