Trigger Presentations abstracts
A strategy for encouraging sharing: open educational resources (OER) in clinical settings
Authors: Lindsay Wood, Gillian Brown, Nigel Purcell, Suzanne Hardy, Megan Quentin-Baxter
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Update on developments for sharing resources for staff and students across NHS/HEI domains
Abstract:
Practice based education is essential to training healthcare students, but significant technological and cultural barriers exist sharing resources for staff and students. Pathways to Open Resource Sharing through Convergence in Healthcare Education (PORSCHE) developed a sharing infrastructure across NHS/HE domains and aimed for seamless access to resources. Accredited Clinical Teaching Online Resources (ACTOR), a consortium of 5 UK HEIs delivering postgraduate programmes in clinical education, supported academic development of those involved in teaching students of human and animal healthcare.
PORSCHE attempted to resolve technical issues: NHS staff couldn’t upload resources to Jorum, while HEI staff could neither download/upload to NeLR, preventing effective discovery and sharing. ACTOR concentrated on building an informed community able to share content, licensed with Creative Commons, relevant to clinical education programmes.
Using the MEDEV good practice risk assessment toolkit, resources mapped against institutional policies and procedures in consent, IPR, copyright and quality assurance, were uploaded according to contextual guidance for improvement to local policies and procedures. The projects aimed to facilitate easy sharing of resources in practice contexts by actively engaging in developing and disseminating resources and strategies to the clinical education developers, through workshops and online events,. The ACTOR community was used to test the outcomes of the PORSCHE project and together they actively disseminated good practice in sharing across clinical and academic settings.
Success will be determined by:
- Ability to showcase OER in eLearning healthcare education in clinical and academic contexts.
- Establishment of a basis for a long term NHS/HEI partnership demonstrated by sharing of appropriately licensed content
- Widespread uptake of MEDEV good practice risk assessment and NHS eLearning Readiness toolkits via an effective community of practice
- Raised awareness over consent issues in using clinical recordings in teaching
- Acknowledgement of the value of sharing in enhancing student experiences in clinical placements.
Benefits and challenges of user involvement in developing interprofessional reusable learning objects
Authors: Mary Beadle
Intended Learning Outcomes:- discuss the challenges in getting the ‘real stories’ of vulnerable people’s lives
- share ideas on how to use technology to develop RLO’s
- examine the possible benefits for users, students and lecturers whilst developing an RLO
- examine the challenges of developing RLO’s, particularly when involving users
This presentation aims to generate debate around the development of reusable learning object (RLO) in collaboration with users, an RLO will be viewed within a virtual town.
There are key issues to consider when developing teaching materials for use in health and social care workers programmes. Our personal experience of developing materials for use in a virtual town has emphasized the need to make any of the reusable learning objects embedded into the town as real life as possible. The advantages in telling real stories are supported by the literature (Ward & Hartley 2006, Pulman, Scammell & Martin 2009). We have focused on developing these RLO’s around the needs of vulnerable groups, whose stories are often told for them or not listened to. The initial RLO’s involved the filming of a story with the use of actors with learning disabilities, drama students from The University of Hull and staff from the Faculty of Health and Social Care and NHS. The story having been developed by a group of people with learning disabilities. This material was then used in an interprofessional online conference and for a pre registration nursing and midwifery module. The evaluation of these learning experiences was positive from students, facilitators and actors. The evaluations have included online questionnaires and discussion groups. The next interprofessional conference is part of a research project where further evaluation of the virtual town and RLO’s will take place.
We have found that there are issues around access, communication, consent, what type of participation is achievable and necessary, financial implications and possible benefits to the user? There are also discussion points around the ownership of RLO’s made in this way. We felt very strongly that if we were to include vulnerable people in the making of the RLO’s then we must not exclude them from the process or to feel that we were using them in some way. We did find that there were benefits to the users, actors and lecturers, some of which were not expected.
The above issues will be used to trigger the discussions on how and if users should be facilitated to be involved in health and social care workers education.
Building a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional Virtual Polyclinic in Second Life
Authors: Rose Heaney
Intended learning outcomes:
- How a virtual world platform such as Second Life can facilitate healthcare simulations
- Awareness of the technical constraints, as well as an appreciation of their potential, to enhance the standard curriculum offering
Abstract:
University of East London (UEL)’s school of Health and Bioscience has had a presence on Second Life (SL) since 2009, the main focus of
interest being a virtual polyclinic for use by herbal medicine, physiotherapy and podiatry students. Each discipline has its own area
consisting of an outpatient clinic (herbal medicine and podiatry) or hospital ward (physiotherapy) where students interact via their avatars with virtual patients and related objects e.g. Xrays, test results and patient notes.
Although SL (and virtual worlds generally) are well established as platforms for simulation they present significant challenges to the
average academic, not least the specialist skills that are required both to develop and operate the environment. In fact, inability to maintain such developments in the longer term, without the (often expensive) use of specialist developers, increasingly makes them unviable. From the outset we were determined to build sustainability into the polyclinic design by devising a generic virtual patient model usable across disciplines and a backend database via which patient cases could be added to SL with minimal specialist expertise.
The session will include a video demonstration of polyclinic activities as well as evaluation data from pilot studies with herbal medicine and physiotherapy students. There will be ample opportunity for discussion of not only the potential of the environment for health simulations but also the technical and usage barriers so often cited in this context. The benefits and practical implications of collaboration on such projects will also be included based on our current joint venture with the department of Podiatry at University of Plymouth.
Carrot and Stick - Promoting staff engagement in E learning
Authors: Gary Morris, Russell Gurbutt
Intended Learning outcomes:- Exploring teaching staff attitudes towards uptake and involvement with e-learning.
Abstract:
This trigger presentation aims at exploring teaching staff attitudes concerning their uptake and involvement with e-learning. This applies to the development, utilization and application of learning resources and materials which are offered to students through
the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A step in facilitating engagement was to gain the views of staff about e-learning in general
and specifically factors shaping their personal involvement with e-development work. A brief questionnaire was distributed and responses
elicited as to feelings about using e-learning materials within healthcare teaching. This focused upon factors which either promote or
inhibit staff engagement with these learning resources. The main focus here is upon what the external and internal incentives are towards
involvement with this way of working. From an organizational point of view these can be regarded perceptually as “carrot” or “stick”
approaches. This presentation examines an approach taken in the School of Healthcare at Leeds University where both drivers were acknowledged and incorporated into subsequent facilitation approaches. One of the core aspects identified with regards to e-learning uptake by teaching staff relates to the “carrot” and the need for them to “want to engage” with this way of working.
An e-strategy was developed as the context in which individuality in e-development work could be harnessed to maximum effect and efficient use of the resources available. A part of this included developing facilitation processes that enabled rather than hindered involvement. One example is called ‘Take Five’ which is a sequence of achievable steps that staff could follow to design what they required.
The carrot therefore is the enabling process with individual support whilst the stick is the strategic context that maintains for staff a focus on essential strategic goals.
Connecting to University teaching and learning from the NHS: Access denied?
Authors: Natalie Lafferty
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Share experiences of accessing Web 2.0 technologies and open content in NHS teaching settings
- Consider and propose strategies that could address the perceived risks associated with accessing these sites/tools
- Explore how we can overcome these obstacles and ensure that open educational resources and tools are accessible to NHS based teaching staff
- Share examples of local good practice.
