Paul Cusick
Director of Technology in the School of Allied Health and Nursing & School of Education, at Minnesota State University, Mankato
Paul Cusick is the Director of Technology in the School of Allied Health and Nursing, as well as the School of Education, at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
In this episode, Paul joins the founder of Acadicus, Jon Brouchoud, to discuss a range of topics important to nursing education, such as:
- Getting funding for virtual simulation – tech-savvy Dean, getting admin buy-in – her vision, her dream.
- Getting faculty buy-in, dreaming of possibilities
- VR simulation hardware choices
- Setting up VR stations, allowing other students to watch and participate
- Importance of facilitation in sim – prebriefing, live feedback, debriefing
- The game changer of remote access sim during the pandemic
- Student reactions, inspiring. “I want to do it again!”
- Live and asynchronous simulations
- Expanding simulation into other departments that hadn’t otherwise used simulation (speech therapy, social work, sports management, disaster recovery)
- Cost savings vs. manikins, renovation and construction
- Flexibility of crafting whatever you can think of, not limited by bricks and mortar
Presenter Bio
My name is Paul Cusick and I am the Director of Technology for the College of Allied Health and Nursing and the College of Education here at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I have been working here for 15 years, where I started as a Tier 1 analyst, troubleshooting the needs of our campus. Eventually I was tasked with helping our School of Nursing troubleshoot, implement, and innovate our simulators and eventually our Simulation Center. I have degrees in Mathematics and Education, and I am currently getting my master’s degree in Education Technology. My goals have always been to help and improve the education of those around me, whether that is students or instructors, and I can say that teaching teachers has become something that I never knew could be so rewarding. Technology has always been educations best tool in the tool box, but it needs to be used as such. Whether it is the phone in our pocket or a VR simulation, the user has to be in control of the experience, and to actually get something educational out of the experience, it must align with the goals (learning objectives) of that instructor. I am a lifelong learner and believe that mastery is just a snapshot in time rather than an end goal.
Here at MSU my main partners in crime (faculty collaborations) are:
- Emily Houghton – Sport Management (https://ahn.mnsu.edu/faculty-and-staff/human-performance/emily-houghton/)
- Katherine Glogowski – Nursing (https://ahn.mnsu.edu/faculty-and-staff/school-of-nursing/kate-glogowski/)
- Laura Strunk – Social Work (https://ahn.mnsu.edu/faculty-and-staff/social-work/laura-strunk/)
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