- @damianrice Not sure what you mean đ #
- @EranEyal no problem, talk sounds interesting, u know the URL? Would like to attend if possible #
- @gavdavis Thanks man, now we just have to get funding so that everyone can go đ #
- 8 out of 9 abstracts submitted from UWC physio dept accepted for presentation at #WCPT congress. I’m just saying… #
- Just found out my abstract was accepted for the #WCPT congress in Amsterdam in June http://bit.ly/fLzPms. Yay me! #
- RT @daveduarte: RT @huddlemind: Blog post: “Your Tweets, Legalized”: http://bit.ly/gDvtVq #creativecommons /thanks @MaxKaizen @paulscott56 #
- RT @eraneyal will be doing a TED talk @ TEDx Cape Town 26 March. A study on how our Internet Social anthropology mimics that of our species #
- @mrgunn good point, will add a line to my bio mentioning the CC license. Not sure how else, unless u add to individual tweets? #
- @sbestbier thanks man, much appreciated #
- I have just licensed my tweet stream! Would you like to do the same? @ccsa http://tinyurl.com/4btb55f #
- RT @paulscott56: @justinspratt I would like to invite you to license your tweets http://tinyurl.com/4nyw9hq <-Very cool, thanks #
- @taravs84 Got back from writing retreat late yesterday afternoon. Back at work now. Will reply to email re. camping asap. #
- @taravs84 You have mad chair building skills đ #
- What is it with researchers and peer review? http://ow.ly/1s0ebT #
- Social presence supports cognitive presence http://ow.ly/1s0ebv. Saw evidence of this in a wiki-based assignment I ran last year #
- A Future Without Personal History http://ow.ly/1s0e8u. Makes a good point re. self-archiving of personal digital communication #
- World’s Med Students Declare for Open Access http://ow.ly/1s0e7M. Will someone tell management at SASP, cause they’re not listening to me #
- Why Using 2 or 3 Simple Words May Be the Best Password Protection of All http://ow.ly/1s0e7p. Interesting #
- How to Fund Open Educational Resources: Department of Education or Kickstarter? http://ow.ly/1s0e6X #
- PHD comic: ‘Relationship status’ http://bit.ly/fg3kYF #
Tag: cape town
- Mugtug | Browser Based Image Editing and Photo Sharing http://bit.ly/ca7pXs #
- @johncarneyau Only now our tools allow us to do far more creative things than pen and paper did in the past #
- @johncarneyau Then there’s not much difference betw a traditional teacher and a Steiner teacher? Teachers r teachers, technologies r tools #
- @johncarneyau Not at all, there’s nothing in their philosophy negating the idea of using technology to explore creative learning experiences #
- “Technology won’t replace teachers, but teachers who use technology in the classroom will replace those who don’t” – Higham (2007) #
- Teaching and learning in social and technological networks – presentation by George Siemens http://bit.ly/cVIEQg #
- Connectivist Learning and the Personal Learning Environment – presentation by Downes http://bit.ly/b5VKnK #
- Trends In Personal Learning (audio and slides) – Stephen Downes http://bit.ly/cvsBsL #
- “To ‘teach’ is to model and demonstrate. To ‘learn’ is to practice and reflect. Both imply participation in…an authentic CoP” – Downes #
- On 7th grader #PLE video (http://bit.ly/9196KL) – amazing work, but don’t forget that the ToS mean she doesn’t own it & also can’t export it #
- @jeffjarvis If you find yourself in Cape Town, give me a shout (I’m a huge TWiT and TWiG fan) #
- @Czernie How bizarre, I just read that exact quote (http://bit.ly/9Ylxvb, slide no. 7) #
- An Important Reminder about Feedback. Not only formal feedback is useful http://tinyurl.com/2udaokl #
- Star Trek inspirational poster (humour) http://bit.ly/csbofi #
- RT @allankent: @patrickkayton was killer finally getting to play with #cognician -> Looking forward to seeing what you build #
- How Augmented Reality Helps Doctors Save Lives http://tinyurl.com/39ptoge #
- @salfordgareth Can’t imagine not using GReader. Sync it to my phone and other offline readers all the time. Great 4 catching up and sharing #
- Google Releases CloudCourse, an Open Source Learning Platform http://bit.ly/9rEB2y #
- Googleâs âLearning platformâ clarified | John McLear’s School Technology http://bit.ly/c3iFqa #
- BusinessDay – Software to help critical thinking http://bit.ly/aV8qYT #
- Cognician – The original thinking guide http://bit.ly/9i0NqT #
- @cristinacost #AMEE (http://goo.gl/TBYV) is my priority for 2011, but will do everything I can to get to SN & Learning http://goo.gl/SYS1 #
- @doug_holton We’re enjoying #WPMU with #Buddypress finding it does everything we need it to & plugin ecosystem growing all the time #
- @cristinacost @gsiemens Social networks and learning in 2011? Would love to play with… #
- elearnspace âș Einztein – company based on providing value to the OER of universities http://bit.ly/cUHgk1 #
- apt-get wife (geek humour) http://bit.ly/9YmyKG #
- @courosa Hi, I’m from Cape Town and I use Twitter to share things with people like you đ #
- @mediendidaktik I use to keep my work, home and mobile computers in sync. I use it all the time and have never had any problems with it #
- @wesleylynch I was telling you that 6 months ago đ #
- @sbestbier Just finished “predictably irrational” by D Ariely where he says that @ some point further increases actually reduce productivity #
- @jpbosman I like the sound of it, will follow it up & let you know…things are hectic right now though #
Today was the first day of the first SAFRI residential session in Cape Town, where SAFRI is the Southern Africa FAIMER Regional Institute, and FAIMER is the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research.