There is growing interest in the use and application of Web 2.0 technologies to support education across the health professions. These technologies make it easier to reuse and remix content on the web hosted on social media sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, Slideshare, and to share this with students via blogs, wikis and social bookmarking. Other tools allow teachers to create their own learning content (eg screencasts and podcasts), whilst Google docs and educational apps support collaborative working. Students can use these tools to develop their own personal learning environments and learning networks and they also have a similar application for teaching staff in supporting their own life long learning. For many healthcare teachers based in the NHS, however access to many of these tools is not possible from within the NHS. They are unable to take advantage of the opportunities they offer for collaboration with University-based colleagues and for innovation because access is blocked.
The NHS-HE Forum has set up a Connectivity Best Practice Working Group to look at these problems of accessing online learning and research applications and this presentation will provide an overview of some of the key issues the group is reviewing.
The outcomes of the discussion will be fedback to the NHS-HE working group and examples of best practice may be included in the group’s final report which will include cases studies of good practice and propose a more co-ordinated national approach to supporting access to these technologies for educational use.
Creating an Interprofessional Virtual Patient: The Practicalities
Authors: Clare Thomson
Intended Learning Outcomes:- How can healthcare professionals collaborate effectively to produce
interprofessional learning materials?
- What are the common barriers to
be overcome?
- How can technology facilitate the collaborative and
creative process?
- How can such a learning resource be effectively
embedded in the undergraduate curriculum?
In this project a group of academics from medicine, nursing, pharmacy and biomedical sciences got together with an elearning developer to create a Virtual Patient (VP). The initial driver was a desire to explore how best to foster Inter-professional approaches to teaching. The vehicle chosen was a VP which would illustrate a complete ‘patient journey’ emphasising interprofessional collaboration. The use of a care pathway approach was chosen to highlight the interdependence of healthcare professionals to ensure the patient receives the optimum care.
The project was facilitated by fortnightly lunchtime meetings, supported by a project wiki. The VP was developed collaboratively on the IVIMEDS Riverside software.
Following peer review the resource will be piloted among groups of healthcare students. An essential component of this will be to determine the impact of this package and to explore the ways in which students from different professional backgrounds might engage effectively with the material.
Anticipated learning benefits will be a shared understanding by healthcare students of each other’s roles.
It is intended that this learning resource will be used by individual
disciplines within their own modules. It will illustrate the complementary roles of other professionals, to
help students understand the wider picture of the journeys patients
take in the healthcare process.
In this trigger session we will describe our experience. Participants will be invited to share their own IPE experiences to address a number of questions including the following. How can healthcare professionals collaborate effectively to produce interprofessional learning materials? What are the common barriers to be overcome? How can technology facilitate the collaborative and creative process? How can such a learning resource be effectively embedded in the undergraduate curriculum?
Developing blended learning for continuing medical education
Authors: Mike Davis
Intended Learning Outcomes:- recognise the impact of the changing environment on programme presentation
- awareness of the development process designed to meet the emerging needs
This presentation will explore the process that Advanced Life Support Group (ALSG), a small medical education charity, engaged in, to develop its repertoire of courses, to include a significant virtual learning element in its blended programmes. The presentation will explore: the decision-making process and the environmental conditions that led to these; the development and review process; the outcomes; future directions. The context is that of the provision of key (and in some cases almost mandated) courses, as part of the induction and ongoing training of junior doctors and other health professionals. Providers who face similar resource pressures against the background of ongoing need, will benefit from an account of the process, which has been largely successful in meeting its objectives, both structurally and in terms of improved experience for learners. The combination of virtual learning (largely theory) and face to face (largely practical) experiences has enhanced learner experience with associated impacts on practice in the work place. Pressures on providers of Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Professional Development will continue to be a source of innovation, and even in settings where learners and providers have the capacity to meet in both space and time, more courses will be converted to blended modalities. The presentation will demonstrate virtual aspects of the approach on the Moodle Course Management System. Benefits have been crudely characterised as financial and staffing-related, e.g.:
| Course | Annual saving (course fees, travel, accommodation etc) | Annual saving: instructor days |
| Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) | £300,000 | 3,000 |
| Managing Obstetric Emergencies and Trauma (MOET) | £35,000 | 350 |
There are, however, also clear pedagogic gains, as illustrated by the 60 hour Child Protection in Practice Course, developed for Royal College of Paediatics and Child Health. All ALSG courses either have been converted, or there are plans to convert to a blended format and the expectation is that there will be similar unit savings. APLS in particular has been evaluated fully, and an exploration of the results of this will be presented and will include an exploration of the impact, on all of the learning domains.
Developing Open Educational Resources for Interprofessional Education in Health and Social Care
Authors: Ming Nie
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Learn more about how students and practitioners in IPE settings use OERs and what benefits and values OERs offer to their learning and work
Abstract:This presentation reports on the development and use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) for Interprofessional Education (IPE) in Health and Social Care.
The Medical School at the University of Leicester has worked with De Montfort University and the University of Northampton to develop materials for IPE for over 10 years. These materials have been robustly evaluated and contained face-to-face classroom learning, models of different types of practice learning in communities and in hospitals, and simulated events.
These materials continue to be developed. The recent development has been the opportunity to convert them into OERs. This innovation is conducted as part of a JISC and HEA funded project called TIGER (Transforming Interprofessional Groups through Educational Resources, http://www.northampton.ac.uk/tiger).In the presentation, we will demonstrate the type of materials that have been converted and released as OERs. We will showcase examples of how academics at the three institutions have or are planning to incorporate these OERs into their teaching practice.
TIGER is an ongoing project. The key beneficiaries are IPE students, academics and practitioners. We will evaluate the impact of OERs on them using mixed-methods including an online questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. In the presentation, we will show evidence about how students and practitioners use the OERs and what benefits and values OERs offer to their learning and work. Academics’ experiences and key lessons learnt from the process will be shared.
Current and ongoing data gathered from academics shows pedagogical design challenges in converting materials into OERs. For example, how to present materials with clarity for facilitators as facilitation for effective student interactions about the OERs is essential for an IPE course. There are challenges in design for repurposing and converting contextualised information into generic content. We also have copyright and licensing problems in using films produced by our institutions and in embedding videos produced by others for the OERs.
One of the key lessons is that there is a lack of understanding of OERs among the health academics. It is important to develop a strategy to raise awareness and deal with ignorance in design for openness. Another key lesson is that developing IPE materials always involves authors from various health subjects. Having a strategy to ensure effective lines of communication is essential.
Our key message is that all educators should think about what they might want to do with their educational materials for the future, as OERs appear to be a way forward
Electronic Assessment in Dental Radiology - Past, Present & Future
Authors: Donald Thomson, John Kleeman, David Walker
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Gain an understanding of the advantages and limitation of e-assessment in Dental education
- Obtain an insight into the process of moving from a paper-based to electronic exam format
- Be introduced to potential applications for electronic observational assessments in health related disciplines
Undergraduate students enrolled on the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree at the University of Dundee sit an examination covering radiation physics, radiation protection, legislation, the principles of radiography and radiological anatomy in their 3rd year of study. Historically the examination was assessed by means of a short answer written paper.
