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Computer-based alternatives – past, present and future

Computer-based alternatives – past, present and future. David Dewhurst Assistant Principal (e-learning & e-health) Director of Learning Technology College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh. Main points to be covered.

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Computer-based alternatives – past, present and future

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  1. Computer-based alternatives – past, present and future David DewhurstAssistant Principal (e-learning & e-health)Director of Learning TechnologyCollege of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh

  2. Main points to be covered • Multimedia computer simulations of lab classes in pharmacology and physiology • Are they educationally effective alternatives • How can we persuade teachers to use them • The future of CAL development - a Reusable Learning Object approach - ReCALaResearch and Development project funded by The Lord Dowding Fund

  3. Multimedia computer simulations • Lots of them • High Quality • Evidence is that they work • Poorly used • Expensive to produce • Not editable • Technical obsolescence www.sheffbp.co.uk

  4. High quality images

  5. Animations

  6. Video, audio

  7. Simulations

  8. Simulations

  9. Numerous Studies: Clarke, ATLA 14: 134-140 (1987) Dewhurst, et al ATLA 15: 280-289 (1988) Dewhurst et al (1994) Amer. J. Physiol. 267 (Adv. Physiol. Educ. 12) S95-S104 Hughes (2001) TIPS 22: 2, 71-74 Findings Knowledge gain equivalent Students accept/enjoy as much/more Costs are lower Group work and staff-student interaction are promoted Laboratory/practical skills cannot be taught Evidence: computer simulations versus ‘animal labs’

  10. so why are they poorly used? Not invented here Non-editable locally Not web deliverable - only LAN Need to be embedded – requires time and skills so resource implications Need regular content and technological updating How do we persuade teachers to use them? They are good…. they work….

  11. Several ways of doing this: raise awareness give examples of how they are being used in other universities demonstrate which learning outcomes they can most usefully address provide independent reviews present evidence from evaluations of their effectiveness EURCAwww.eurca.org Persuading teachers

  12. One approach is to develop ‘wrap-around’support materials e.g. text-based study guides or workbooks these may be similar to lab schedules and should include learning outcomes exercises, tasks and activities should bebuilt-in self-assessment questions should be included to reinforce learning Embedding alternatives into teaching

  13. Tasks/activities - individual or group centred • Record and Measure - test accuracy of measurements • record responses of...to... measure .... quantify.... • Data Analysis • plot... extrapolate.....determine.... calculate… • Data Interpretation Skills • describe.... list...explain.... discuss.... • Presentation Skills • construct a table... draw a graph..prepare an abstract... • Experimental Design • design an experiment to....identify the unknown X... • Knowledge of underlying principles • use MCQs, True/False etc

  14. Content Authoring - old • The author imports different learning objects/assets (building bricks)into an authoring package: • text, images, video, audio, animations, assessments, web-pages, data • Built into a single compiled program. It cannot be easily edited and if the run-time program becomes obsolete then the rest of the program is also lost.

  15. ReCAL Stage 1 – Disaggregation - abstracting the assets • ReCAL separates media assets and educational design from the runtime. • existing CAL programs disaggregated to release assets for reuse ~ 100 assets per program. • Project funded by The Lord Dowding Fund

  16. ReCAL Stage 2 - Managing the assets • Assets stored in digital repositories • Each asset catalogued into a database • Metadata is attached to enable browse & search • Assets then available for use in multiple CAL’s

  17. ReCAL Stage 3 – Authoring tools to enable sequencing of learning • External parameter files (XML) dictate the page sequence and the content delivered to the user. • Different templates can be used to build the assets into each page: • T1 - Title • T2 - Image &Text • T3 - data trace • T4 - MCQ

  18. ReCAL Stage 4 – dynamic CAL creation • A runtime player (Flash, Labyrinth) reads in XML parameter files • Runtime player draws down assets dynamically from repository • CAL program is created dynamically

  19. ReCAL dynamic CAL creation

  20. Content authoring - future • Teacher selects objects from repository • Uses simple authoring tools to create new CAL

  21. Thank you for listening David Dewhurst e-mail d.dewhurst@ed.ac.uk Learning Technology www.lts.mvm.ed.ac.uk

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