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Continuing education lectures on the web are exceedingly boring.
Often each
slide has one piece of information, and a 45-minute lecture when presented
takes two hours to view as each slide can take five minutes to appear.
One
is forced to serially see each slide without obtaining additional
information. A primary reason that lectures on the web are so boring is
because of Bill Gate's success. Now it is so easy to convert slide
presentations into web ones using software such as PowerPoint. The
problem
is that this leads to a very boring lecture. It is time for a change.
Here
we briefly discuss what new technologies can do, and more details are
available in our web page at ( http://www.pitt.edu/~ghnet/USAF/index.htm).
We have been establishing two formats, the first having as its
primary unit
the slide, the second the lecture. The slide format is designed to speed
the
access of information and to provide an overall gestalt for a medical
lecture. Downloading speed is one of the most important determinants of
slide web presentation. If a slide takes a minute to be seen, people
rapidly
lose their interest. We have recently found that it is even more
important
than content itself. The difficulty is that many medical slides have huge
complex images and graphs. The more information in the slide, the slower
the
downloading times. Most access the Internet through twisted wires (the
telephone), not high-speed lines. Downloading speed, however, can be
markedly improved by a factor of ten by reducing pixels from the slides
using
readily available software such as Adobe Photoshop. This does not
compromise
the quality of slides, but produces a remarkable reduction in downloading
time. A second feature of this model is slides at a glance. If we are
learning, or if we plan to borrow someone else's slides, the serial nature
of
slides is very boring, because it is difficult to skip from slide 12 to
slide
50, or to see the big picture for the lecture. However, all lectures
should
use as we have developed slides at a glance, which presents all the slides
for view at once. With this one can pull slides down for use in other
lectures, or for use into other lectures.
A second model is what we call hypertext comic books (1). This is a
windows
model of lecture presentation. It is like a Superman comic but with
hyperlinks. When examining a slide, it becomes alive as there are further
notes that can be read concerning the slides, and most importantly links
that
can take the learner or the teacher to areas on the web for further
information such as statistics books, etc.
The technologies to provide better slides and lectures on the web for
training in health are becoming available, and should be used. It is time
to
establish new models as the web offers unique opportunities to markedly
facilitate the training of our students and us.
Problem: Boring Web Lectures. Solution: New Web Formats
Sir:
Continuing education lectures on the web are exceedingly boring.
Often each
slide has one piece of information, and a 45-minute lecture when presented
takes two hours to view as each slide can take five minutes to appear.
One
is forced to serially see each slide without obtaining additional
information. A primary reason that lectures on the web are so boring is
because of Bill Gate's success. Now it is so easy to convert slide
presentations into web ones using software such as PowerPoint. The
problem
is that this leads to a very boring lecture. It is time for a change.
Here
we briefly discuss what new technologies can do, and more details are
available in our web page at ( http://www.pitt.edu/~ghnet/USAF/index.htm).
We have been establishing two formats, the first having as its
primary unit
the slide, the second the lecture. The slide format is designed to speed
the
access of information and to provide an overall gestalt for a medical
lecture. Downloading speed is one of the most important determinants of
slide web presentation. If a slide takes a minute to be seen, people
rapidly
lose their interest. We have recently found that it is even more
important
than content itself. The difficulty is that many medical slides have huge
complex images and graphs. The more information in the slide, the slower
the
downloading times. Most access the Internet through twisted wires (the
telephone), not high-speed lines. Downloading speed, however, can be
markedly improved by a factor of ten by reducing pixels from the slides
using
readily available software such as Adobe Photoshop. This does not
compromise
the quality of slides, but produces a remarkable reduction in downloading
time. A second feature of this model is slides at a glance. If we are
learning, or if we plan to borrow someone else's slides, the serial nature
of
slides is very boring, because it is difficult to skip from slide 12 to
slide
50, or to see the big picture for the lecture. However, all lectures
should
use as we have developed slides at a glance, which presents all the slides
for view at once. With this one can pull slides down for use in other
lectures, or for use into other lectures.
A second model is what we call hypertext comic books (1). This is a
windows
model of lecture presentation. It is like a Superman comic but with
hyperlinks. When examining a slide, it becomes alive as there are further
notes that can be read concerning the slides, and most importantly links
that
can take the learner or the teacher to areas on the web for further
information such as statistics books, etc.
The technologies to provide better slides and lectures on the web for
training in health are becoming available, and should be used. It is time
to
establish new models as the web offers unique opportunities to markedly
facilitate the training of our students and us.
Akira Sekikawa, M.D., Ph.D.
Major General Leonard Randolph, M.D.
Eun Ryoung Sa, BA
Benjamin Acosta, M.D.
Deborah Aaron, Ph.D.
Francois Sauer, M.D.
Ronald LaPorte, Ph.D.
References
1. Aaron DJ, Sekikwa A, Sauer F, Patrick J, Nishimura R, Acosta B,
LaPorte
RE. The reincarnation of biomedical journals as hypertext comic books.
Nature
Medicine 4, 1998.
http://medicine.nature.com/web_specials/comics/#contributors
Competing interests: No competing interests