In 2009 it was decided to change the mode of delivery to electronic assessment with the introduction of Questionmark Perception, motivated by a desire to improve the transparency and objectivity of the marking process in response to concerns that the way the paper was being marked was inconsistent and potentially unfair. Failure to pass the examination had important repercussions for student progression; therefore a robust and reliable method of testing was crucial. Further, a significant part of radiology and radiography involves the examination of images. The switch to electronic examinations allowed high quality images to be displayed and interpreted in a way which was previously impractical. The lack of physical marking represented a significant efficiency gain, freeing up lecturer time to allow greater engagement with students. Disadvantages included no longer using free text questions asking for the description of something to ensure candidate comprehension (e.g. the role of named individuals in radiation legislation); however, with experience, it has become possible to cover most areas of the syllabus. Writing questions to an appropriate standard and format is undeniably challenging and time-consuming however this is offset by the automatic marking post-assessment and, in time, the establishment of an item bank will lead to further efficiencies. Concerns remain among a small section of colleagues that this format of examination is easier for the students, but analysis of the examinations delivered to date suggests this is not the case. Student feedback via course evaluation has been generally positive. Previous feedback had indicated students disliked drawing diagrams in the exam and were appreciative that this element of the assessment has been removed.
The successful introduction of electronic examinations into this part of the course has encouraged the teaching team to explore other opportunities. In particular, the practical element of the course (e.g. taking radiographs in the clinic) is not formally assessed. Observational assessments, again using Questionmark Perception, represent a potential route to move this forward.
This presentation examines the introduction of electronic assessment within the Radiology component of the BDS degree programme: including motives; the comparability of results; and issues/lessons learned to date. The presentation also considers the potential of observational assessments which are used to observe practitioners in action, focusing on the assessment of practical skills. Examples will be given of appropriate types of technology that can be used to facilitate this form of assessment (e.g. mobile devices/tablets) and how these results can be collated, reported and returned to the student.
Enhancing the Paramedic student learning experience through the use of innovative interactive virtual simulation at the University of Hertfordshire - The use of virtual clinical simulation as a teaching tool
Authors: Paul Power
Intended Learning Outcomes:
- understanding of the processes required for setting up a virtual simulation scenario
- awareness of the learning outcomes and benefits gained by the students
- overview of some of the software options available
- introduction to some of the pitfalls and challenges of using virtual simulation
Abstract:
A virtual simulation workshop took place at the University of Hertfordshire (Paramedic Science and Computer Science) in 2010 as part of small project funded by the UH Learning and Teaching Institute. The project saw the development and implementation of an innovative virtual simulation package. Together with existing skills training within the Paramedic Science division at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, learning from simulation is already well established at UH through the Hertfordshire Intensive Care and Emergency Scenario Centre (HICESC), and it is hoped that using a virtual e-learning approach will complement those approaches.
Here a video will be presented of one of the Scene Management Scenarios that the paramedic students engaged with, which demonstrates the students acting as avatars in a realistic, complex dual carriageway road traffic collision, with three casualties and other emergency professionals on scene. It will be seen here how the students demonstrated scene management, clinical and communication skills. Each of the student pair’s scenarios were recorded and then played back to the group for discussion. The scenarios provided the students with opportunities to develop the giving and receiving of peer feedback and the debriefings encouraged the practice of reflection and discussion. The students also gained further knowledge from the experience in team working under stress. The team evaluated the processes and whilst the educational outcomes were well met, there were implications regarding the high level of design and teaching hours involved and therefore future potential cost effectiveness.
For UH staff this project proved a useful testing ground for engaging with this type of activity and for students it seemed to be useful for developing scene and patient management, communication, team working, critical thinking and decision making and peer review. This has been evaluated through peer review. As this is still a novel teaching method it is hoped that this session will increase the participants’ knowledge and insight of the experiential learning method, help inform them if it is a useful approach to take
Attendees: those who have not yet engaged with this type of learning but are considering it.
Exploring interactive desktop videoconferencing technology to extend clinical teacher’s engagement in a PGCert in Medical Education and beyond!
Authors: Dr Carol Parker
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Sharing positive and negative experiences of utilizing videoconferencing communications technology in teaching
- Benefits of e-learning experiences in preparing tutors to utilize communication technologies in their teaching
- How to support and engage teaching staff to utilize communication technologies in their teaching
There is an increasing expectation that clinical teachers actively support e-learning for and with their learners, however their own learning experiences in this field may be very narrow. One of our challenges is to encourage teachers undertaking a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education through blended learning to engage with their own on-line learning and extend their concepts of e-learning, beyond a depository of resources and explore the learning value of more interactive communication tools. Ultimately our aim is to help develop clinical teachers who are then able to engage their own learners in similar e-learning environments effectively.
This session offers an opportunity for tutors to share their own positive and negative experiences of utilizing communications technology in teaching. The session may benefit those who are thinking of or using desktop videoconferencing in blended learning environments, to support learners at a distance. I willingly share my experiences of utilizing desktop videoconferencing systems to introduce and open the trigger session.
The trigger session discussion will offer an opportunity to share and explore:
- Positive and negative experiences of tutors who are using or plan to use videoconference communication technologies with learners.
- How helpful are e-learning experiences in preparing tutors to utilize communication technologies in their teaching?
- How might we further support and engage teaching staff to utilize communication technologies in their teaching?
How we might enhance individual levels of skill and familiarity?
Ultimately our aim is to develop clinical teachers who have gained the skills to utilize technology in teaching effectively. In turn they might then engage with their own learners and utilize technologies effectively in a 21st century healthcare education environment.
Game-Informed Risk Assessment? – A Labyrinth based toolkit for managing a good practice risk assessment workflow and guidance for open educational resources
Authors: Micheal Begg
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Using a toolkit to manage risk assessment workflows when depositing open educational resources
Abstract:
The UK Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine (MEDEV) steered two projects funded by
HEFCE and administered by the JISC and the HEA, from 2009 –11. Organising Open Educational Resources (OOER) was a multi-institutional
initiative to develop a framework towards sharing open educational resources (OER).
One deliverable in risk managing the content, provenance and compliance to local policies of each resource, was the development of a set of good practice toolkits with embedded relevant guidance. These offered a step-by-step process in assisting individuals with uploading a local educational resource to a national repository. In a subsequent project, Pathways to Open Resource Sharing through Convergence in Healthcare Education (PORSCHE), these were amalgamated into a single instrument, and tested with users in clinical and academic settings, in the UK and Europe, via the mEducator project, a consortium of fourteen EU institutions involved in healthcare education, and with non healthcare related UK open educational resource projects.
The workflows associated with each toolkit comprised common start and endpoints. Between these points lay various possibilities for navigating all relevant decision points.
This presentation explores how Labyrinth – a case sequencing tool supporting branching logic first developed by the University of
Edinburgh’s Learning Technology Section, and more frequently associated with game-informed virtual patient cases – was customised with a suite of extensions to develop its potential as a workflow management and guidance presentation tool. It will showcase the various extensions, including bookmarking, comment capture, pathway visualisation and XML transfer to third party sites, and will also report on the user testing of the integrated toolkit.
Participants will see a toolkit demonstration, discuss how it is embedded into the MEDEV website, and explore utility in other settings.
Attendees: This session will interest educational developers, and those involved in using, creating or sharing learning resources.
How well does anyone know the Curriculum?
