Medical schools are increasingly using computers and the Internet to deliver educational material to students. Not only can this technology be used to deliver traditional educational material (lectures, video, and audio), but also computers can be used in an interactive way to both teach and assess students. We have found (not unlike many other colleges) the technology of the Internet can be great, but the design and developmental cycle time for Internet-ready programs is very time consuming, costly, and at times overwhelming. Like many other medical schools, The University of Iowa College of Medicine curriculum is transitioning some of its content and teaching methods to the Internet.

To help overcome some the cost and time issues, we needed a method to develop and deploy instructional and/or assessment programs quickly and effectively. Consequently several years ago the University of Iowa College of Medicine began development on a software system, "WebWare-AnyWare". This software is now in place and takes an integrated database driven approach to developing and deploying materials. The heart of the system is a database program that allows faculty to create, store, and manage information in order to develop exams, surveys and evaluations, simulations, and lessons. Electronic exams can be delivered through the Internet and/or LAN connections for increased security and reliability. The electronic instructional component of WebWare-AnyWare enables educators to develop and/or import content from lecture notes, clinical vignettes, medical images, video clips, sound bytes, etc. into a presentation/instructional format that can be re-purposed for student use, or used as the lecture itself. The simulation component of WebWare-AnyWare simulates a patient encounter while allowing the student to interview and examine the patient, interpret data, formulate and revise competing hypotheses, diagnose and prescribe accurate therapy. A student’s diagnostic reasoning skills can be evaluated and effective feedback is generated for remedial learning.

We would like to demonstrate the effectiveness of WebWare-AnyWare through a group presentation.

BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION:

The benefits of this demonstration include 1) Understanding the value of database driven technologies; 2) Learning about technologies that can benefit a medical curriculum in terms of assessment; 3) Learning how to develop instructional programs that can produce results through formative and summative evaluations.

Scott Elliott
The University of Iowa
College of Medicine
OCRME
1-204 MEB
Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone: 319-335-8918
Fax: 319-335-98904
Email: scott-elliott@uiowa.edu
Website: http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/ocrme/curriculum/cur_computers.html

CO-AUTHORS:
Joel Gordon, MD
Martin Sanchez
The University of Iowa
College of Medicine
OCRME
1-204 MEB
Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone: 319-356-3972
319-335-8918
Fax: 319-335-8904
Email: joel-gordon@uiowa.edu