Customized Virtual Learning Meeting Points

By Helena Filipe

Internet offers both learners and educators customized virtual meeting points. Today we will present software with such capability.

Drop box http://www.dropbox.com/ enables us to store our own multimedia files (photos, videos and other documents) and have them available in all devices (laptop, smartphone,…)where its app´s have been previously downloaded (offline working)

or in any computer with internet connectivity (online working).

We can store our files and have them instantly available on the move without the need of the classical pen drive avoiding its possible associated troubles such as simply forgetting it, spreading virus or losing our content for any other reason.

Documents will be securely saved in the virtual space, instantly available offline if we are working in a computer with this software or in any other device as long it has Internet connectivity. In this last case we must have a Drop Box account and once logged in, it will be as if we were working in our own computer: all our stored content is there ready to be worked on. This happens because whenever we store files using DropBox they are simultaneously saved in our computer and in Drop Box website.

Folders created to keep ophthalmic specific subjects can be shared within a group (learning community) with a common goal and same interests.

Once found a scientific article or a new surgical technique video focused on a specific ophthalmology subject and stored in a Drop Box shared folder, it will be instantly available for the whole group of people, previously invited to share that folder content.

Drop Box allows us to work together on the same projects and keeps track of what is happening concerning the evolution of those projects. This activity involves authorship at a certain extent, social tagging and collaboration falling under the umbrella of social bookmarking.

As examples of this software use we present: Ocular Surface Disease created to store scientific content related to be available among a group of colleagues sharing the same subspecialty.

Recently another shared folder was created to allocate and allow cooperation to build our monthly Portuguese Society of Ophthalmology newsletter. Since a group of three people is engaged in this task, whenever there is a change in the document it will easily tracked by the others which will optimize our work.

This software is downloadable from http://www.dropbox.com/ and a free use of a 2GB subscription can be used though it can be extended to 100GB. If we invite more “friends” to DropBox our subscription capacity can be extended. The Drop Box site offers a concise but complete explanation through a video clip of the concept at stake and how to make its best use.

Downloading Videos from YouTube: Can we? Should we?

By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga.

When looking for videos to train our residents, YouTube becomes a great source for them. The videos can be watched on line during a class or you can send the residents a link for them to comment on the video or part of it. On occasion and for different reasons, you may want to have the video or part of it on your hard drive so, is there an easy way to do this? Are we allowed to do it? Let's answer each question at a time.

Is there an easy way to download videos from YouTube?: Yes, there is. YouTubeDownloader works very well and easily converts YouTube videos into several formats. As with any free software you should be aware that some of them can install spyware in your system. I have not found this to be true with YouTubeDownloader. 

Are we allowed to download videos from YouTube?: A fast and safe answer would be: No, you are not allowed..., unless you have permission of the person that created the video. Please be aware that not always the creator (the owner of the rights) is the person who uploaded the video.

There are at least 2 ways to get permission: the first and faster is to look for the type of license the owner has assigned to the video. If it's a Creative Commons Licence, you may reuse and edit the video as far as you acknowledge the authorship to the real creator.  The other way to get permission is to write to the owner of the rights. You can read more on Creative Commons Licences clicking here. 

Evaluating computer skills

Computer skills is a competency all residents must acquire. Electronic medical records, searching for evidence in literature databases, preparing presentations, are only a few examples where they will apply these skills.

There are at least two ways in which you can evaluate their competency: The first one would be looking at the final product, eg: the completed medical record, the search results, the final PowerPoint presentations. The second one is the process. Evaluating the process is very important because sometimes you can have a good final product through an inefficient process. For evaluating the process you would need to sit beside them while they complete it. Many times finding the time to meet with your residents to do this is not easy. This is when screen capturing software can help you. 

Using screen capturing software you resident can record all the process he or she did to reach the final product. As it is recorded as a video, you can go through it fast forwarding so it may allow you to review the process in a shorter time that it would have taken if you sat beside the resident during the actual work.

There are many screen capturing software. One that you can try is Screencast-O-Matic.

Screencast-O-Matic is a cloud based software that can be used for free, for recording up to 15 minutes of continuous capture. You can see an example of how it works below

Learning is a social activity.

By Helena Filipe

Twitter is a free social network consisting of a microblog allowing users to send and receive short (140 characters, maximum) messages designated as tweets.

The concept can be visualized as a flock of birds flying in the same direction, following a common interest or purpose. This can be brought to the context of ophthalmic education.

Suppose an ophthalmic subspecialty expert posting (tweeting) an innovative idea or concept clearly grounded on solid scientific medical evidence. Imagine that this scientific foundation relies on a recent scientific publication present in PubMed and the tweet contains its link.

The explained model is what Prof. Bertil Damato proposes in his Bertil Damato@eyemelanoma : Click here to view the page

A statement solidly grounded in a scientific article identified by its link in PubMed is an elegant invitation to learn and be current with the latest content, in this case on melanoma.