Authors: Paul Horner, Simon Cotterill, Gordon Skelly, John Peterson
Intended Learning Outcomes:
- increased awareness of the concept of curriculum maps
- the audience should be stimulated to think about how this relates to their own institution
Abstract:
In this presentation we will introduce the concept of Curriculum Maps, with emphasis on the Dynamic Learning Maps system (http://learning-maps.ncl.ac.uk) developed by Newcastle University, through the JISC Transforming Curriculum Delivery through Technology programme. Dynamic Learning Maps is currently used in the Medical degree programme at Newcastle University, and is being piloted in Psychology and Speech Therapy. This has proven beneficial to students, teachers and curriculum managers by providing a clearer picture of where teaching and learning activities fit within the wider curriculum, for example reducing unwanted repetition and providing clarity where repetition occurs within the concept of the spiral curriculum.
A short demonstration will lead into an audience driven exploration of the system. Discussion will be encouraged around concepts of curriculum maps. The audience will be encouraged to steer the session, with the following points used as a framework for the presentation and discussion.
A short demonstration will lead into an audience driven exploration of the system. Discussion will be encouraged around concepts of curriculum maps. The audience will be encouraged to steer the session, with the following points used as a framework for the presentation and discussion.
- Making connections – concepts, resources (including OER)
- Reflective Learning
- Mind-maps as a basis for the curriculum
- Navigating a complex curriculum
Audience members will be provided with logins to our demonstration system and will be encouraged to explore Dynamic Learning Maps during the course of and after the presentation.
This interactive demonstration is not designed to give a holistic view of the Dynamic Learning Maps system, or the concept of Learning Maps. Instead, by providing a scaled down view and introducing the concepts we can stimulate audience members to think about the concept and system in ways that work for their institutions rather than forcing them to look at it from a Newcastle University perspective.
Attendees: The presentation will benefit both educators and learning technologists as it will focus on using technology innovatively, without focusing on the technicalities of Dynamic Learning Maps.
Innovation in multi-disciplinary learning in medication safety
Authors: Kurt Wilson
Intended Learning Outcomes:- An understanding of processes we used to facilitate team work across undergraduate schools
- Knowledge of the use and application of interactive seminars including approaches adopted to meet timetable challenges
- How students can be encouraged to engage with technology to enhance learning
We will discuss delivery of technology enhanced learning in the arena of medication safety to undergraduates studying medicine, pharmacy and nursing. This important topic is relevant to all three professions; each encounters challenges to safe provision of medication to patients. However, each profession undertakes different processes within provision of medication; professional perspectives of this process can be quite different.
We used blended learning to deliver an interactive programme that highlighted the importance of communication between professional groups, facilitated teamwork across our undergraduate schools and created a learning environment which encouraged students to consider challenges to the safe provision of medication to patients. We used interactive seminars where Turning Point technology facilitated discussion between professional groups. Communities of practice (Wenger, 1998) were promoted through a virtual learning environment, role-play and small group work. Social constructivist learning theory (Vygotsky, 1978) was used as the underpinning pedagogical approach with real-life learning materials presented through interactive case study. Reflective practice (Moon, 1999) was encouraged through interprofessional feedback between undergraduates and tutors.
Students positively evaluated the module in respect to their ability to:
- Devise a patient centred care plan to minimise patient related harm;
- Review patient-specific information to aid decision making in medication safety;
- Appreciate the different roles and skills of members of the multidisciplinary team
We would be interested to debate other educators’ experiences of using the methods and techniques that we describe.
Moon,J.A. (1999). Reflection in learning & professional development: theory & practice. London: Kogan Page.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wenger,E. (1999). Communities of Practice. Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Iphones for all Year 4 medical students? – the experience so far
Authors: Jonathan Darling, Jessica Bradley, Gareth Frith, Christopher Murray
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Use of mobile technology in student learning and assessment
Abstract:
All year 4 and year 5 medical students in one medical school were issued with iphones in September 2010 to support learning and
assessment. This presentation summarises the experience in Year 4 so far. We will describe the rationale for setting up the project, and the
main formal uses of the platform, ie for work-place based assessment, eportfolio entries, and mobile learning resources. We will describe the project in general terms, including what has worked well, difficulties encountered, and the process of evaluation. The presentation will finish with discussion of the place of mobile devices within medical education, and how this work will influence our approach to medical
education and our curriculum in the future. Because the project is still in progress, we will not present detailed outcome data (which will be reported later), but will report an overview of introducing this technology into our curriculum.
Open educational resources: who reuses what and for how long?
Authors: Dr Heather Wharrad, Dr Richard Windle
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Clarification on the increased sharing of OER materials and its implications for healthcare education
Abstract:
Since the OECD report in 2007 on the emergence of open educational resources (OER) in HE
globally, the movement has gained significant momentum. Healthcare education is no exception, OER material is becoming increasingly available signifying success in the drivers put in place to encourage individuals to share their content. Much less is understood about the reuse of these materials and possible advantages to individuals and institutions in sharing. In this session we will present some of the reuse data collected from feedback forms travelling with over 120 multimedia learning objects released as OER over the past 8 years in order to trigger discussion around some of the following questions:
- Is it important for OER materials to be reused?
- Who reuses OER and why?
- What type of OER tends to be reused?
- Should we be promoting and/or facilitating OER reuse?
- What are the implications for healthcare education of increased OER?
Preliminary analysis of our repository shows that 64% of 1258 individuals completing the online evaluation feedback forms were ‘re-users’ from other institutions or healthcare sectors from more than 20 countries worldwide. As expected, students and tutors made up a large complement of this reuse population, however other sectors are also represented including healthcare trusts, charities and voluntary organizations and retired lifelong learners. It has been speculated that by releasing OER, individuals and institutions gain recognition and publicity for the work they do and courses they offer (OECD, 2007), leading to more students enrolling on courses or funding for developing materials and research. This relates to the final point for discussion that is how to achieve sustained production and sharing of OER, and reuse of OER, by end users so that OER does not become another educational ‘white elephant’.
OECD (2007) Giving Knowledge for Free: the emergence of open educational resources
Attendees: Anyone interested in the reuse of OER in healthcare education
Persuading the decision makers: the journey from online course design, creating reusable learning objects and publishing them as OERs
Authors: Marion Waite, Steve Burholt, Jane Goodman Brown, Irmgard Huppe
Intended Learning Outcomes:- How to store and catalogue the resources and identification of appropriate metadata for description of OERs to the outside world.
- Consideration of how target audiences will be able to find, browse and access the resources
- Persuasion at the management level of the organization (our university does not have an overall directive on the release or use of OERS) and our teaching colleagues to take a similar approach by presenting our outputs as exemplars
The Faculty of Health & Life Sciences at Oxford Brookes University has developed a significant number distance learning postgraduate programmes. This has been driven by the need to remain sustainable. An institutional approach has been taken to pedagogic course design, which led to the realization of the potential for reusable learning objects. This coincided with the development of a university teaching repository.
Objectives of presentation:
- Demonstrate how we have worked across the faculty and the wider university team to maximize expertise and develop and present digital resources as reusable learning objects
- Enable participants to understand some of the practical issues we have had to address in order to take these developments further and to persuade decision-makers and teaching colleagues of the potential re -purposing the learning objects as OERS, which are currently being used for marketing as a sample taster collection of course materials http://shsc.brookes.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/labc/nursing-studies.
We have also worked in partnership with the Open Spires Project http://blogs.oucs.ox.ac.uk/openspires/ This has been a source of expert advice in terms of copyright and intellectual property issues. Our contribution to this conference is a practical and systematic example of the necessity for organizations to consider the use of OERS.
