The Student-Information Relationship

An excellent conference presentation from the perspective of a Warwick medical student, who implemented an entirely paperless resource workflow during his studies, and why he thinks the methods he used made very effective use of some of the tools and resources available via tablet devices.

mLearning Authoring Platform for the School of Medicine

CORTEX has released a first working-prototype in efforts to acommodate mobile access to self-directed learning in the School. The platform combines latest mobile development languages such as HTML5 and jQuery for mobile devices. The present version (1.0.0) features:

• Adapts to any screen resolution
• Adapts to screen rotation
• Table of contents
• Back/forward navigation
• Smart screen-responsive image resizing
• 'Collapsible' content
• Info page

The next prototype aims to feature:

• True/false formative assessment
• Multiple-answer formative assessment
• Improved page loading speed

Click here for a sneak preview.
Please feel free to leave comments/suggestions. All feedback is greatly appreciated and will be used to shape future development!

The School of Medicine e-learning team.

Collaborative Work using Google Docs

Google Docs is a collaborative workspace which is already being used within the medic elearning team whilst writing documentation requiring frequent input from two or more contributors. If you are not already familiar with Google Docs, it is another cloud-based web service which allows files/documents to be created and edited in real-time by multiple authors. Google Docs allows creation of documents as:

• Text
• Spreadsheets
• Presentations
• Drawings
• Forms
• Tables

The service is useful for the creation of dynamic content such as forms and surveys, useful for quick questionnaires should the need arise. Google Calendar is a useful feature for sharing an event or establishing availability without the need for extra effort in 'chasing' people up.

Once you have created your document, you can invite people to view/edit it via email.

Sign up to Google Docs now, or
Try without signing up

Enhancing Content Accessibility

MEDIC e-learning are to invest in a resources upgrade enabling the access to module content from platforms such as the iPad. The increased use of non-Adobe Flash enabled devices means focus has been directed on adapting development whilst maintaining the level of interactivity previously only possible through use of the Adobe Flash Player plugin. Students using the self directed learning area in the new Cochrane building have been making extensive use of the Clinical Skills modules for OSCE revision, with many frequently using iPads to do so.

Learning Central (Blackboard)

Access to Blackboard is via http://cue.cf.ac.uk. To login to Blackboard simply use your Cardiff University username and password.

Note: Being able to log into Blackboard does not mean you have been granted permission to see any of the content modules within Blackboard. Refer to the information below for advice on how to get access to the modules you think you should be able to see.

Enrollment on Blackboard Modules

Student Enrollments
Student enrollments are handled via the University’s student management system, SIMS. SIMS is used by Registry to track all student data, including the courses and modules they are enrolled on and their status on that course (including information about tuition fees). If students do not have access to their appropriate modules, the first point of contact should be Registry to check the student details within SIMS.

Staff Enrollments
Staff access to the School of Medicine’s Blackboard modules can be granted by the School’s local Blackboard administrators.

To request access to a module, please email the medic IT team with full details of the module you require access to (including the full module code and module title) along with your Cardiff University username.

Please note we cannot provide access to another School’s modules – this must be done by their local Blackboard administrator.

Access for NHS Staff

Access for External Examiners
External examiners are entitled to access Blackboard, and will need a Cardiff University user name and password to do so. Under normal circumstances Registry will arrange login details for all external examiners.

To request access to specific Blackboard modules, use the procedure outlined above Staff Enrolments, providing the IT Team with the examiner’s user name.

In the event the examiner has not been issued with a user name and password by Registry, you should email medicIT@cardiff.ac.uk and explain that you require access for an examiner who has not received a user name and password. You should provide the name and contact details for the external examiner as well as details of the Blackboard modules they will require access to. The School’s IT Team will issue a user name and password and enrol the new account on the appropriate Blackboard modules.

Note: external examiners will only be granted student-level access to Blackboard modules unless further access is expressly requested by the module leader.
Temporary Accounts

The eLearning Team have a number of temporary accounts available that can can be loaned out to other members of staff to use as test accounts. This may be particularly useful if you need to review a Blackboard module (and activities) from a student’s perspective. Similarly accounts can be loaned out to guest users on a temporary basis.

To request a temporary account please email the medic e-learning team.

