First buzz of the year

The first NMC buzz session of the year took place last night. It was set on NMC's new(ish) orientation sim but timed for midnight (UK time) which probably put off most UK participants.

After a welcome and introduction from NMC's CDB Barkley (aka Alan Levine) we were left to explore on our todds, re-gathering for a group discussion in the Waterside Cafe area after about 30 minutes (see pic).

There's a decent summary of the meeting on the NMC Campus Observer so I won't repeat it here.

Following the meeting I asked CDB whether the NMC orientation experience is open for use by non-US institutions - e.g. would it be acceptable for UK universities to use it as their default?. His answer:

Yes and yes. The NMC Orientation is not restricted to who can use it, and UK unis are more than welcome. The registration form that uses it is: http://sl.nmc.org/join/.

We've worked with at least 2 other institutions that set up their own regAPI but we provided coordinates so their new avatars land at NMC Orientation, and we can do that for others.

I think this is something that we should strongly consider in the UK. We all know that orientation is a critical point in the life of an avatar. It seems to me that the network effect of collaborating on an educational orientation area outweighs the potential advantages of each UK university building a bespoke solution. And surely none of us really want to inflict the standard orientation experience on our students and staff? NMC's is vastly better IMHO!