Promoting learning through the use of creative and engaging online resources
Authors: Gary Morris
Intended Learning Outcomes:- How student attention and engagement with taught material is promoted through creative online resources and the arrangement of visual cues
Abstract:
This presentation covers a range of creative resources and products using Articulate presenter and Flash animation. This incorporates a rich variety of approaches
including streamed video material, guided internet searches, interactive activities, audio commentary and factual / theoretical information. The emphasis here is upon style, visual appeal and interactive methods which help engage students and provide a stimulating and flexible
approach to learning. Examples will be shown outlining how attention and engagement with taught material is promoted through the arrangement of visual cues. Here, learners are “drawn in” by the deliberate arrangement of selected images, text, shapes and colours. There is also an
intentional inclusion of aspects for learners to “play” with, including buttons to click on (to reveal information), video clips to watch or
internet sites to visit. This promotes a more active involvement with learning and minimizes passive responses to taught content. The
importance here is upon providing learners with an experience which can be absorbing, interesting and fun as well as educational and inspiring.
These resources are used across a range of healthcare programmes either as blended learning or wholly online-based modules. This covers a range of healthcare themes including dementia, mental health issues and the media, depression and self-harm. The evaluation and feedback from learners has been extremely positive regarding this approach to learning as fun, engaging, flexible and stimulating. This is borne out by support and feedback from teaching peers, external examiners and the wider University community. The effectiveness of this way of learning can also be reflected by the high quality of assignment work submitted by learners.
Attendees: This presentation is geared towards delegates who use or wish to use elearning approaches within their teaching with learners.
Public Health E-Learning Maps – The opportunities and challenges in developing this innovative approach to promote the sharing of e-learning resources
Authors: Helen Buttivant
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Understand the purpose, structure, content and location of the resource.
- Recognize how the methodology could be applied to other subjects.
- Debate potential challenges and consider solutions.
- Context:
The complexity of public health practice and rapid growth in e-learning technology has resulted in a growing volume of public health e-learning materials available from an extensive network of sources. It can be challenging to comprehend the full range of resources available and time consuming to identify appropriate material. This project, developed by the Wessex Deanery, was designed to remove these potential barriers by identifying and organising existing public health e-learning resources and providing a single point of on-line access.
- Process:
A Population Healthcare Model identified 8 core concepts of public health practice. When mapped to the Faculty of Public Health Curriculum this provided a comprehensive list of the knowledge and skills required for all aspects of public health practice. A web-based snowball search strategy was used to locate e-learning materials and mind-mapping techniques were used to develop an intuitive structure in which to organise them. User feedback from local public health staff informed all stages of development.
- Content:
The website contains a series of “mind-maps” depicting the 8 core areas of public health. Branches for specific topic areas terminate with a hyperlink to an appropriate e-learning resource. Users are encouraged to support the maintenance, evaluation and development of the site creating a sustainable, continually evolving resource.
- Implications:
- Provides a dynamic tool to maximise the potential for e-learning to support the development of the public health workforce.
- Offers a methodology which could be applied to other areas of healthcare development.
- Types of technologies: Internet/E-Mail/Social Networks
- Evaluation: Evaluation plans are currently being developed in collaboration with the University of Southampton.
- Relevance to chosen themes:
- Illustrates how e-learning can enhance collaboration between education and health professionals via a single point of access to resources of interest to both parties.
- Provides an example of an innovative use of technology to increase access to existing learning resources.
- Provides a forum to debate the challenges of implementation and identify potential solutions.
- Direct experience as a Public Health Speciality Registrar, with in depth knowledge of the Faculty of Public Health Training Curriculum and the training needs of this key audience at various stages of training (particularly in relation to preparation for the Faculty of Public Health Part A Exam).
- A broad range of public health experience prior to entering the Speciality Training Scheme providing me with an awareness of the potential wider audience for this resource and their likely training needs in relation to public health. e.g. Working strategically and operationally at a regional and local level in a Government Office, PCT and Mental Health Trust. Working in collaboration with a wide range of public health stakeholders including; Education, Transport and Social Services within Local Government, the Police, Fire & Rescue & Ambulance services.
- Experience of designing and developing knowledge sharing websites including; www.wellbeingsoutheast.org.uk and other e-tools including an online clinical incident reporting system.
- An awareness of the principles of mindmapping techniques to organise and present complex systems and ideas.
Randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a referral prioritization decision training tool for student occupational therapists
Authors: Dr Priscilla Harries, Libby Notley, Dr Chris Tomlinson
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Gain knowledge of educational methods for enhancing professional decision-making.
- Gain knowledge of research methods for testing the effectiveness of an educational tool through a randomized controlled trial
In community mental health, research has shown that occupational therapy students need to improve their capacity to prioritize referrals. The effectiveness of a web-based decision-training aid demonstrated through a double blind, parallel-group, longitudinal, randomized controlled trial (N=165) will be presented, followed by questions to promote a facilitated discussion on approaches to expertise development.
- Implications:
As demand far exceeds service capacity, this decision training aid could be used to improve novices’ referral prioritization ability thereby ensuring services are targeted at those in most need. An outline of the technology behind the web-based interface can be explained by Dr Tomlinson if requested by the audience.
- Benefits and future plans:
In the UK, the web tool has been used for CPD training, and 75% of occupational therapy programmes have promoted this web resource with their students. International use, which has commenced, is likely to be extended as the decision aid is freely available via the World Wide Web (priscillaharries.com).
To evaluate the effect of the decision aid on prioritization-rating capacity, participants’ raw prioritization ratings were correlated with the experts’ ratings of the same referrals at each stage of testing. The results of this study indicated that the decision-training aid had a statistically positive effect on the referral prioritization capacity of the novices. This tool demonstrates clear skill development. The Kings Fund and publishers are supporting dissemination.
Attendees: Health and social care professionals with an interest in expertise development, novice professionals interested in resources and methods to promote expertise, researchers in the fields of health, social care and education
RIP: Moving beyond the VLE
Authors: Natalie Lafferty, Carl Franks, Alison Gray, Chris Kennedy, Annalisa Manca
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Share innovative approaches to developing a more personalised and sustainable online learning environment
Abstract:In the current economic climate there is growing interest in open source technologies and their potential to support a sustainable approach to online teaching and learning. The concepts of personalised learning environments and networks are also attracting attention as teachers explore how Web 2.0 technologies can be used in healthcare education. In some quarters there has also been talk of the death of the virtual learning environment (VLE), whilst others highlight that many teaching staff have yet to engage with it.
At the School of Medicine in Dundee the eLearning team has been working with a number of teaching leads across all phases of the curriculum in piloting the use of the opensource Wordpress platform to support the delivery of the curriculum. This work has developed in response to accessibility issues with the institutional VLE in NHS locations. Initial pilots saw Wordpress sites supplementing the teaching resources in the VLE and were well received by students. Further pilots have seen teaching staff deliver all their online resources via Wordpress. Whilst evaluation is ongoing a number of benefits have already emerged through the use of this open source platform including:
- Increased engagement of teaching staff in the use of educational technology and a desire to exploit it further to enhance learning and take ownership of their online presence
- Positive feedback from students
- Increased involvement of students in developing the online learning environment through student-led projects, SSCs, summer projects
- Increased personalisation of online learning
- Improving access to content from NHS locations
- Making learning content more open.