Mobile Learning - Key Terms & Definitions

• Bluetooth: A radio technology enabling devices such as mobile phones, laptop computers and printers to communicate with each other.
• G3: High speed mobile communications network which allows for mobile video.
• General Packet Radio Service (GPRS): A high speed form of wireless communication.
• Global Positioning System (GPS): Based on satellite systems to provide positioning and navigation information.
• Internet Explorer Mobile: Microsoft’s version of Internet Explorer for cell phones and PDAs.
• iPod: A small and portable media player, capable of playing digital audio, and with some versions, digital video.
• iTunes: A digital media player application used for playing and organizing digital music and video files.
• M-Learning: The use of mobile devices such as cell phones, PDAs, and iPods as educational tools. Also known as mLearning, mobile learning.
• MMS: Multimedia messaging service used to exchange multimedia content such as photographs and videos between mobile devices.
• MP3: A compressed digital music format for the transfer and playback of music on small digital music players such as iPods.
• Personal Digital Assistant (PDA): Such as Palm Treo or Pocket PC. Some PDAs are now known as smartphones, meaning that the lines are blurring between PDAs and cellphones.
• Podcast: A series of audio or video digital media files which are downloaded from the internet.
• Real Simple Syndication (RSS): Which is a web feed format to publish frequently updated works such as blogs and podcasts.
• Short Message Service (SMS): Also known as texting.
• Smartphone: A cell phone with extended capabilities conducive to m-learning, such as high speed Wi-Fi for internet browsing and email.
• Wireless Application Protocol (WAP): The wireless communication environment used for mobile web accessed from a mobile phone or PDA.
• Wi-Fi: Wireless technology used for cell phones and PDAs.
• Windows Mobile: A compact operating system designed for use with mobile devices such as smartphones and PDAs. Included with Windows Mobile can be Office Mobile, which is a suite of mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Mobile Devices

Laptop/Tablets
Laptop/Tablets – The most complete and functional system of all the portable devices, laptop/tablet PCs come Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Ethernet enabled. Tablet PCs offer additional features such as handwriting recognition and voice-to-text conversion as part of their operating systems.

Instructional Uses - Students can:

• Download audio and video lectures and podcasts
• Create and edit course-related assignments
• Surf the Web
• Send e-mails, instant messages (IMs), and text-messages
• Log on to the course Web site at home or while on the road
• Provide a high level of interactivity for global collaboration and research

Pro’s

• Great for students who need to take their work home with them
• Provide the most power and capabilities of all devices

Con’s

• Still relatively expensive
• Size makes them cumbersome while travelling
• Unlike some smaller devices they cannot be used while walking

i-Pods©
The iPod© portable media player from Apple© allows users to download music, audio books, podcasts, photos, and video. It has an address book and calendar that synchronize with Microsoft’s Outlook or Outlook Express. It can also serve as a mass-storage device.

Instructional Uses – Students can:

• Download podcasts of relevant instructional material along with audio and video lectures
• Exchange information files, collaborate on projects and share project results
• Review coursework and prepare for exams
• Provide visual, step-by-step directions that are difficult to convey with words only (applies to instructors too)
• Students or instructors can add a microphone to their iPods to capture material for educational use

Pro’s

• With a large market share, the iPod has already proven its popularity with students
• The iPod’s many apps increase its functionality, and it’s great for students on the go

Con’s

• An iPod may not be affordable for all students, and requires Apple’s iTunes program (free) for downloading files
• It provides one-way communication, not interactivity, although it can record material
• The screens are generally too small to use sophisticated applications or to read quantities of text (although this will probably change in future versions)

Smartphones
A smart phone combines telephone capability with a PDA, camera, video, mass storage, MP3 player, Internet access, and networking features in one compact system.

Instructional Uses – Students can:

• Download audio and video lectures and podcasts to their smart phones
• Play audio, video and Flash movies
• Display and edit text documents
• Access e-mail and Web content
• Send instant messages (IM) and text messages
• Use the phone for mass storage
• Collaborate and research as they can access information globally. Smart phones thus support interactive learning

Pro’s

• Very popular with students
• Combines a multitude of communication and computing features in one compact system

Con’s

• Small screen makes web browsing and reading difficult
• Small keys or a virtual keyboard make text entry inefficient for longer e-mails or texts

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
The PDA combines computing capability, internet access, and networking features in one system with a calendar, notepad, address book, and productivity tools. It is a programmable, Bluetooth-enabled, Wi-Fi–equipped device with a pen/stylus input interface.

