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Evaluation of a virtual reality training tool for firefighters responding to transportation incidents with dangerous goods
Maxine Berthiaume, Max Kinateder, Bruno Emond, Natalia Cooper, Ishika Obeegadoo, Jean‑François Lapointe, Education and Information Technologies, 2024/01/25

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Work from my colleagues at NRC; I worked on this project for a bit last year but had nothing to do with this paper (39 page PDF). It is a comprehensive description and evaluation of a use of VR in which professional firefighter trainees "learned how to safely approach a jackknifed truck with a trailer and how to collect and communicate information about the transported materials." Interestingly, "no post-training improvement in participants' knowledge was found, likely due to the already high level of knowledge pre-training." In addition, "the results suggest that the tool had good overall usability and acceptability. However, improvements need to be made to the tool before the next phase of testing." Related, from the same issue: Virtual reality in cultural education.

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AI Policy
Doug Peterson, doug -- off the record, 2024/01/25

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One fun thing and one serious thing. The fun thing: Danika Tipping writes, "English teacher friends, you don't need an AI detector. Just search for the word 'nuance' in your students' essays." The serious thing: a reference to Lance Eaton's collection of AI policies, organized into a Google Spreadsheet, currently sitting at 116 entries (note that you have to select the 'policies' tab at the bottom of the page).

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

The Current State and Future Trends of Enterprise Blockchain Technologies
Irving Wladawsky-Berger, 2024/01/25

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I know, everybody mocks blockchain. But this article, which summarizes the Hyperledger Foundation 2023 Brand Study, argues that despite the challenges it is becoming a stable in industry backends. "There are many aspects of enterprise blockchain that make it challenging to implement, such as cultural concerns, technical complications, news cycles, and negative associations that distract from what this technology can accomplish," wrote report author Anna Hermansen. "Despite these challenges, this research shows progress through the hype cycle of this technology."

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

We publish six to eight or so short posts every weekday linking to the best, most interesting and most important pieces of content in the field. Read more about what we cover. We also list papers and articles by Stephen Downes and his presentations from around the world.

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