We will also consider whether moving beyond the VLE can help to develop a community of practice in online learning in healthcare education.
Attendees: those interested in using innovative approaches to developing a more personalised and sustainable online learning environment
Smarter Assessment = Smarter Students! Using Assessment for Learning in Children’s Nurse Education
Authors: Jon Harrison, Cathy Poole
Intended Learning Outcomes: - Reflection on current assessment practices
- Use of technology in assessment
Abstract:
This interactive ‘trigger’ presentation intends to explore the use a combination of innovative e-learning resources – Moodle quizzes and an electronic voting system (EVS). Both these technologies have been successfully integrated into a module that is taught on the children’s nursing programme at Birmingham City University. This presentation will be of benefit to anyone with an interest in using feedback to enhance learning. It is hoped that those who engage within this interactive session will reflect on their current assessment practices and recognise the power of assessment for learning. Those that choose this session will be fully involved throughout the presentation (as indeed our own students are!), as the EVS will be used to gain participant’s thoughts, feelings and experiences relating to the use of technology and assessment.
- Method:
The module team developed a number of quizzes that were constructively aligned with the module learning outcomes and the summative assessment. From the student’s evaluations, it was found these formative quizzes were a great way to help them identify the areas in which they needed to concentrate on further and also to subsequently gauge their level of development as the module progressed.
As an accompaniment to the quizzes, the EVS was also used in the classroom with the students, in order to anonymously determine their
current level of knowledge. The greatest benefit at this point was that instant feedback could be given to the students by the module team. The EVS essentially ‘sparked the debate’ and helped fuel further discussion. As a result, any issues that the group had about the module content could be addressed in a supportive and timely manner.
- Discussion:
It is recognised that many educational innovations are not widely adopted by educational establishments, or deeply integrated into the curriculum. This presentation explores how Moore’s chasm (Moore, 1991) was effectively bridged and demonstrates the ‘compelling value’ (Geoghegan, 1994) of the use of electronic quizzes and EVS within teaching. As a result, these learning technologies were embedded within the module and consequently, the learning experience for the students has been transformed into one that is not only educationally stimulating and engaging, but perhaps just as importantly, fun!
Geoghegan, W (1994) Stuck at the Barricades: Can Information Technology Really Enter the Mainstream of Teaching and Learning. AAHE Bulletin, pp.13-16.
Moore, G. (1991). Crossing the chasm. New York: Harper Business.
Attendees:This presentation will be of benefit to anyone with an interest in using feedback to enhance learning.
Supporting online teaching and smarter working through a targeted professional development programme
Authors: Linda Martindale
Abstract:
The presentation focuses on developing online teaching capability, particularly:
o Understanding academic staff needs
o Evaluating a staff development programme
o Upskilling academic staff in online teaching
o Contribution of development resources to “smarter” working
The project presented arose from evidence that staff in a school of nursing and midwifery have a range of competence and confidence in e-learning skills, including VLE use, content development and collaborative tools. The starting-point was that, in resource-constrained environments, upskilling academic staff is an effective use of learning technology / e-learning support resources.
The project:
A survey of academic staff evaluated:
- perceived confidence in online teaching
- needs / preferences for professional development
Responses were used to design a structured, targeted programme, supporting academic staff in online teaching methods. This included reusing existing resources, developing online tutorials and delivering some workshops. Online tutorials used a range of technologies. Accessible and printable versions were also created. Beginner-level resources support inexperienced users and include short, simple tasks such as viewing student plagiarism reports. Intermediate and advanced resources focus on tasks such as designing online assessments and producing content packages. Resources were produced for using collaborative tools, including blogs and wikis. These support smarter working, reducing one-to-one student contact by replacing this with collaborative online working.
The resources are promoted and accessed through a Wordpress site, aiming to foster collaboration and community. Additionally good practice exemplars of online teaching are showcased, to disseminate excellence and innovation. Evaluation data available will be presented, focusing on what has worked well alongside plans to further support online teaching and develop more efficient working practices,through using Wordpress as the interface for a bank of generic resources.
The overall contribution of the project to more effective or “smarter” working will be assessed. The presentation ends with questions and challenges arising from the project.
Sustainability through : Lessons Learned from the Development of an Online Programme
Authors: Paul Hammond, Prof Jane Coad
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Understand the concept of repurposing
- Recognize the role of XML in Reusable Learning Objects
- Understand how interactive media can be developed with sustainability in mind
This trigger presentation will demonstrate how in creating a learning resource, content can be treated as separate from the technology. Using a real life learning resource developed for the Post-graduate Certificate in Children and Young People’s Palliative and Complex Care Project the presenter will demonstrate how once a tool is created it forms a template that can be reused with different content. The presentation will focus specifically on a learning object developed with a combination of Adobe Flash and XML technologies. Given that learning resource development of this kind can be time consuming and costly, the presentation will demonstrate how efficiencies can be made using this approach, whilst using technology creatively to enhance online learning. The presentation demonstrates how a flash-based learning resource can be thought of as a ‘content engine’ which, once created, can be reused or altered quickly and easily without the need for high level development skills. The presenter will discuss the benefits of developing resources with re-usability and adaptability in mind and how the creation of flexible generic tools not only increases the working lifespan of a resource but also enables learning object development to run concurrently with content creation and therefore minimize costly production delays. The presentation highlights how early discussions between the subject matter expert and the instructional designer/learning technologist can lead to the creation of adaptive, content and context independent e-learning resources that can be added to a bank of such resources from which future e-learning needs can be met. The development process discussed in the presentation offers strategies for maximizing return on investment and introducing efficiencies into the development cycle. Such efficiencies have implications for updating and changing content easily and therefore for sustaining interactive materials for future health care education.
The East of Scotland Haematology Nurse Group use of the Virtual Classroom Environment in the Provision of Continuous Professional Development through a Macmillan Online Lecture Series
Authors: Karen Campbell
Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Sharing the experience of building a virtual CPD initiative
Abstract:
The East of Scotland Haematology Nurses Group (ESHNG)in their dedication to the provision of Continuous Professional Development(CPD)of Scottish haematology nurses, who often work in isolation across the country, with little opportunity to network and
share practice, have embraced technology to enhance their repertoire of education delivery. The Group embraced one of the key themes, in an
evaluation of students participation in an virtual classroom within the Therapeutic Options in Malignant Haematology Module run at Edinburgh
Napier University(Campbell 2009);the ESHNG were interested in the potential use of virtual classroom facility in provision of CPD for all
haematology nurses across Britain. The ESHNG were successful in obtaining funding from Macmillan Cancer Support to provide sessions every month, for a year, facilitated by an experienced operator, for fifty nurses over the internet. There would also be a chance to conduct
either case presentations or journal clubs once a month in small group sessions. The intention was to meet the learning needs of the participants by the use the virtual classroom to critically engage with current practices in malignant haematology, with a diverse network of colleagues, building a learning community. As this project is in its infancy, this presentation would share the experience of building a CPD initiative outwith the confines of a educational or healthcare institution by exploring the digital stewarding of a CPD website
including looking at technological, pedagogy, copyright, intellectual property, and financial issues.
An example of the supporting website and a recording of sessions can be accessed at http://onlinehaematologylectures.podbean.com/
Campbell K.E, (2009) An evaluation of using E Learning to support Haematology nurse education Bone Marrow Transplantation 43 (S 1) N 1079 pp S322.
