Continuing discussions outside the classroom

By Eduardo Mayorga

Many times, after a lecture and some discussion, time ends while still opportunity for discussion exists.
This discussion can be taken online using forums that usually are part of a learning management system.
Because not every residency program has a learning management system in place it is useful to know you can easily set up an online discussion using  "Google Moderator".

"Moderator" allows you to setup forums (called "series" ), where those you invite may post ideas, answers to the ideas and vote for the best ideas.

You may read more on how to use this tool clicking here. 

Publishing Documents as Magazines

By Dr. Helena Felipe

Issuu, http://issuu.com/ is a digital publishing platform that enables users to upload their authoring files featured as PDF and then have them published online ready to be “manipulated” as a journal.

We can have them all propped up in a personal shelf and share them with our own learning community.

We just have to create an account and once logged in it will be possible to upload as many files as we wish for free using the basic account features which are pretty much enough to accomplish what we have been describing.

When uploading documents we will be invited to provide their description and to define our target audience.

The basic account brings extra advertisements with it, usually related to our published topic and only allows printed material over payment.

After selecting the uploaded publication from the shelf we can then open it and view it interactive, page by page or selecting the specific pages in the timeline bellow.

http://issuu.com/hpriorfilipe/docs/lc_rgp#download

Publications can be downloaded, printed and shared using direct e-mails or/and social networks as facebook and twitter. There is already an app to use this tool with smartphones, making our documents ready to read on the go.

Learning by Playing

By Helena Filipe

Quizlet http://quizlet.com/ is a free learning tool allowing users to learn from sets of flash cards presenting a broad range of subjects including ophthalmology.

Learning content is organized in a set of thematic cards displaying as a slide show. Educators and learners can both benefit from creating their own set of cards on their topic of interest and also search in the site´s data base for a set containing their preferred studying subject.

An account should be created and by clicking on the home page button “ Create Set” you achieve the former and by clicking on the button “Find Sets” you got on to the latter. An excellent example of an already published set is “Ophthalmology Melanoma Flash Cards” set http://quizlet.com/8905805/uveal_melanoma-flash-cards/ elegantely created by Prof. Bertil Damato.

Content is built according to the rationale involving very clear definitions for specific questions (terms). Learning facts, processes and also concepts can be facilitated using smart an accurate flash cards content.

This free tool based on the Web allows interactive learning as a single learner as well as in a group of learners sharing similar goals. Work can be scalable also by sharing teaching/learning material in social networks as Face book and Twitter.

Get the big picture with Prezi

By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga

PowerPoint is the most popular presentation tool used for teaching. It is usually used for linear presentations. Sometimes you may need to be able to show the big picture of a project, process, concept or other complex ideas and at the same time go into smaller detail while clearly showing it's relation to the whole and it's other parts. PowerPoint is not very good for this.
Prezi can be a better tool for developing these kind of presentations. With it you can:

• Zoom in, out and around the prezi canvas to visualize your ideas.
• Import PowerPoint slides, images, videos, YouTube videos, PDFs, etc.
• Present online or download and show your prezi offline.
• Collaborate in real-time, across the room or across time zones.

See what Prezi can do clicking here

Use with caution. You audience may end up dizzy.  :-)

Keep track of what you should read. Keep it in your “Pocket”

By Dr. Rafsan Halim

The internet has aided the ease in which one can obtain information. These days, the harder thing is to have enough time to read all the latest articles & information that we are constantly bombarded with. How many times have you browsed websites and thought “that sounds interesting, I’ll come back and read it later” only to have forgotten the article or not be able to find it again?

This is where a nifty service called “Pocket” come in. Its function is exactly what its former name implies being “Read it Later”. Pocket essentially creates a reading list of articles and web pages for you to read at your leisure. It requires a valid email address and a free registration on the website at http://www.getpocket.com.

After signing up, you can register your email address with the service. This allows you to send the URL of any webpage to add@getpocket.com. The service then recognises that the email is from your linked address and adds it to your reading list. There is also a host of plug-ins available for various browsers that adds a “add to Pocket” button to the menu. After you set this up, it’s as easy as finding an interesting article and hitting the button.

Once you have saved an article or webpage to Pocket, you can view it whenever you login. You are presented with a neatly designed tile of all the saved pages. Clicking on the tiles will launch into a nicely formatted view of the article, free of any distracting ads or images. If you need to see the original article, you can always click the “view original” button. After you are done reading the article, you can check it off your list and Pocket will still keep the reference in its archive if you need to return to it later.

Neatly designed interface with “tiles” of your articles

Distraction free “reading” view

Competing services do exist and it is possible to assemble similar functionality with synchronised bookmarks etc, but the simple interface and easy-to-use nature of Pocket makes it an unobtrusive addition to every professional's workflow. The service also supports mobile operating systems with well designed apps for both iOS and Android with the mobile version of their website compatible with all other smartphones. Now it’s easier than ever to keep your research in your Pocket.

More on sharing presentations online

By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga

On past posts we talked about software that would help you setup your lectures online. We covered free web-based software such as "AuthorStream" and computer based such as "Articulate Presenter" and "Snap" by Lectora.

The last 2, even though more powerful than the first require you have a website to post your lectures and are not free.

Today we want to draw your attention to "Brainshark" a powerful web-based software that allows you to upload your PowerPoint presentations, add audio to them, edit online, customize the table of contents and much more.

When building courses with other team members "Brainshark" has the advantage that it immediately allows you to share your presentation with the group, get feedback and make changes on the fly without having to download and upload your presentation every time. Want to add a slide or update a previous presentation: no problem! you do it all online.

