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.

Second-Phase Virtual Patient Literature Review

We are returning focus to case-based online content and how 'virtual patient' encounters may be developed and integrated into curriculum. A comprehensive review was undertaken a few years ago and revealed how a number of national and international medical schools were making use of various virtual patient authoring tools available at the time. The study brought a number of pedagogic principals to light and suggested a basis on which to develop a system. The full review can be accessed here.

However, the perceivable changes in the development of software and devices since then have given cause to re-evaluate how case-based online resources are being developed and delivered. For example, the advent of HTML5 and increasing use of smartphones may have dictated some degree of change in approach to development and deployment of content.

A new review will firstly conduct a review of widely used authoring systems and the gathering of information relating to the success of their use within various settings across different medical education institutions. If you have any thoughts or experience of the implementation of current clinical scenario-based study resources, then please do comment and share.

School of Medicine E-Learning Team

CORTEX Discussion Forum

CORTEX now has a newly integrated discussion forum, allowing anyone to open discussion around a specific topic. Please note that all submissions are moderated before they are published. The forum can be accessed here or viewed at the bottom of this page.

CORTEX on YouTube

CORTEX now has a dedicated YouTube channel (medicelearning). The purpose is to standardise the accessibility of all videos used within the School of Medicine domain so that they may be openly shared using all the features provided by YouTube. The main driver for the decision has come from a best-practice review for embedding video in material developed using the new mobile templates. The platform will also make use of YouTube's HTML5 technology, eliminating the need to convert videos in-house so that they may be used to maximum effect across platforms. Visit the channel here.

Actor Release Form

During the development of educational resources it is common, particularly within medical education, to employ actors - this includes patients who have agreed to a recording outside of the course of their treatment.

Prior to starting any recordings, actors should be provided with full details of what the recording will entail and how the recording will be used. The “actor” should then be asked to sign the consent portion of the Actor Release form to confirm they are happy to partake in the recording.

Where an actor is used within a recording, the actor, by law, retains copyright for their performance. To ensure Cardiff University retains the right to use the materials we produce, it is vital that all actors are asked to sign a Actor Release Form for their part in the recording.

The Actor Release Form is designed to record evidence that the media you are using has been granted for such use.

Before completing the form, please ensure you are familiar with the MEDIC e-learning Consent Policy.

Copyright Consent Registration Form

Modern teaching practices often make extensive use of creative media to enhance the information offered to students. However, such creative media (e.g. photographs, images, videos, audio, diagrams etc.) can be expensive to produce and it can be very tempting to download something from the Internet, or copy something from a book, to avoid the need to create media from scratch.

When obtaining material (for example; images, video, articles of text), the first step is to determine whether permission has been granted for use within education. If there is no clear indication then appropriate steps should be taken to obtain permission from wherever the material has been sourced. The Copyright Consent Registration Form is designed to record evidence that the media you are using has been granted for such use.  

Before completing the form, please ensure you are familiar with the MEDIC e-learning Copyright Guidelines. 

Top Free Blogging Platforms

Blogging has become an extremely popular electronic means to share knowledge and ideas in the form of a chronological journal. Read more about what blogs are in the previous article.

For those interested in setting up a blog for any subject specific purpose, here is a short list of what can be considered as a few of the top free blogging platforms available on the web;

Wordpress
Blogger
Tumblr
Posterous
TextPattern

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

Sharing Files using Dropbox

In addition to email, you can now share files with the medic e-learning team via Dropbox. Dropbox is a cloud-based file sharing service which allows two computers to edit and share content using dedicated space on Dropbox. This means that there is no need to manually upload or download a latest copy of whatever file you have been working on with someone. Share your files now with medic e-learning.

Instructions:

1. Install Dropbox on the computers and/or mobile devices you use
2. Put files in your Dropbox folder
3. Share your folder with others

Pros:

• Automatic synchronise
• Un-delete option
• Revert to old copy
• Share files with two or more users
• Install on mobile devices

Cons:

• Limited storage
• Registration required