College of Nursing and Health Professions •Faculty Resources

Faculty Resources

xtranormal

Xtranormal.com is a free software that allows you to make animated movies. The speaking is via a text –to –speech engine. The settings and motion are composed via a series of menus.

Could possibly be used for generating introductory scenarios in clinical simulation – it is likely that the scenarios could be set up to branch depending on the user response. (could teams of students use xtranormal to build scenarios as a class activity?)

Heather Schmuck, BS, RT(R) (ARRT)Instructor in CNHP's Radiologic Technology Program, has piloted xtranormal for introducing appropriate methods of obtaining a clinical history when preparing a patient for a radiology exam. Heather's informal assessment of the use of xtranormal for this purpose follows:

When students first begin in our radiology program, they often find it difficult to figure out the process and conversation that should take place when preparing a patient for a radiology exam. Many of them want to know what type of questions do I ask for a patient history or what steps do I take from start to finish for a particular exam.

I used this software to give them a quick example of a what a technologist would do when they receive an order for a chest x-ray with regards to obtaining an appropriate clinical history for the radiologist. I then followed through with patient instructions from the technologist for the exam and a sample of discharge instructions.

Software Strengths

I liked that this software allows you to provide a dialogue for the students to view prior to encountering it in their clinical setting. I found that the software was very user friendly and once rendered will give you a link to your video that you can then upload into your blackboard course site for an example.

Software Weaknesses

The software does not recognize apostrophes in text so I would recommend avoiding their use. The main disadvantage is that the conversation can only take place in one setting (the characters in the movie do not move from the initial setting) unless you make multiple videos so some of my students were confused as to whether or not we take a full patient history in the waiting room as the video shows.

Conclusion

I could definitely see it being used as an introduction to a simulation exercise and leave off with the idea of what would the student do next in this situation. Someone could also use this software for a critique method of what went wrong , "how would you do this differently" scenario, or use it in a medical ethics class scenario.