We spent today working through a few activities that served as an introduction, both to the programme and to each other. It’s a nice, small group of health educators from several African countries, with diverse professional backgrounds. We also worked on group dynamics and did some interesting tasks around gaining insight into ourselves in terms of our MBTI results.
While it was a great start to the next week or so, I was surprised when I was asked to put my laptop away while taking notes during a presentation. I’m not sure how using a laptop will impede the advancement of medical education? I’m sure the presenter had concerns about me checking email or Facebook or something else that would, heaven forbid, impede my learning, but is a blanket ban the way to go?
Yes, I could make notes in the comprehensive handouts we received, and yes, I didn’t need my computer for a lot of the activities. But, I now have a set of notes that can’t be searched, can’t be modified, can’t be shared, and will never be linked to or from. Some people don’t understand that a laptop is the new pen and paper…would he have asked people to put down their pens in case they were drawing pictures? People need to move beyond this idea that computers and the internet are a source of distraction and accept that they are how we situate ourselves in the world.
- @ryantracey Agreed. The process, rather than the certificate, should be emphasised #
- RT @wesleylynch: Video comparing iphone and nexus – http://ow.ly/17iBb. Can’t imagine how the iPhone will survive, Android is already better #
- RT @psychemedia: Are Higher Degrees a waste of time for most people? http://bit.ly/buKpOW. IT professionals are hardly “most people” #
- University finds free online classes don’t hurt enrollment http://bit.ly/9zztuR #
- Mobile Learning Principles – interesting, but unrealistic in a developing country. “Mobile” does not = smartphone http://bit.ly/97WUu4 #
- Presenting while people are twittering, an increasingly common backchannel. Be aware of it and use it if possible http://bit.ly/bymSUE #
- Presentation Zen: The “Lessig Method” of presentation. Great resource on improving your presentation skills http://bit.ly/aTykYr #
- About âPâ! « Plearn Blog. This post raises some interesting questions about the challenges of using PLEs http://bit.ly/9cDqd6 #
- Crazy Goats. I don’t usually share this sort of thing, but this pretty amazing http://bit.ly/9Hg32e #
- Learning technologies in engineering education. For anyone interested in integrating “distance” with “practical” http://bit.ly/a9lclC #
- Think âNetwork Structureâ not âNetworkingâ. I always thought “networking” was too haphazard to bother with http://bit.ly/acuw1g #
- Clifton beach earlier today. I think I like it here http://twitgoo.com/dv85w #
- @davidworth Hi David, thanks for the blog plug #
- @sharingnicely: go around institutional pushback when policy is unfriendly to OER #OCW #
- @dkeats: free content enables students to use scarce financial resources to acquire tech instead, which grants access to vastly more content #
- Butcher: the curricular framework must drive development of OER – content comes after learning #OCW #
- Neil Butcher from OERAfrica: OER can’t work without institutional support #OCW #
- Why is copyright in OER even an issue? Copyright applies equally to OER and non-OER #OCW #
- If you think of a degree as a learning experience, rather than a certificate, formal accreditation is less important. See P2PU #OCW #
- Is there a difference between OER and #OCW I’m wary of the emphasis on content as a means of changing teaching practice #
- @dkeats Improvement in quality is always important, isn’t it? No-one is aiming for mediocrity #
- OCW workshop at UWC today, OCW board present incl. MIT OCW, should be a good day, quite proud its happening here #
- RT @cristinacost: RT @gconole: Sarah Knight on JISC elearning prog including excellent eff. practice pubs http://bit.ly/c1wVF6 #
- RT @c4lpt: MicroECoP – Uisng microblogging to enhance communication within Communities of Practice http://bit.ly/9ofx3O #microecop #
- Making the Pop Quiz More Positive. I like the change of mindset that the post suggests, pop quizzes aren’t punishment http://bit.ly/d5IiMV #
- @cristinacost Looks good, you’re further along with your project than I am with mine, I might have to come to you for advice đ #
- Problem-Based Learning: A Quick Review « Teaching Professor. Nice, short summary of why PBL is a Good Thing http://bit.ly/cOAQeY #
- @cristinacost What’s your interest in Buddypress? I recently set up WPMU/BP platform for physio dept social network to explore CoP #
- Microblogging to enhance communication within communities of practice http://bit.ly/a0saa4 #microecop #
- Thereâs a war goinâ on here, donchaknow? Retro copyright posters at EdTechPost http://bit.ly/aBsVwu #
- Post by Howard Rheingold on crap detection on the internet should be required reading for everyone online http://bit.ly/dsGtha #
- Scroll down for the 5 C’s of Engagement on Postrank’s “What it is” page. Is it useful for building social presence? http://bit.ly/983dcL #