The educator is graciously sharing, facilitating updated knowledge coming from an unquestionable reliable source (both the person and the supportive didactic resource) to all of those interested in the topic. Prof. Damato´s tweets main aim is at his fellow’s medical education.

Certainly this methodology can be used in other ophthalmic subspecialties and applied to different levels of learning including continuous medical education/ continuous professional development (CME/CPD).

We will be leveraging previous online educators and learners skills and collaborative CME/CPD. Learning will be time and place independent and focused on following worldwide renowned experts in each one´s own specific ophthalmic field of interest. As a blogging activity it promotes reflection and interaction.

There is good explanation about the Twitter´s general concept as there are also directions on how to create a Twitter account in clicking here

The idea is to follow key thinkers in one´s own field of expertise and/or be followed as one ophthalmic expert. Receiving and sending tweets: small, concise and complete pieces of content scientifically grounded will present a window to collaboratively build ophthalmic knowledge learning from the best.

Learning can be seriously fun!

Improving Teaching in the Clinic with tablet devices.

By Dr. Karl Golnik

Teaching in the outpatient clinic is one of the most effective ways to ensure learning
occurs. The resident is highly engaged in the process of evaluating patients and actively synthesizing information to achieve a differential diagnosis. However, it can be difficult to provide effective teaching because residents and teaching faculty tend to busy in their attempts to care for the many patients seen in one day. Thus, I always try and sit down at lunch and at the end of the day to discuss at least several
interesting patients seen throughout the course of the day. Additionally, I try and make important points throughout the day as patients are evaluated.

I find my tablet device to be a useful adjunct to my clinical teaching. I store all my clinical photographs (e.g. optic discs, MRIs) and videos (e.g. pupils, eye movements) on the tablet. As it is immediately ready, little time is spent demonstrating key findings and showing other examples of the entities encountered in clinic on any day.

Residents find it is valuable to see other examples of the same entity or photos/videos of conditions in the differential diagnosis of the clinical findings at hand. This approach could be accomplished with a laptop computer as well but the immediacy and portability of the tablet makes this an ideal technology for improving teaching and learning in the clinic.

More on posting your conferences to the web

By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga


On a previous post we showed you ways to post your presentations with audio to the web. In that post we covered "AuthorStream", a free but rather limited web based software and "Articulate" , probably today´s gold standard for developing web presentations, quizzes and interactions but that comes with a high price tag.

Today we would like to draw your attention to "Snap" by Lectora.

"Snap" allows you to convert your presentation to a Flash format so that  you can upload it for web viewing. The software allows you to insert videos, interactions and quizzes. It integrates into PowerPoint where it adds a tab at the top menu of PowerPoint.

Having  similar features to Articulate, it's price is, at this time, 10 times lower.  "Articulate" carries some fine tuning features that "Snap" doesn't, but "Snap" can be an very good option if you have budget constrictions. 

Those interested in building and sharing lectures with other residencies programs may be also interested in learning about the "Web Based Teaching" course project that we believe will be finished by the end of this year.

Use of Technology tools for teaching in the Clinic! The EMR way

 by Dr. Anthony Vipin ,L V Prasad Eye Institute

Technology is evidently becoming an integral part of our personal lives today. As medical professionals we are increasingly expected to adapt to the latest forms of delivery of healthcare, especially documentation of patient care and clinical records.

Electronic Medical Record Systems, popularly abbreviated as EMR are at various stages of implentation around the world today. While we see a more refined approach in the developed nations, the sheer numbers in the developing nations is an uphill task for implementation.

Nevertheless, the variety and the sheer numbers add rich dividends in the long run for high quality research and statistical analysis in the developing countries. We have started implementing our Home grown EMR and wanted to share with you all how we have integrated Teaching into the EMR.

The following users interact with our EMR which enables teaching at various levels
- Consultants
- Fellows
- Residents
- Optometrists

1. The structured forms in various departments are crystallized from years of expertise of the practicing Ophthalmologists. This enables teaching opportunities to all users as they understand the correct format of Clinical Evaluation for various diseases.

Structured detailed forms

2. Ability to view various protocols of disease management serves as a great tool to update one’s knowledge. It also aids in clinical decision making in certain instances.

3. We have intelligently incorporated various PDFs and Flash Tools which serve as excellent educational resource. Ex: Color Vision Charts, Classification Systems, Drawing Tools with various canvases.

Integrated PDFs

Flash Tools

4. Allowing the User to be creative in documenting figures has made it more exciting for us. Standardized Canvases and Color Coding has helped train the students in correct representation of diagrams during clinical evaluation.

5. The use of Mandatory functions while saving the form has helped the user understand the importance of taking certain History. Ex: If Diabetes Mellitus is checked in the personal history, the documentation of Evidence of Diabetic Retinopathy in retinal examination becomes mandatory.

6. The ability of Media like Photos, Videos incorporated into the EMR system adds in a rich experience to the users while counseling patients and explaining plan of management.

Images and Video

7. Prompting the user during Refraction value entry serves as an effective way to correct mistakes during power entry of spectacles. Mentioning the correct signs and axis and automatically calculating the transpositions serves as a simple way of training the users.

