How Would You Respond? Using Immersive Virtual Reality to Train Law Enforcement Personnel.

The Question

Could immersive virtual reality training reduce police reliance on lethal force when interacting with persons with mental health disabilities?

The Issue

Various inquests and reviews have made recommendations for improving police interaction with persons with mental health disabilities. In his July 2014 report titled Police Encounters with People in Crisis (The Iacobucci Report), retired justice Iacobucci directed 84 recommendations at one Ontario police service, several of those specifically relating to officer training. While many of the recommendations were implemented, in the three years following the release of the Iacobucci Report (2014), and justice Iacobucci’ s suggestion that police “should set a goal of zero harm in all police interactions” (p. 213), training techniques and technologies have remained stagnant while the number of police encounters with persons with mental health disabilities continues to rise.

The Challenge

One way to enhance training and learning is through critical thinking, and reflection on previous failures; but how can the police provide realistic training that capitalizes on the experience of failure when real-life failure can result in death?

A Potential Solution

Research has been critical of police training that is often more reflective of traditional teaching methods while lacking relevance in operational realities (Birzer, 2003; Shipton, 2009; Oliva & Compton, 2010). The VirTra V-300TM (Virtra Systems, 2018) is a firearms simulator that uses five large screens to immerse officers in a 300-degree realistic training environment. The scenarios employ police-centric teaching in authentic policing situations to ensuring knowledge transfer to real life situations. Immersive virtual reality training can simulate many environments leading to realistic scenarios as diverse as those encountered daily by front-line officers. Because the simulations adapt in real-time, officers are encouraged to leverage every aspect of their training, including de-escalation and disengaging. Training with immersive virtual reality technology could increase officers’ competence by improving their communication skills, enhancing their observation and lateral thinking skills, and improving their judgement when encountering persons who pose an immediate threat.

VR technology, when used in groups, can enhance training using Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1986). For the use of the VirTra V-300TM to be effective at improving police interactions, debriefing each scenario from the perspective of participants, observers and instructors is crucial. Students learn not only from participating in their own scenarios and the debriefs that follow, but also by observing their peers, participating in those debriefs, adopting what worked well and avoiding what did not work. With the ever-evolving role of police, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, formerly discouraged, are required for officers to carry out their oath to serve and protect. Encouraging critically reflective practice (Brookfield, 1998) through the use of immersive virtual reality training could lead to a departure of critical thinking and reflection as part of the hidden curriculum and see them moved to the fore of training, and doing so may help police services get a step closer to the goal of zero harm.

                                  

References

Birzer, M. L. (2003). The theory of andragogy applied to police training. Policing: An
 International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 26(1), 29-42. doi:10.1108/13639510310460288

Brookfield, S. (1998). Critically reflective practice. Journal of Continuing Education in the
 Health Professions, 18(4), 197-205. doi:10.1002/chp.1340180402

Iacobucci, F. (2014, July). Police Encounters with People in Crisis. An Independent
 Review Conducted by the Honourable Frank Iacobucci for Chief of Police, William Blair, Toronto, Police Service

Khan, A. (2013) Police kill woman attacking with knife [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=21

Oliva, J. R., & Compton, M. T. (2010). What do police officers value in the classroom? Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 33(2), 321-338. doi:10.1108/13639511011044911

Shipton, B. (2009). Problem based learning: Does it provide appropriate levels of guidance and flexibility for use in police recruit education? Journal of Learning Design, 3(1). doi:10.5204/jld.v3i1.55

Virtra Systems. (2018). Judgmental use of force & de-escalation scenario training Simulators [Website]. Retrieved July, 2018, from https://www.virtra.com/

The Impact of AI on Higher Education: Time for a Revolution?

Is it time for higher education to find better ways to meet the needs of today’s learners? Joseph Aoun, President of Northeastern University, clearly thinks so. During an interview with MIT Technology Review (2018), Aoun discussed the impact of AI on higher education and outlined the urgent need for change in institutions of higher learning. Much of what he stated will not be new to most readers, but I recommend viewing the 29-minute video (at the link below) since the brief summary below hardly does the interview justice.  

https://www.technologyreview.com/video/611313/robot-proof-higher-education-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/

Firstly, in terms of how the average, degree-seeking higher education student is educated, Aoun advised a greater emphasis on humanics (defined by Merriam Webster as “the subject or study of human nature or human affairs”), which he described as the interweaving of three literacies: tech literacy (the ability to grasp how machines function and how to interact with them effectively), data literacy (the ability to understand and navigate volumes of data generated by AI), and human literacy (the development of soft skills that cannot be duplicated by machines). Aoun also recommended a combination of real-world (experiential) and classroom education to teach learners to identify personal skill gaps, develop empathy, and better understand the world. 