The iDoc project: Using smartphone technology with foundation doctors across Wales
Authors: W Hardyman, A Bullock, S Carter-Ingram, L Pugsley, M Stacey
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Recognise the potential of mobile technologies to support and enhance the work-based learning of trainee doctors, their teaching and patient care
- Understand the role of mobile technologies within the wider context of other workplace information sources
- Appreciate the need for evaluation of (mobile) technology enhanced learning in the workplace
The medical information needed by practitioners has exploded. Smartphone devices can afford immediate electronic access to books/journals and have potential to provide ‘just-in-time’ reliable medical information for both education and practice. The “iDoc” project is an initiative supported by the Wales Deanery. Building on an earlier pilot(1), trainee doctor participants, across Wales, are issued with a Smartphone device, micro SD card and software application containing 17 medical textbooks.
Use of mobile technology has undergone limited evaluation in healthcare workplace settings. Evaluation is integral to iDoc: questionnaires administered at baseline and later points collect data on frequency, type, usefulness and variation in device use alongside other commonly accessed information sources in the workplace (e.g. senior medical staff, peers, hardcopy textbooks). In addition, case studies of use are being collated. Preliminary findings suggest the technology is used (a) as a ‘just-in-time’ information resource in daily clinical practice, particularly when other sources are not available e.g. when senior staff are busy and an initial diagnosis or treatment of patients is needed; (b) as a resource for context-based teaching in the clinical setting; and (c) to access e-portfolios and other resources.
The evaluation will report on how Smartphone technology may support learning and inform the future use of such devices in the education of trainee doctors.
(1)Morgan M, Pugsley L, Bullock A, Phillips S, Stacey M (2010) Evaluating trainee doctors’ educational use of a personal digital assistant: a pilot study. British Journal of Hospital Medicine 71 (8):461-464.
Attendees: medical educators, clinical staff and trainees and students working in health care settings
The Virtual Masterclass: a sustainable approach to specialist training/CPD in healthcare
Authors: Janet Strivens
Abstract:This presentation reports on the design, implementation and evaluation of an online ‘Masterclass’ for young trainee haematologists. The pilot formed part of a European-funded project “Harmonisation of Haematology Training across Europe” (H-Net). 25 trainees took part, divided into 5 groups each with a ‘mentor’ (an experienced haematologist). Groups were mixed: no two members shared the same nationality. All discussions and materials were through the medium of English.
Mindful that both online and collaborative learning might well be unfamiliar to participants, care was taken to prepare them for the experience. Trainees and mentors met face-to-face on one occasion (at the European Haematology Association International Congress 2010) prior to the Masterclass. Following a presentation of the thinking behind the chosen format, light-hearted group exercises were run, followed by an informal reception.
Experts in the different sub-areas of haematology – Haemostasis &Thrombosis, Clinical Haematology, Diagnosis and Transfusion Medicine – prepared study materials based on real, complex cases, divided into weekly sets of slides. Each set ended with questions carefully designed to stimulate discussion, on which groups were required to produce reports. In all, six cases were studied over a six-month period, divided into blocks of 2-6 weeks. Following each case, case authors received the groups’ reports and at a set time made an online presentation (recorded and made available for further viewing) discussing the case and giving feedback to the groups.
Three tools were used in an integrated way; a social networking site (NING) for the main learning and discussion; a conferencing tool (Elluminate) for feedback; and a portfolio/content management tool (Confolio) to store study materials, background literature and group reports.
The class retained 23 of the 25 members for the full six months. Evaluation was based on data gathered on three key aspects (the quality of learning, the experience of the learners; and the cost in time and resources). The experience was very positively evaluated by the trainees, and case authors were impressed by the quality of the group reports. We suggest that this is a sustainable model of online, collaborative learning for young medical professionals, which could easily be adapted to the continuing professional development of other healthcare professions. A discussion point is the degree to which the model could be transferred to pre-registration learning and what adaptations might be necessary.
This video would be perfect for my teaching: developing principles and good practice to support the creation and use of healthcare recordings for shared resources
Authors: Jane Williams, Debra Hiom, Suzanne Hardy, Megan Quentin-Baxter
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Understand how clinical recordings may be used
Abstract:Authentic patient encounters are vital to teaching and learning in healthcare. Patients, families and healthcare workers are often willing to collaborate by sharing stories in photographs, podcasts, videos, acted by a role player or in clinical recordings for teaching purposes. Everyone is entitled to respect, and rights, such as privacy (consent to take) and confidentiality (consent to disclose) must be taken into account. These concepts are often conflated with copyright leading to confusion around using/reusing resources. In addition, tools are required to help manage and communicate the importance of consent.
The Reusing Medical Recordings Project is a nationally funded project advancing recommendations from the "Common Healthcare Educational Recordings Reusability Infrastructure" (CHERRI) workshop. The aim is to increase confidence in using healthcare recordings for education, by addressing organisational, cultural and technical factors.
Supported by the JISC Strategic Content Alliance, a taskforce of cross-sector stakeholders is taking forward CHERRI recommendations to enable more effective and trusted use of clinical recordings in education. It has gained consensus and produced a set of principles and guidance covering consent (privacy and confidentiality), copyright and intellectual property rights, storage, re-use and onward transmission of healthcare recordings. Following consultation and feedback, results will be disseminated to educators in academic and healthcare settings via the PORSCHE and ACTOR projects.
A proposed ‘Consent Commons’ licensing framework aims to clarify permissions for digital recordings of people in educational resources, balancing a desire for open access with respecting peoples’ rights and expectations of how recordings of them may be used. It complements the common principles and guidelines which support local policies and procedures, enabling institutions to enact codes of practice and helping individuals understand how educational resources can be used. Delegates will explore the issues around the development of such a framework.
Attendees: Anyone interested in or currently using clinical recordings as educational resources.
Towards a local, regional and national infrastructure for sharing medical teaching, learning and assessment material
Authors: Nick Sheppard
Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Learn more about the developing institutional and national OER infrastructures supported by JISC
- Discuss how these can be streamlined across the sector and improved/adapted to more fully support subject specific requirements (e.g. health)
The ALPS CETL repository project (ACErep) is examining the requirements of a repository infrastructure in local, regional and national contexts to more effectively facilitate sharing and reuse of appropriately licensed medical teaching, learning and assessment material.
Three institutions in the ALPS consortium - the University of Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University and York St John University - all use different commercial platforms for their teaching and learning repositories. In addition there is the national HE/FE repository Jorum, and the NHS National eLearning Repository (NeLR),
Informed by a user-group of institutional stakeholders, the goal of ACErep is to develop a clearly branded web-site from where staff at the respective institutions can:
- deposit resources into their own institutional repository
- cross-search the repositories from a single interface
In addition, we have developed ties with the JISC funded PORSCHE project at Newcastle University which aims to provide seamless access to academic and clinical learning resources for healthcare students primarily from the respective collections in Jorum and the NeLR.
The project utilises well-established repository technologies and has adapted an Open Source client to differentially deposit into a user’s institutional repository and liaised with Jorum to harvest metadata from multiple repositories. ACErep and PORSCHE are also working with Jorum on their development of an Open API (Application Programming Interface) upon which we can build a bespoke search portal. This work, in turn, builds on a prototype developed in collaboration with the Xpert repository at Nottingham University.
