Workshop: Challenges and opportunities with E-learning

Christof Daetwyler, M.D.
Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 Queen Lane, Room 114L, Philadelphia, PA 19129-1096
mailto:christof.j.daetwyler@drexel.edu, http://webcampus.med.drexel.edu/interactive/cda/

Where are we now in terms of technology?

From computer assisted learning in computer labs – usually located in the basement – to learning at any place on campus or at home.

• technology (wireless and fast)
• interface (flat monitors, laptops)
• skills (game boy generation)
• availability (computers are cheap, at many universities all students are requested to have laptops)
• available content (http://www.pubmed.org, http://www.healcentral.org)
• we now what and how to do..

..“A specialist is somebody who has made all possible mistakes - in a very narrow field” (Niels Bohr)

How can computer technology help?

Not as replacement for human teachers, and certainly not to replace bedside teaching. But it adds bits and pieces to the learning environment which is managed by the faculty through the curriculum. Bedsides allowing access to “learning objects”, technology also allows new ways to communicate which can be used to manage courses (e.g. with email-lists or chat rooms) – up to the possibility of group work in virtual teams. In all these cases, computer technology is not used to replace humans but to widen and empower communication and access to information.

If we look how efficient we make use of energy to propel ourselves – in walking or running, we find that mankind is on the bottom line compared with animals (where one of the most energy efficient is the soar of an eagle.) – but we can change this quite a bit when we use simple technology: a bicycle allows us to move almost as efficently as an eagle.

What does a medical student have to learn?

Knowledge (Know what to do)

• Basic Sciences (Understanding)
• Clinical Presentation (Recognition)

Skills (Know how to do)

• History Taking
• Physical Exam
• Clinical Reasoning (applied knowledge – see above)
• Information gathering / use of off- and online resources

Attitude (Doing the right thing)

• Non-Verbal
• Communication
• Empathy
  
  

How to build a curriculum?

The right way to do this is to define the desired outcome, the set of skills, knowledge and attitude students must possess in order to graduate.

The "Swiss Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Training" is free available at http://www.smifk.ch/

In a second step, the question has to be answered what would be the best learning/teaching method for each single topic. Then the curriculum has to combine all the best resources into the teaching/learning. The eLearning resources are of different kind: learning objects, illustrations, animations, case-studies etc.. (see below)

There are two things to be kept in mind while teaching/learning medicine: Medicine is not a science per se, but the artful, professional and caring application of medical knowlege and skills to help a patient

Where do I find online learning materials for medical education?

• Learning objects, illustrations, animations(more than 30,000 assets)
  http://www.healcentral.org
  
  
• Materials to teach/learn medical skills
  http://webcampus.med.drexel.edu/interactive/cda/links/skills.html
  
  
• Online medical case studies
  http://webcampus.med.drexel.edu/interactive/cda/links/cases.html
  
  
• Rich Media Cases (to be used only if a fast internet connection is available)
  http://webcampus.med.drexel.edu/interactive/cda/publications/papers/media_rich_list.html
  
  
• Link collection for medical online learning
  http://webcampus.med.drexel.edu/interactive/cda/links/
  
  

This site was created by Christof Daetwyler on December 11th, 2004. Please contact christof.j.daetwyler@drexel.edu for comments