November 24, 2009
Health IT Buzz Blog
National Coordinator for Health IT, Dr. David Blumenthal, launched Health IT Buzz, a new blog from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) that will allow readers to learn more about health information technology and provide a forum for engagement.
The purpose of the blog is to share ideas about how to use health IT and exchange electronic health information to improve outcomes and reduce costs in our health care system. The recent, unprecedented commitment of our nation to support the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) has accelerated the pace of conversation. This weblog is to facilitate that conversation.
According to the annoncement, the goal is to foster meaningful and constructive discussion. The guiding principles of the blog are:
* We will provide unique, individual perspectives on what’s going on at ONC
* We will post comments, except for spam and remarks that are off-topic, denigrating or offensive*
* We will reply to comments promptly, when appropriate*
* We will be respectful of your privacy*
* We will be respectful when disagreeing with others’ opinions
The link to the Health IT Buzz blog is:
http://healthit.hhs.gov/blog/onc
November 19, 2009
Interactive Webcasting For E-learning
An original paper in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) demonstrates the use of a hybrid e-learning solution to host a postgraduate course in eHealth rather than using more traditional asynchronous e-learning methods. Sixteen students from six countries were recruited to participate in this live weekly webcast that met weekly for 2.5 hours for 10 weeks.
The technology consisted of an online webcast with a presenter-controlled talking head or copy of the presenter’s computer screen showing slides as well as a live student chat room for use during class and during breakout groups. Handouts were made available prior to sessions and recordings after sessions. These were posted as blogs on the course website.
The features of the online course included:
-Webcast audience is online only
-Live quality video showing talking head of presenter
-Live slide or presentation display
-List of people participating can be seen by presenter and participants
-Photo of participants can be seen by other participants
-Participants can comment in real time by typing in chat room (text chat)
-Participants can be divided into breakout rooms for discussion
-Recording of talking head, PowerPoint presentation, and participant discussion
The eHealth course content included presentations and discussions of various forms of e-learning for patients and professionals, patients and computer use, patient access to medical records, research methods in eHealth, geographic information systems, and telehealth. The sessions were recorded including presentations(video and slides) and student interaction as text. Evaluations were sent via email to query participants on their assessment of this form of learning.
Sessions were described as generally very interactive, with most students participating actively in breakout or full-class discussions. "In a typical 2.5-hour session, students posted about 50 messages each." The authors concluded that "this model of synchronous e-learning based on interactive live webcasting was a successful method of delivering an international postgraduate module. Students found it engaging over a 10-week course." The study suggested that "synchronous methods such as interactive webcasting are a much easier transition for lecturers used to face-to-face teaching than are asynchronous methods, they should be considered as part of the blend of e-learning methods."
J Med Internet Res 2009;11(4):e46 (full text)
November 12, 2009
Virtual Reality Game To Treat Victims of Bullying
Researchers from the University of Warwick, UK examined the effects of an anti-bullying virtual learning intervention called FearNot! The study recruited 1,129 children aged between eight and nine from 27 primary schools across the UK and Germany. The children were grouped into intervention and control groups. The intervention group took part in three sessions, interacting individually with the FearNot! software. Each session lasted around 30 minutes over a three-week period. The children were assessed on self-report measures of victimization before and after the intervention.
In the FearNot!(Fun with Empathic Agents to achieve Novel Outcomes in Teaching) software "children were introduced to a virtual school populated by 3D animated pupils who assumed the roles that children take while bullying occurs (i.e., victims, bullies, bystanders) to improvise real-life bullying incidents in a series of episodes that comprised a whole scenario, separate for each gender. The 3D agents (pupils) in this virtual school have artificial intelligence that enables them to learn from the victimization situations they experience and adjust their self-efficacy beliefs in response to these as they start to develop successful coping strategies in the course of the episodes."
The study found that this is the first controlled trial to show that a virtual learning intervention that encouraged children to explore effective strategies against bullying can reduce victimization, especially among children who are already experiencing repeated aggressive victimization. This novel approach is described as "safe, engaging, and offers a low-cost and time-efficient way of coaching children for a range of different situations not easily controllable in the real world."
The authors point out however, "that for virtual learning interventions to be effective, they need to be of appropriate duration, include booster episodes over time, and require appropriate reading and writing abilities and active engagement of the child." They suggest that additional, longer studies are needed and programs like FearNot! should be part of a larger antibullying curriculum. The researchers speculate that the interaction with FearNot!, at least temporarily, boosted victimized children's self-confidence in their ability to deal with bullying as they vicariously experienced successfully responding to bullying in the virtual world.