- Great post on 3 strategies to manage information: Aggregate, Filter and Connect. The last one is hard (for me anyway) http://bit.ly/diItNr #
- Great post on the importance of not only filtering information, but using it meaningfully http://bit.ly/bk21Ol #
- Siemens’ post on moving from educational reform within the system, to a “no boundaries” approach http://bit.ly/bMnKXu #
- Web 3.0 and Its Relevance for Instruction – interesting article on how a next generation web could be used in education http://bit.ly/axYyEr #
- Freedom helps kids learn more « Education Soon http://bit.ly/bBbGvB #
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The 2009 SASP congress has come and gone. I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by Discovery Health, so I could attend all 3 days and managed to see most of the presentations that caught my attention. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the lack of innovation in the field (using the programme as a guide…not exactly scientific). Maybe I was just missing it, but it didn’t seem as if there was anything really ground-breaking. Having said that, most of it was pretty interesting.
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SAAHE conference 2009
I’ve noticed that I’m getting a few hits from search engines with people searching for “SAAHE”, so I can only assume that with the conference coming up in a few months time, interest is on the rise. The SAAHE conference is an annual meeting of the South African Association of Health Educationalists in Cape Town (I always thought “Educators” would be better, but who am I to judge).
I’m busy putting together an abstract for a presentation that I’d like to give at the conference, but can’t decide what I want to talk about. In the physiotherapy department at my university, we’re using blogs for reflective practice in the ethics module that I teach, wikis for collaborative group assignments in applied physiotherapy, Google Docs for collaborative authoring and peer review both within the physiotherapy department and in the faculty journal, Twitter and Google Docs with undergraduate research groups and finally, a comparison of the use of social media in education among South African and American undergraduate physiotherapy students.
With all of that on the table, it’s difficult to choose a favourite. Maybe “An overview of the use of social media for education in a South African physiotherapy department”? That way I get to talk about them all đ
Here’s a link to the conference site:
http://www.saahe.org.za/
I attended a lecture a few days ago by Karen Grimmer-Somers, a professor at the University of South Australia and Director of the Centre for Allied Health Evidence (CAHE). An adjunct professor at the University of Stellenbosch, she visits Cape Town every year or so and this year we were fortunate enough to have her visit our physiotherapy department. She gave a great talk about the emerging use of clinical guidelines in healthcare, as well as the standards around their development and discussed why we should be looking to these guidelines in our practice.
Traditionally, clinical guidelines have been viewed with suspicion by anyone interested in working from the evidence base, as “guidelines” were often little more than one individual’s personal opinion. Over the past 5 years however, the approach to producing clinical guidelines has radically changed, with vast amounts of time and resources being poured into their development.
Nowadays, a clinical guideline focuses on the current understanding of a particular condition and makes use of a diverse range of academic literature to establish an approach to best practices, based on the outcomes of a large number of the studies available. They also inform the reader what level of evidence has been used to establish “best practice”, from systematic reviews of the literature (Level A) to expert clinical opinion (Level D). This allows the clinician to make up their own mind about how solid is the foundation upon which the guideline is built and how much weight to allocate it.
Here are a few links to some of the organisations responsible for developing guidelines (in no particular order). Since different organisations are tasked with developing different guidelines, you might have to look around until you find what you’re looking for. You should also bear in mind that not only are new guidelines being developed all the time but old ones are typically reviewed every 2-3 years, so you need to make sure you have the latest version.
- NGC (National Guideline Clearinghouse)
- New Zealand Guidelines Group
- NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) guidelines
- Open Clinical Practice Guidelines
- Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines publications
- SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network)
- OpenClinical (Clinical guideline applications for handheld devices)
And an article looking at both sides of the use of clinical guidelines:
With the international movement in healthcare towards evidence-based practice, it seems logical to make use of any tools available that would assist us in this regard.