Secondly, Aoun observed that many lifelong learners have ceased looking to universities for their professional development needs; they are turning to employers instead, and although some organizations are meeting this need, they are also questioning whether it will be worth it in the long run, given that most employees no longer remain with a company for extended periods. Other employers, seeing that their employees’ skills are already obsolete, are taking the initiative to provide training, but they’d prefer that higher education do this so that they can focus on business instead.

One solution, according to Aoun, is for higher education to offer customized, flexible options, consulting with learners to determine their desired outcomes, just as businesses do with their customers, rather than restricting options to degrees and research in a time when learners are already customizing their learning.  As long as institutions continue to restrict admission to their programs based on an established set of criteria, they are turning “customers” away, which no business in its right mind would do. This statement really hit close to home for me—as a lifelong learner who sought information on some courses offered by a local university only to be told that they were strictly for undergraduate students (despite there being a diploma option), I can identify with this. I felt exactly like a customer whose business was being turned away. Like others in this type of situation, I looked elsewhere and found the training I wanted for a reasonable fee at a small, private institution that offered flexible options.

Aoun also suggested that perhaps it’s time for the governments that fuel research and innovation and provide funding for education from Kindergarten to higher education, to consider offering incentives to individuals to encourage lifelong learning in ways that suit them best.

The labour market worldwide is quickly changing: new jobs are being created on an ongoing basis, and it won’t be long before many others become obsolete. A quick Internet search will yield possibly hundreds of results on the topic of job automation, with varying projections on the types and numbers of jobs at risk (Winick, 2018).  Although the news is not all doom and gloom (Lund & Manyika, 2017), Aoun asserted that institutions that fail to place a greater emphasis on lifelong learning are like the railway industry that saw the advent of the airlines but continued with business as usual, assuming that their jobs would not be impacted.

 

Advances in technology have made it necessary for higher education to rethink the options they offer to all types of learners, but according to Aoun, this is not an easy sell. Ironically, though, the same institutions that are hard at work teaching today’s educators to embrace the latest learning theories and adapt their teaching practices to give this generation of learners the skills needed for success in the 21^st century, may find one day that their faculties of education have done their job all too well, as the current generation of students become autonomous learners with well-developed growth mindsets who are capable of customizing their own learning and have little or no need for the traditional options offered by institutions of higher learning.

References

Humanics. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humanics

Lund, S. & Manyika, J. (2017, November). Five lessons from history on AI, automation, and employment [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-organizations-and-work/five-lessons-from-history-on-ai-automation-and-employment

MIT Technology Review (Producer). (2018). Robot-proof: Higher education in the age of artificial intelligence [Video webcast]. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/video/611313/robot-proof-higher-education-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/

Winick, E. (2018, January 25). Every study we could find on what automation will do to jobs, in one chart. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610005/every-study-we-could-find-on-what-automation-will-do-to-jobs-in-one-chart/

Recommended Reading

Aoun, J. E. (2018). Robot-proof: Higher education in the age of artificial intelligence. Education Technology Insights, February-March 2018, pp. 11-12. Retrieved from https://www.educationtechnologyinsights.com/magazines/February2018/LMS/

Can Technology Do More Harm Than Good?

Today, there is a large debate in the Autism community regarding whether technology can negatively impact children with autism. Recent research is emerging that children with autism are more vulnerable to negative effects of excessive screen time and can become easily addicted to technology.

The visual below highlights how screen time can negatively affect 4 key areas:

Low melatonin and sleep disturbances: Screen time suppresses melatonin and disrupts REM sleep.

Arousal and emotional dysregulation:  Screen time increases acute and chronic stress, induces hyperarousal, causes emotional dysregulation, and produces overstimulation.

Social Communication Deficits: Screen time  can hinder development of these exact same skills—even in children and teens who don’t have autism, screen viewing and even background TV has been shown to delay language acquisition.

Fragile Attention System:  Screen time can fracture attention, depletes mental reserves, and impair executive functioning.

Due the emerging bodies of research, many parents of children with autism and even medical professionals are advocating NO TECHNOLOGY in the lives of this population.  However, technology continues to play a significant role today and it's integration into education is only expanding. Technology can facilitate learning and be used meaningfully to teach children with autism new skills and further enhance child development. Understanding how to set boundaries with technology is key versus removing/withholding it altogether.

Below is visual of five ways parents can easily set boundaries with technology.

Dunckley, V. L. (2016, December 31). Autism and Screen Time: Special Brains, Special Risks. 
Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-wealth/201612/autism-and-screen-time-special-brains-special-risks