8. As the Institute has patients coming from different parts of the Country and the world, the ability to communicate effectively with the patient during History Taking is crucial. Our EMR incorporates the common Language sentences to enable better communication.

Currently eyeSmart is managing a range of centers from a Tertiary Center of Excellence, Secondary Centers in rural areas to Urban City Centers of L V Prasad Eye Institute, India.

The ability to refine the system further to assist the caregiver in delivering cutting edge documentation is what drives us to build better functions and health management systems.

To make Learning and Teaching Ophthalmology in the Clinic more fun and enjoyable is our Goal using Technology!

Learning anywhere: Podcasts to the rescue.

by Dr. Eduardo Mayorga

There are many situations in which you might have the feeling you are wasting your time, but at the same time you can't avoid them, such as when you're standing in a line, commuting to work by car or on public transportation, at the doctor's waiting room, at airports. There are also times where even if you do not feel you're wasting your time, as when you jog, workout or ride your bike, you might feel guilty because you have a lot of topics you need or want to update on, but still, you are using this time to exercise.

In all these situations, podcasts can help. If you are not familiar with podcasts you may want to watch the following video.

There are many programs that you can use to search for and organize your podcasts. As mentioned in the video, the one I like best is Itunes.  If you don't have it already installed in you computer, you may download it clicking here.

Open Itunes. At the top click on "Podcasts"

At the top right search box type "ophthalmology"

Then, at the left menu, click on "Podcasts" again

You will be presented with a number of podcasts on ophthalmology.

If you click on the number of the podcast you will start listening to it. If you click on the third column,  "Podcast", you will be taken to the page of the podcast's author.

One of my favorites is Dr. Joshua Young's "As seen from here". Joshua is a great interviewer. He makes the practical questions you would like to do.

When you get to the author's page, on the left, you will get the opportunity to subscribe to the author's podcasts. 

If you do so, the most recent podcast will download and from then on, every time a new podcast is published, it will download to you computer. From there you will be able to copy it to any mobile device. Mobile devices with internet connection will many times allow you to download podcasts directly to your device.

If you know of any good ophthalmology podcasts, please use the comment form to let us know about them.   

Finding images to enhance your presentations

by Dr. Eduardo Mayorga



The brain has 2 kinds of memory: a long term memory where what we know is stored and a short term memory.

When we learn, information enters through visual and phonetic areas into the working area where it´s processed, related to previous knowledge and finally stored to long term memory.

There is a continuos enconding and retrival proccess going on all time, between working memory and long term memory.

Working memory has a very small capacity, it can only hold from 5 to 9 pieces of information at a time.

Working memory has also 2 substorage areas, one for visual information amd one for phonetic information. One way to strech working memory is to use both storage areas.

The practical application of this theory is that when making presentations you should use visuals (images, animations, videos) to facilitate the understanding, processing and final storage of the facts or concepts you want to transmit to the audience.

Most of us use PowerPoint to present and usually add text to the slides. Eventhough, limited short bulleted content can be of some help to learning, text goes into the memory using the phonetic channel so soon your speech and text on the slide overload the phonetic channel, but your visual channel is not fully used.

Every time we finish preparing a slide we should ask to ourselves at least 2 questions:

1) Which words in the text could be replaced or enhanced by a image.

2) What part of what I will be saying, can be enhanced with an image.

These questions will probably bring to your mind many images. So: How can we get the images we need?

Today it´s very easy to find images on the web using Google. The problem is we are usually not allowed to use these images without the permission of the author.

Following is a list of places where you can get images. Some free and some paid. (Many very inexpensive)
This list was originally posted by David Anderson at the "E-learning Heroes" blog.

Most popular stock image sites

• Clipart.com
• Fotolia
• istockphoto
• Microsoft Office Online
• Photos.com
• Shutterstock
• Thinkstock

Free stock image sites:

• 4FreePhotos
• Caricature King
• Dreamstime
• Every Stock Photo
• Flickr Commons
• Free Digital Photos
• Free Historical Stock Photos
• Free Photos Bank
• Free Vector
• FreeFoto
• FreeRange
• Image Base
• Imageafter
• Kavewall.com
• Nations Illustrated
• Openphoto
• Photogen
• Picapp
• Pixel Perfect Digital
• Pixmac
• Public Domain Pictures.net
• Public-Domain Photos.com
• stock.xchng
• Stockvault
• Toasto
• Turbo Photo
• Unprofound
• Vector Art
• Wikimedia Commons

Pay-per-image, bundle or subscription:

• 123RF
• Animation Factory
• Big Stock Photo
• Clipart.com
• crestock.com
• Cutcaster
• eLearning Art
• Fotolia
• Depositphotos
• fotosearch
• Getty Images
• Graphic River
• iClipArt
• istockphoto
• Kavewall.com
• Morguefile
• Narrator Files
• Photos.com
• Pixmac
• Presenter Media
• shutterstock
• Thinkstock
• TrellisCreative
• Turbo Photo
• Vector Art