This approach will have the benefit of digital assets being preserved in one location (an institutional repository) while providing multiple points of access as well as allowing the ALPS branded web-site and the institutional repositories to “piggyback” on Jorum’s Google pagerank thereby improving discoverability.
The presentation will comprise a summary of the ACErep project to date; the emphasis will not be technical though technical implications and requirements will be discussed.
Attendees: eLearning professionals in health related fields
Using formative audio feedback via Moodle to feed-forward and enhance learner engagement in assessments
Authors: Julie Attenborough
Intended Learning Outcomes:- Examine evidence from real practice in healthcare education
- Understand the advantages and disadvantages of the use of MP3 files in giving feedback on assessment to students
- Develop an insight into future strategies for giving feedback about assessment to students
Much is written about the process of giving feedback but there is little work on how learners can be helped to translate feedback into action and feed-forward to subsequent assessments. This presentation reports on a study that aims to build on past research about feedback and the feed-forward principle. The aim of the research was to evaluate how students on a mentorship in healthcare module used the individualised audio and written feedback they received through the University’s virtual learning environment (VLE) in developing their summative assessments. The students received feedback from their tutors in audio MP3 files using Audacity. Research data was gathered using questionnaires for students, one-to-one interviews with students and focus groups with the teaching team, to understand learners’ and teachers’ experiences of giving and receiving audio and written feedback.
The presentation shares the research results and uses them to trigger a discussion about whether audio feedback delivered via MP3 files in the virtual learning environment can be effectively used to enhance learner ability to feed-forward and use feedback. We have used the results to develop a toolkit for lecturers on how to give constructive audio feedback.
Utilising Turnitin reports as a tool for supporting and enhancing student learning
Authors: Fiona Kennedy, Jane Finlay, Jamie McDermott
Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Using a tool such as Turnitin as a means of enhancing learning
- Exploration of current issues around plagiarism and feedback
Abstract:
Plagiarism is an issue of growing concern within Higher Education Institutions (HEI), and the use of technology to detect the originality of student submissions is commonplace (McKeever 2006). How these technologies are utilised is varied but research suggests that promoting them as a learning tool for students rather than a punitive detection tool is best practice (Cohen 2010; Culwin, 2006; Duggan 2006). To date, within one department of a Scottish HEI, the electronic detection tool Turnitin (TurnitinUK, 2011) has been utilised exclusively by tutors for the detection of poor academic practice as opposed to being used to actively support and enhance student learning. To address this lack of student involvement, a pilot project was conceived whereby students could access originality reports prior to final submission of assignments, thus affording them the opportunity to review and develop their work as a component of the learning cycle. The pilot project aim was therefore to provide self-directed and non-threatening opportunities for students to engage with technology-enhanced learning that facilitated an increasing awareness of appropriate academic writing skills. Four modules (pre-registration programmes within the disciplines of Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Social Work) (n=199) were selected for inclusion in the pilot.
Having completed the initial pilot project stages, formal evaluation utilising a web-based survey and a face-to-face focus group has commenced. Early anecdotal feedback from staff and students has been positive, with students apparently endorsing the new self-directed learning process and its transparency. The feedback gained will be used to develop the implementation of Turnitin across all modules hosted by the Department, and to identify areas where additional support could be provided for students in the future to further enhance the quality of the learning experience.
Cohen, J. 2010, “Using Turnitin as a formative writing tool”, Journal of Learning and Development in Higher Education, [online], vol. 2 (Feb), pp. 1-14.
Culwin , F. 2006, “An active introduction to academic misconduct and the measured demographics of misconduct”, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 31, no. (2), pp. 167-182.
Duggan, F. 2006, “Plagiarism: prevention, practice and policy”, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 151—154.
McKeever, L. 2006, “Online plagiarism detection services—saviour or scourge?”, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 155—165.
Turnitin UK. 2011, Online Plagiarism detection tool. [Online]. Available from: http://www.turnitin.com/static/index.php [Accessed 3rd March 2011]
Where’s the F in Feedback?
Authors: Adrian Molyneux and Chris Harrison
Intended Learning Outcomes:- An online approach for delivering feedback to students after OSCEs
Abstract:The National Student Survey (NSS) has demonstrated a strong student desire for more, and more timely, feedback. Assessments in medical education, especially Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), are particularly expensive, so it makes sense to maximise the value that can be obtained from them. Traditionally, feedback following ‘high-stakes’ summative OSCEs has been limited to confirmation of whether students have passed or failed*. Feedback after OSCEs is likely to be popular with students, but the feasibility of providing detailed feedback to whole year groups is difficult. Most resources are usually invested in students who fail assessments, but would all students benefit from feedback to improve their performance? This is particularly relevant in healthcare, where it is important to identify potential gaps in a student’s competence, even when they have passed an assessment overall**.
To try to meet these conflicting needs, we have designed an interactive website to deliver feedback after all OSCEs . It is designed to upload spreadsheets created for the exam board in a simple process to enable delivery of feedback at the same time as release of results. The spreadsheets contain marks for all stations, broken down by the different skills domains assessed. Students are given options to receive the feedback in a variety of different formats, including station-by-station analysis or analysis of their performance in certain skill domains across multiple stations. Guidance is given to help students reflect on the feedback and develop an action plan. When it was introduced to Year 1 students, 130 students made over 4000 separate page hits within the first 24 hours. We are evaluating how students use the website and how long they spend on different sections. Preliminary results of a detailed evaluation of students will be presented.
Have we have designed feedback that is Fair, Fast, Feasible and Frugal?
*Van der Vleuten, CPM, Schuwirth, LWT. Assessing professional competence: from methods to programmes. Medical Education 2005; 39: 309-317.
**Royal College of Physicians. Doctors in society: medical professionalism in a changing world. London: Royal College of Physicians 2005.
WikiVet – a new model for sharing of Open Educational Resources
Authors: Nick Short
Intended Learning Outcomes:- an appreciation of the issues involved in sharing OERs and the application of the MEDEV OOER toolkit to support this process.
- how OERs can be adapted from existing published texts to generate educationally valuable, quality resources which are open access.
Abstract:
The presentation will examine a collaborative model for sharing OERs between veterinary schools through a wiki. The session will describe the lessons learnt from the JISC funded Opening Veterinary Access to Literature (OVAL) project. This is intended to trigger discussion as to how academic institutions can collaborate effectively with commercial publishers in the development of free to access learning resources.
The WikiVet project has now been running for a 4 year period. In that time over 10,000 individuals have registered with the site representing over 198 veterinary schools from 68 countries. The presentation will explain how the WikiVet environment has assisted in the publishing of OERs in an accessible format. A comparison will be made with other approaches to repositories for OERs including JORUM and the case will be made for new thinking on the most effective publishing models for the future.
The relevance of this session to the wider healthcare community includes exposure to new working practices which help address current shortfalls in funding for resource development. This will include developing business models which facilitate collaboration between corporate partners and academia with benefits for both.
To date review and evaluation of the project has been limited to feedback from small focus groups and statistical review of site usage. The session will explore ways that these OER initiatives can improve feedback and evaluation in order to better focus provision on the needs of an international audience.
Further information on WikiVet and the OVAL project can be found at http://en.wikivet.net/OVAL. A compilation of key blogs relating to OERs is available on the MEDEV site at http://goo.gl/T4Zwe
