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A University of Otago medicine and dentistry online learning tool has won the Committee for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) Award for Enhancing Teaching and Learning with Technology.

Dr Steve Gallagher of psychological medicine won first prize through the establishment of an online video-based system to develop communication and self-reflection skills in medical and dental students. The tool enables students and tutors to critique patient interviews by being able to pause the interview at specific times to leave comments online at different time codes.

Gallagher spoke to Critic about the learning tool, crediting its development to Dunedin-based company Siliconcoach. Gallagher worked on Siliconcoach’s online product, Bracken Learning, to adapt the tool for medicine. “It was about trying to find a way to increase opportunity for students to reflect on what they have done, and also finding a system that decreased reliance on the aging technology of DVDs,” he said.

The tool is currently used in fourth-year medicine and has been piloted in a postgraduate dentistry course. Gallagher noted that students’ opinions varied, “Some didn’t like it because, in essence, they felt it took a bit more time and effort. But I was okay with that, because some of the effort we have seen from some students in this area has been a bit sparse. There was quite a lot of positive feedback relating to the flexibility that being able to review online gave the students, meaning they could review their videos when it suited them. There was also feedback suggesting that students gained more specific feedback from their tutor using this approach.” The tool cuts down the time used for the student and tutor watching the video together, and instead allows more time for reflection and coaching.

Gallagher is hoping to put his first prize of $5,000 towards a teaching and learning conference in the United Kingdom. The second place prize was awarded to Hesham Al-Sallami of pharmacy for using coagulation simulation software to learn a complex dose-response relationship. Third place was awarded to “Clinical anatomy e-cases: a useful supplement to medical teaching,” by Vivek Perumal.
The CALT Awards were created in 2013 so that staff at Otago were recognised for the technology they were using and implementing in their teaching. CALT aims to promote excellence and innovation at Otago through the effective use of information technologies and in the development of teaching and learning.