Instructional Uses - Students can:

• Play audio, video, and Flash movies
• Display and permit editing of text documents
• Let users access e-mail and Web content as well as support Instant Messaging (IM) and text messaging
• Be used for mass storage
• Support interactive, collaborative learning – students can use them to present projects, conduct research and take notes in class

Pro’s

• Large screen (for a portable device) that makes reading easier
• Combines several computing and communication tools in one device
• Text and data entry are possible through the screen keyboard, a stylus, or external peripherals

Con’s

• Bulky compared to other portable devices and won’t fit in a standard-sized pocket, although packs, purses, and other carriers will accommodate them
• They are not efficient for entering long e-mails or texts without using a peripheral input device

e-Book Readers
e-book readers are used to download text-based materials. They can store hundreds of e-books, newspapers, journals and magazines. Magnification and highlighting features facilitate easy reading and marking of texts, and full-text search makes it easy to find specific passages.

Instructional Uses – Students can:

• Download and store text-based instructional materials and electronic textbooks
• Read resources on demand
• Conduct research

Pro’s

• Large screens for easy reading, while backlighting facilitates reading in dark places
• Digital bookmarks and highlighters let users mark their texts, and full-text search capabilities make it easy to find specific passages
• Can store all the content and textbooks for several courses

Con’s

• Single-purpose device with limited computing capabilities
• It may require proprietary text formats
• A limited number of e-book titles are currently available

MP3 Players
This digital audio player plays music and audio files. Some models have an integrated voice recorder and line-in recording.

Instructional Uses - Students can:

• Use an MP3 player to download and listen to podcasts and audio lectures
• Review course material and study for exams
• Stay informed about course content
• Listen to audio books
• Record information such as a lecture on some devices

Pro’s

• Compact and lightweight
• Have no moving parts which increases their battery life
• Feature excellent audio quality and are upgradeable

Con’s

• Replaceable by other devices that also play audio files
• Encoding files and transferring data can be time-consuming
• These players provide one-way communication, not interactivity

USB Drives
The USB drive is a mass-storage device that attaches easily to many computers and other devices.

Instructional Uses - Students can:

• Store coursework, audio and video files
• Share files for collaborative projects
• Transfer work to and from computers at school
• Save their work
• Submit work to the instructor

Pro’s

• Small and portable
• USB interface is compatible with all newer computers

Con’s

• USB drive is a single-purpose device
• Loss of data -you need to comply with secure data storage guidelines, especially if patient data is being transported
• Other devices can also serve for mass storage

Click here for tips on constructing mobile learning.

Mobile Learning (mLearning)

Today’s students live in a world enveloped by the Web. News can be read from online publications, blogs can be used to publish student’s own content and they can share up-to-the minute updates using Twitter – and for the last few years students have been doing this on their phones. The computing world is rapidly going mobile with a plethora of devices and a maze of operating systems and applications (apps) (Prensky (2005, 2010).

Mobile learning (m-Learning) is based on utilizing the functionalities of mobile phones, hand held computers and other mobile devices to enhance learning. If appropriately facilitated, m-Learning can benefit students by providing instructional materials and interaction wherever and whenever they need it providing “just-in-time, just enough, and just for me learning” Traxler 2007. This increases the flexibility for students studying at a distance (Rekkedal, 2002) and potentially increases student retention (Fozdar and Kuma, 2007).

To accompany the latest mobile hardware, computer technology companies are researching and developing ever-increasing mobile communications software adapted for the small screen. Microsoft, Apple, Blackberry, and Google have all created their own mobile operating systems and are developing long lists of software applications as the use of smartphones becomes more widespread (Tapscott, 2009).

