The Project
The project team came together as a result of a meeting about elearning. There was a desire to increase the level of elearning in our respective courses and the idea emerged that this would best be promoted by focussing on a common learning project. Our first step as a project group was to decide on a clinical case that would cross all curricula and provide a strong element of multidiscipline work. We felt that stroke would satisfy these requirements well. However, the topic provided significant challenges in terms of breadth, depth and complexity. There were significant decisions to be made in terms of the clinical detail and how much basic science should be incorporated.
Given the diversity of the group and relative lack of dedicated time, it was important to maintain project momentum. This was achieved by fortnightly lunchtime face to face meetings, supported by a project wiki to create the initial storyboard. The content was created collaboratively within the Riverside software*.
A few days were needed to be set aside to create short pieces of video to form the backbone of the case providing a personal context to the patient, literally giving the patient a face and voice. Other learning elements were then added around these to provide the complete case. Link to talk.
Process summary
- Creation of team
- Dialogue to develop a common set of aims and objectives
- Deciding on focus of project
- Iterative development of storyboard
- Regular core team meetings both face to face and online
- Specification of additional resources required for online delivery of case
- Collaboration with other agencies (such as Paramedics, Video Production Unit, NHS colleagues)
- Identification of peer reviewers
Summary of issues
- Given the pilot nature of the project there was no specific allocated staff time
- No specifically allocated resources
- Matching staff availability from different schools/timetables
- Maintaining momentum
- Determining when to stop – by its very nature this project was open ended in character
This project highlighted how barriers to multi-professional teaching can be overcome. An example of this was the need to address the practical difficulties of a diverse group coming together and sustaining the effort to create an effective inter-professional teaching resource. As with eLearning a blended approach involving face to face meetings and online collaboration tools was essential to the completion of this project.
*Riverside - This software is available to members of the IVIMEDS group.