All Content

Transitioning to and Navigating Virtual Conferences as a Result of COVID

Special Issue: Blended Learning Technologies in Healthcare

By Jamie Geringer / March 9, 2023

Conferences offer a venue to share ideas, present and hear about current research, and network. Medical conferences include an added dimension of being a form of continuing medical education. The COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to conduct traditional in-person conferences, and, out of necessity, everyone had to transition to a virtual platform. Organizing a conference requires a tremendous amount of planning, preparation, and persistence to ensure the intended vision is met. But there is insufficient evidence and guidance on conducting effective conferences. This paper will discuss my experience planning and conducting a virtual medical conference. » [Full Article]
TYPE: HIGHER EDUCATION, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Maintaining Social Support in the Era of Social Distancing: Transitioning an in-person family-oriented wellness event to a virtual venue

Special Issue: Blended Learning Technologies in Healthcare

By Fei Chen, Sania Rahim, Rob Isaak, Brooke Chidgey, Emily Teeter, Harendra Arora, Susan M. Martinelli / February 24, 2023

Many medical residency programs have attempted to equip their trainees with tools to combat burnout using wellness curricula. One often-overlooked aspect of burnout is the support person's lack of understanding about the stress residents face as well as what is required of them. We describe a program, known as the Family Anesthesia Experience, with a focus on the conversion of the in-person event to a virtual format and comparing learning experience in the two formats. The goals of this program are to improve residents' support persons' understanding of anesthesiology residency and combat physician burnout via a social-relatedness approach. This program was conducted in-person in 2019 and converted to a virtual format in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. » [Full Article]
TYPE: HIGHER EDUCATION, NONFORMAL/INFORMAL LEARNING

Teaching Tracheostomy Management Using VoiceThread: Reflection on the evolution of our blended coaching approach

Special Issue: Blended Learning Technologies in Healthcare

By Jennifer C. Benjamin, Weichao Chen, Satid Thammasitboon / February 17, 2023

Developing pediatric resident trainees' proficiency in managing and troubleshooting tracheostomy issues is critical for the intensive care of children with medical complexity. Tracheostomy management, involving a set of complex technical and non-technical skills, are traditionally taught in simulation centers. The COVID pandemic, however, has posed a challenge to our in-person coaching, prompting us to explore the innovative use of VoiceThread to teach these skills using a blended approach. In this paper, we report the evolution from VoiceThread-based completely asynchronous coaching towards blended coaching, and we discuss the optimization of blended coaching into Just-in-Time Coaching. We demonstrate that the development of instructional approach was based on our critical analysis of different modes of teaching, reflection on lessons learned and best practices from implementation, and review of relevant literature. » [Full Article]
TYPE: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, HIGHER EDUCATION

Blended Learning Technologies in Dental Education: A case study in orofacial pain

Special Issue: Blended Learning Technologies in Healthcare

By James Mark Hawkins, Drew Fallis, Steven Durning / February 8, 2023

Blended learning in pain education is an effective teaching method to help learners grasp complex didactic and clinical topics. In this report, four educational strategies are examined that were successfully utilized to teach a postgraduate dental orofacial pain course. These strategies included using virtual presentations, hands-on training, virtual interactive case-based learning, and student created multimedia and peer-to-peer feedback. » [Full Article]
TYPE: HIGHER EDUCATION

Blended Teaching in Health Professions Education

Special Issue: Blended Learning Technologies in Healthcare

By Anita Samuel / February 2, 2023

Healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, dentists, etc.) use cutting-edge technologies in patient care. They interact with technologies daily. However, the use of technology for education has not been widely adopted by healthcare professions educators. This special issue explores how educators in different healthcare professions have adapted their teaching to the online environment. The articles in this special issue showcase the use of educational technologies in a broad health professions landscape: dental education, nursing education, medical school, and medical residency programs. » [Full Article]
TYPE: HIGHER EDUCATION

Finding the Right Tools for Your Classroom's Tech Needs

By Georgia Konstantinou / January 13, 2023

In Educational Duct Tape, Jake Miller compares, contrasts, and selects a plethora of technology tools for educators in a creative and entertaining way. By offering snapshots from his personal and professional life, the author created a pleasant and easy-to-read book. He emphasizes that technology should not be employed as the end objective, but rather as a means to an end. Throughout the book, he argues that educational technology tools should be utilized to solve classroom problems, address learning objectives, and accomplish specific goals exactly as we use duct tape to mend minor problems in our daily lives. » [Full Article]
REVIEW: LITERATURE, TYPE: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Closing the Assessment Excellence Gap: Why digital assessments should go beyond recall and be more inclusive

By Gavin Cooney, John Kleeman / January 5, 2023

Stakeholders in digital assessments have requirements and expectations that technology implementations do not always meet. This is the "Assessment Excellence Gap." This article explains why digital assessment is important and focuses on two particular aspects with a call to action to make assessments more inclusive and to write questions that go beyond recall when creating assessments. » [Full Article]
TYPE: OPINION