Considerations

Some of the key things to consider when considering using mobile devices in the learning environment include:

• Learning content – just enough, brief content – ‘nuggets’ Metcalf and De Marco (2006) noted that mobile devices are beneficial in making small amounts of knowledge available when we are not otherwise occupied
• Portability of the device – e.g. phones are carried everywhere, frequently used
• The mobility and flexibility of the student

Benefits of m-learning

• Mobile learning is great for people on the go as it allows anywhere, anytime, access to content -  enabling just-in-time learning
• There is a social media focus, facilitatating collaborative learning experiences that can enliven or add variety to conventional lessons or courses
• Mobile learning can also help combat ICT resistance by providing a bridge between mobile phone and PC literacy as well as appealing to tech-savvy students because of the media-rich environment
• There is a social media focus, facilitating rapid communication. This can be very beneficial for students and educators alike (e.g. feedback could be provided at a much faster rate). Such communication also enhances interaction and collaboration between and among students enabling peer-to-peer learning and support
• Using such devices can also reduce cultural and communication barriers between faculty and students by using communication channels that students like

Challenges of m-Learning

As with all forms of technology, integrating mobile learning into your teaching programme offers potential challenges including:

• The possibility that tech-savvy students will have an unfair advantage over non-technical students creating a feeling of isolation or of being ‘out-of-the-loop’. Additional learning resources may be required
• The requirement that certain media be reformatted or offered in multiple formats
• Design content restrictions because of the limited display capacity (small screen sizes) in mobile devices. The interface should convey the message using the smallest amount of text, and navigation must be built into the system to allow learners to move between screens and sections of the lesson
• It may make it easier for some students to cheat in assessments

Integrating Mobile Devices

Here are a few examples of how mobile devices can be integrated within your teaching programme:

• Record lectures or parts of lectures
• Contribute to a course blog and/or wiki
• Listen to instructor-generated podcasts
• Create narrated slide shows with your photos

Click here for some tips on constructing mobile learning

References

Metcalf, D. S., & De Marco, J. (2006). M-learning: Mobile learning and performance in the palm of your hand. Amherst, MA: HRD Press.

Prensky, M. (2005). What can you learn from a cell phone? Almost anything! Journal of Online Education, 1(5). Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University.

Prensky, M. (2010). Teaching digital natives: Partnering for real learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Tapscott, D. (2009). Grown up digital: How the net generation is changing your world. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Traxler, J. (2005). Defining mobile learning. Proceedings IADIS International Conference Mobile Learning 2005, Malta, (pp. 261-266).

Cross-platform Video Publishing

As part of our drive to get materials as platform independent as possible (including support for mobile devices) I’ve been having a good look into how we publish video such that it works over the Internet easily, AND can be downloaded for use on devices such as iPhones, iPads, and other smartphone platforms.

In general it would seem that most cross-platform video is moving towards the H264(AVC) video encoding standard – even Flash player now supports this alongside its proprietary FLV format. Many of the modern web browsers (such as Firefox and Google Chrome) now have native support for H264 videos as part of their support for HTML5, so this would seem to be the way to go.

So, the next thing is to see if we can get this working easily in Blackboard – I’ve recently started playing with an Open Source flash-based video player called FlowPlayer, which I’ve uploaded to the Blackboard Content Collection, and which is embedding and supporting H264 videos nicely – I’m going to try using this for the latest Clinical Skills videos, to see how usable this might be for students – the main concern here is that Flash support for H264 is available from Flash Player 9 and upwards, and I’m not sure what the uptake of this version is within the NHS – then there’s the issue of getting MP4 video files through Trust firewalls, but we’ll give it a go and see.

As for encoding videos to H264, first of all, when we’re considering cross-platform support it is worth bearing in mind that while the H264 encoding format is fairly open regarding video size, quality and frame-rate, many of today’s mobile devices have rather tighter limits, governed by their limited processing power. The Lifehacker website has an article that looks at the requirements for running video on most current mobile devices, which recommends the following limitations:

• Video encoding format: H264(AVC)
• Video size: 480 x 320
• Video quality (bit rate): 1500kbps or less
• Audio encoding format: AAC
• Audio bit rate: 128kbps or lower
• Audio sample rate: 44100 or less

I’ve actually found that a video bit rate of 384kbps is quite adequate at that size, and keeps the file size down too.

For getting videos into the required format I’ve found the free software Format Factory to be excellent, both for re-encoding existing video files, as well as for ripping video directly from DVD.

This, of course, needs testing. I’ve already tried this on my Android smartphone and it seems good. Next will be to try this on our iPad and and iPhone to check they’re OK. We also need to ensure the above concerns about web delivery are not going to cause a problem.