Brainshark brings also some other paid features.

Take a look at the following video to learn more about Brainshark

Have everybody interacting at lectures

By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga

(I have no financial interest in any of the products mentioned below)

In past blogs we talked about making face-to-face lectures interactive with answering response systems. We also talked about the interactivity that webinar software allows when giving online lectures.

Residents training takes place every day, all over the world. A lot of teacher effort is used to teach small groups of residents in their own hospitals. Today technology allows to share face-to face teaching with online attendants and make them interact. It is possible to blend both and have attendants in the room interact with online attendants, sharing responses from both groups on screen. 

We have tried and tested different  webinar software such as GoToWebinar, Blackboard, Webex and Adobe Connect. All of them have in common excellent features and may fit different needs. At this time the one we are using most is  Adobe Connect and the description below refers to it.

In the screenshot that follows you can see how attendants in the room and online can see on the screen the results of the responses from residents in the room (top right) and residents connected online (bottom right)

Attendants in the room require an answering system such as "Turning Point", unless they have mobile devices to answer through the webinar software. When using Adobe Connect you will need the computer holding the answering system to be also promoted as "Host". If you would like more detail on how to set this up you may contact us at educators@icoph.org 

Editing videos with the YouTube editor

By Dr. Eduardo Mayorga
Videos are an excellent tool for teaching and learning. In one of our past posts we described how our residents use video segments of their own surgeries to reflect on them and share them with their fellow residents.
Usually resident surgery may take a long time and may require a lot of editing to keep the desired segments.
Video editing software can be expensive and difficult to use. What I like to use is the combination of 2 free software products. "Machete" and "YouTube Video Editor".

I usually use "Machete" for a first trimming of the video segments (YouTube does not allow uploading more than 15 minutes footage) and then finish the fine editing with "YouTube Video Editor". If wanted, you could do all the editing with "Machete". "Machete" has a paid version for less than 20 dollars that adds some more features to it. You can find instructions on how to use "Machete" clicking here

Regarding how to use the "YouTube Video Editor" you can go to the "Help" page clicking here and also watch the video tutorial below.

Foxit Reader – The easy companion to manage PDF Documents

Dr. Anthony Vipin

Portable Document Format or PDF is a very popular open standard of document exchange used today. It was created by Adobe in 1993. Many a time we have to work between PDF documents and other platforms such as Microsoft Word and Excel. There are quite a number of PDF readers available on the Internet today. I have decided to share the Foxit PDF reader with you all to list the handiest features for use in JOURNAL CLUB Powerpoint Presentations. The reason for the review is that most of the best functions are available in the FREE version as well.

Foxit Reader

FREE for Download
Current Version: 5.02
Download Size – 12 MB, Installation Size – 52 MB
Operating Systems
* Microsoft Windows® XP
* Windows Vista®
* Windows 7

Recommended Minimum Hardware for Better Performance
* 1.3 GHz or faster processor.
* 64 MB RAM (Recommended: 128 MB RAM or greater).
* 800x600 screen resolution.

Features

Viewing PDF Files

- There are 3 different ways for you to read PDF files:
Multi-tab browsing - enables you to open multiple files in a single instance
Single document interface mode - enables you to open multiple instances of Foxit Reader
Multiple document interface mode - sets multiple documents under a single parent window

- At the start of the Application the History is conveniently displayed to the bottom left for fast access of recent documents.

- Add Image and Add Video are convenient functions to add Media to an existing PDF document.

Comments Tool

There are various tools to use to enhance our presentations. The colors for the following tools including the opacity level can be changed by clicking the color icons. The following functions are found in the Comments Drop Down.

- Highlight Text Tool

This helps to highlight various texts in the document. The text can be selected and the desired color chosen.

- Underline Tool

This tool helps to Underline the Text in various colors.

- Strike out tool

This tool enable us to strikeout the text in a chosen color in the PDF document.

- Squiggly Tool

This tool enables us to add a Squiggly line below the text in chose colors for spelling errors.

Apart from the above functions there are a range of other interesting tools to comment on the PDF document. Functions like Drawing, Measuring Distances, Areas and Perimeters, Typerwriter to fill forms, Callout boxes, Textboxes enable us to enhance the PDF during a Study Analysis for a Journal Club.

The reader also supports basic skins and allows the user to customize their shortcut keys as well for faster, more efficient work. Files can also be pinned on a Page.

I have only tried to highlight the extra newer functions that are available on this Free Version. I have also added below a sample PPT slide I use in my Journal Club presentations. Happy Foxit reading!

FREE Download available at - http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/

The Author has no financial interest in the product described in this article.

Taking handwritten notes on your tablet.

Taking notes at lectures is one way we will be able to bring back ideas and concepts to enhance our medical practice. Using traditional pen and paper does not allow you to keep all your notes with you at all times.

Taking handwritten notes with an electronic device is as easy as using paper and pen, but allows you to keep your notes always with you and share them through email.

On today's post I will comment on devices that use Android as their operating system. On my next post I will comment on software that can be used on an Ipad.

Even though the following software is better suited for tablets, it can also be used on Android phones.

Genial Writing allows you to share memos with friends through email, other messages and facebook. You can customize your pen width and color and decide if you want to use portrait or landscape orientation. You can copy and paste between notes as well. There are 12 kinds of notebooks, you shake your phone to delete something and lastly you can insert pictures from your phone. You can do OK with the free version but the inexpensive paid version adds some features.

Bellow you can  see a short demo. In the demo, a cursor is used for writing, but on you tablet or smartphone you can use your finger or a rubber pointed pen.