Down in the valley; climbing upwards again

Hi Guys, I have been quiet of late...came back from Kimberley to just fall headlong into a busy clinical unit and a busy on call weekend. The road is evening out now at last so I am heading for the last uphill days to complete the assignment! I have been reading about flipped classroom and have been looking on the web for existing lectures, videos and YouTube clips on my content topic- was amazed to find so many valuable information- one author/blogger made the point that we may not need to develop new content but can rather draw from the best lecturers in the world to teach students and use the face to face time to clarify concepts and make sure that the learning outcomes are achieved. Nice articles to read: Moffett J. 2014. Twelve tips for "flipping" the classroom. Medical Teacher; early online. Yavner SD et al. 2014. Twelve tips for improving the effectiveness of web-based multimedia instruction for clinical learners. Medical Teacher; early online. Dong & Goh. 2014. Twelve tips for the effective use of videos in medical education. Medical Teacher, also early online. Clearly e-learning is a hot topic:) I will however only be able to say how I plan implementation and evaluation as the middle rotation students, my target audience, have already finished their academic year and are busy with their electives. So will only be able to implement in Jan next year. I agree with Dianne that the e in e-learning is for me the difficulty; I definitely need a practical course to understand how this works beyond the 'register now' and 'download' clicks. I just do not know enough to talk any sense if it come to platforms and softwares etc. I've read that many universities have e-learning institutes or divisions who actually help with the development of innovative e-learning approaches (an interesting article is McGee et al. 2011 in Medical Teacher;33:279-285). The authors describe keys to success for the development and sustainability of medical education technology. Interestingly they do not refer to the ADDIE model, they discuss the same steps in the process of development however. A somewhat sobering article was that of Triola et al. 2012; also in Medical Teacher;34:e15-e20 where they report on two symposia on e-learning and look at the evidence that it actually works. Despite advantages, there is no evidence that CIA interventions are better than traditional teaching methods in terms of learning achieved! I think Geoff Petty is correct in his view that it is not what the technology does that makes it effective, but what the student does. That is why the ADDIE model again is very useful as it concentrates not just on the technology but on the educational principles. Either way, still much to do before Monday, so I'll say goodnight for now. Be blessed. L