The study is published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
University of Warwick Press Release
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Abstract
eCircus project (creators of FearNot!)
Download FearNot!
November 05, 2009
Internet Users Are Not Isolated
According a new survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Americans are not as isolated as has been previously reported in a earlier study. Use of mobile phones and the Internet is associated with larger and more diverse discussion networks.
A 2006 study published in The American Sociological Review argued that over the previous two decades Americans had become more socially isolated. The study found that the size of our discussion networks had declined, as well as the diversity of people with whom we discussed important topics. It also found a decrease in neighborhood ties.
The Pew report points out that in general Americans’ discussion networks have shrunk by about a third since 1985. However, contrary to the considerable concern that people’s use of the internet and cell phones could be tied to the trend towards smaller networks, they found that ownership of a mobile phone and participation in a variety of internet activities are associated with larger and ore diverse core discussion networks. (Discussion networks are considered to be a key measure of people’s most important social ties.)
"Social media activities are associated with several beneficial social activities, including having discussion networks that are more likely to contain people from different backgrounds. For instance, frequent internet users, and those who maintain a blog are much more likely to confide in someone who is of another race. Those who share photos online are more likely to report that they discuss important matters with someone who is a member of another political party. Internet use in general and use of social networking services such as Facebook in particular are associated with having a more diverse social network. Again, this flies against the notion that technology pulls people away from social engagement."
There was also concern that internet use would limit participation in local communities, but the report has found that "internet users are as likely as anyone else to visit with their neighbors in person. Cell phone users, those who use the internet frequently at work, and bloggers are more likely to belong to a local voluntary association, such as a youth group or a charitable organization. However, they didn find some evidence that use of social networking services (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn) substitutes for some neighborhood involvement.
The Pew report also finds that "Internet use does not pull people away from public places. Rather, it is associated with engagement in places such as parks, cafes, and restaurants, the kinds of locales where research shows that people are likely to encounter a wider array of people and diverse points of view. Indeed, internet access has become a common component of people’s experiences within many public spaces. For instance, of those Americans who have been in a library within the past month, 38% logged on to the internet while they were there, 18% have done so in a café or coffee shop.
Challenging the assumption that internet use encourages social contact across vast distances, the reports finds that many internet technologies are used as much for local contact as they are for distant communication.
The American Sociological Review Journal
Linking Mind and Machine
Researchers at Tel Aviv University (TAU), Department of Engineering, working with a team of European Union scientists, have developed a new technology - a way to successfully wire a state-of-the-art artificial hand to existing nerve endings in the stump of a severed arm. The device, called "SmartHand," resembles - in function, sensitivity and appearance - a real hand. As a result, the project's first human subject, has not only been able to complete extremely complicated tasks like eating and writing, he reports he is also able to "feel" his fingers once again. The researchers believe that they have "successfully rewired the subject's mind to his hand."
The collaboration of TAU and Sweden's Lund University created the interface between the body's nerves and the device's electronics. The researchers point out that "perfectly good nerve endings remain at the stem of a severed limb. Our team is building the interface between the device and the nerves in the arm, connecting cognitive neuroscience with state-of-the-art information technologies."
TAU has one of the top labs in the world for nano-bio-interfacing science and their challenge in working with the SmartHand was to make an electrode that was not only flexible, but could be implanted in the human body and function properly for at least 20 years. Built into the device are tactile sensors, so the information transfer goes two ways. These allow for complex movements and carying out difficult tasks like eating and writing. The SmartHand project was able to integrate recent advances in today's "intelligent" prosthetic hands with all the basic features of a flesh-and-blood hand. Four electric motors and 40 sensors are activated when the SmartHand touches an object, not only replicating the movement of a human hand, but also providing the wearer with a sensation of feeling and touch.
While the prototype appears very "bionic" now, in the future SmartHand scientists plan to equip it with artificial skin that will give the brain even more tactile feedback. The researchers will also study amputees equipped with the SmartHand to understand how to improve the device over time.
The test subject will be able to keep the artificial smarthand as long as he wishes. He commented "I am using muscles which I haven't used for years. I grab something hard, and then I can feel it in the fingertips, which is strange, as I don't have them anymore. It's amazing."
Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University