Educating the 'iGeneration'
The University of Birmingham's School of Dentistry has developed an undergraduate e-curriculum that embraces modern technology and meets the multimedia learning needs of its students. In 2007, the School’s e-course was announced winner in the outstanding ICT initiative category, sponsored by JISC, at the Times Higher Education Supplement Awards held in London.
The bespoke e-course platform allows students to create their own content online and gives staff a way of delivering interactive learning and teaching materials such as podcasts and video content. Another feature is the component-free virtual microscope which allows students to view slides remotely. The virtual microscope recognises items on a slide, and guides students to zoom in on areas of interest. The system will also allow staff to create virtual patients with a variety of dental conditions to simulate the experience of applying knowledge in the clinic.
Giles Perryer who leads the e-course team said: “We have a diverse student body, who are based away from the university’s main campus and also spend a significant period of time in clinics. This makes interactive learning particularly important to make sure we give students a high quality experience. This open environment also encourages a stronger sense of being part of a student community even when our students aren’t in the school.”
Professor Damien Walmsley, of the University of Birmingham's Dental School, said: "I'm delighted our work has been recognised at the highest level. This initiative was student-driven: we embraced new technologies to provide an interactive style of communication, which has really captured the interest of both students and staff."
Dental Learning Hub editorial director, Marita Kritzinger, recently interviewed Giles Perryer, Deborah White, Damien Walmsley and Upen Patel about approach and outcomes. Listen to the interview on the following podcast
Send your comments and questions to editorial@dental-learninghub.com
For more information on the Birmingham School of Dentistry e-course, visit here
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The American Dental Association (ADA) has launched a website dedicated to evidenced-based dentistry (EBD) which allows easy and quick access to a database of systematic reviews of oral health clinical information from one centralized location. Supported by a grant from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (grant number G08 LM008956), the site also features critical summaries of systematic reviews that assess information within systematic reviews in a concise format so that health care workers can incorporate scientific evidence in clinical decision making.
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The emerging evidence-base on questions related to Minimum Intervention (MI) in dentistry is available online in the MI Compendium, in English, Spanish and Chinese. The MI Compendium has been developed as a comprehensive systematic literature review and includes the results of meta-analyses to topics such as the caries preventive effect of glass ionomer cement as fissure sealants in comparison to resin-based materials and caries incidence on teeth restored with glass ionomers as compared to teeth restored with amalgam.
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Having experienced the devastating effects of oral cancer firsthand, professional storyteller, Eva Grayzel has become an advocate for oral cancer awareness. Her campaign, coined "The Sextet Screening: Six Steps to a Thorough Oral Cancer Screening," focuses on early detection and screening and has received a prestigious award from the American Academy of Oral Medicine.
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MetLife announced the addition of four new on-line Quality Resource Guides to its self-study dental Quality Initiatives Programme. MetLife’s continuing education programme is approved for fulfilling licensing requirements, where applicable, by the American Dental Association (ADA) under its Continuing Education Recognition Programme and by the Academy of General Dentistry.
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Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, one of Britain’s leading medical schools uses Turning Technologies interactive assessment tool, TurningPoint, to improve learning outcomes of its medical students.
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Nearly three years ago, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry launched an interactive learning initiative, in partnership with Apple, Inc. The venture was one of the first of its kind with any professional school in the USA and meant that dental students had access to education-related content virtually anywhere and any time.
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When Dr Marty Jablow, a dentist from Woodbridge, New Jersey, started a blog, its main purpose was to draw attention to his lecture group, Dental Technology Solutions. Since then, it has morphed into a general dental technology and information blog that provides dentists with interesting and informative articles. Dental Learning Hub asked Dr Jablow about how he sees the relationship between modern technology and dentistry.
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The University of Birmingham's School of Dentistry has developed an undergraduate e-curriculum that embraces modern technology and meets the multimedia learning needs of its students.
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The Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies (LVI) has partnered with Teresis Media Management Inc., for its in-house video production facilities. Known as Teresis Online, the digital video workflow solution will help LVI to streamline and more efficiently manage its video production processes.
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