A virtual computer lab for distance biomedical technology education

Lessons learned from ten years of distance learning outreach

OBJECTIVE

The study tested the efficacy of providing distance learning with real-time videoconferencing to broaden high school student knowledge of health careers.

METHODS

A pilot program was tried out and extended over ten years to include other schools in four different time zones and the National Library of Medicine. Survey results, site visits, and continued school participation were used as effectiveness indicators. Student ratings, site visits, and ongoing discussions were used to evaluate critical factors in the program.

RESULTS

Nine program factors contributed to success.

CONCLUSIONS

Synchronous communication can be effective for outreach to special populations given appropriate infrastructure, technology, program design, and implementation.

E-learning in a virtual science camp for urban youth

The Virtual Science Camp (VSC) is a unique demonstration of synchronous e-learning developed by Mentoring in Medicine (MIM). This paper reports on a pilot offering during the summer of 2012 that taught advanced biological concepts, healthy living and health care career opportunities to medically underserved urban youth. Livestream's interactive video technology was used to engage a diverse audience of mostly high school students at remote sites in a new two week instructional program that provided custom course content free of charge over the internet. We describe the technical and program preparations undertaken, their implementation, the IT environment, a multi-faceted evaluation plan, the results of the experiment, and lessons learned.

Teleconferencing in medical education: a useful tool

Education and healthcare are basic needs for human development. Technological innovation has broadened the access to higher quality healthcare and education without regard to time, distance or geopolitical boundaries. Distance learning has gained popularity as a means of learning in recent years due to widely distributed learners, busy schedules and rising travel costs. Teleconferencing is also a very useful tool as a distance learning method.Teleconferencing is a real-time and live interactive programme in which one set of participants are at one or more locations and the other set of participants are at another. The teleconference allows for interaction, including audio and/or video, and possibly other modalities, between at least two sites. Various methods are available for setting up a teleconferencing unit. A detailed review of the trend in the use of teleconferencing in medical education was conducted using Medline and a literature search.Teleconferencing was found to be a very useful tool in continuing medical education (CME), postgraduate medical education, undergraduate medical education, telementoring and many other situations. The use of teleconferencing in medical education has many advantages including savings in terms of travel costs and time. It gives access to the best educational resources and experience without any limitations of boundaries of distance and time. It encourages two-way interactions and facilitates learning in adults. Despite having some pitfalls in its implementation it is now being seen as an important tool in facilitating learning in medicine and many medical schools and institutions are adapting this novel tool.

Telehealth innovations in health education and training

Telehealth applications are increasingly important in many areas of health education and training. In addition, they will play a vital role in biomedical research and research training by facilitating remote collaborations and providing access to expensive/remote instrumentation. In order to fulfill their true potential to leverage education, training, and research activities, innovations in telehealth applications should be fostered across a range of technology fronts, including online, on-demand computational models for simulation; simplified interfaces for software and hardware; software frameworks for simulations; portable telepresence systems; artificial intelligence applications to be applied when simulated human patients are not options; and the development of more simulator applications. This article presents the results of discussion on potential areas of future development, barries to overcome, and suggestions to translate the promise of telehealth applications into a transformed environment of training, education, and research in the health sciences.