The purpose of this session was to explore the uses of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) in basic science education and to provide a forum for participants to share positive and negative experiences and recommendations for utilization. The session began with a brief overview of the platforms and operating systems for PDA and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each. The session then progressed to a demonstration and discussion of various educational applications. It was noted that the majority of the applications for medical education are for the clinical courses and center on patient records and laboratory values. Participants agreed that using PDAs to support internet based courses presents the greatest current use. The focus of the discussion was whether the time, energy, and other resources necessary to convert a paper based course to a Web-based/PDA course is worth the resulting benefits. Several of the participants noted that the capability of downloading and storing course materials on a hand-held devise is primary a benefit for a discrete group of students. Current applications are not designed to make the life of the professor easier and to free him/her from repetitious tasks. The next topic of demonstration and discussion centered on how professors might use PDAs in teaching and course management. The use of a PDA instead of a laptop computer for giving a Power Point presentation was demonstrated and several of the participants reported varying degrees of success in this application. Other uses discussed included calendar coordination, distribution of lecture notes, and other sharing of information. The second focus of the discussion was the central role of PDAs or hand held computers in all of education and research. One of the participants described how she used PDAs in tabulating and counting observations. She described two PDA database applications used in her study and the ease of programming. Another participant demonstrated the use of a portable keyboard with his Palm PDA. He reported that it allowed him to leave his laptop computer at home. A third focus of the discussion was on the position of medical schools in Central and South America with regard to their ability to participate in technological advancements, and thus to collaborate in education projects. Some of the participants noted that students at their schools shared textbooks and other materials. While Internet-based materials may provide some excellent resources, it is not feasible to even consider evolving technologies. A group of participants from medical schools in the U.S. offered assistance and noted that it might be possible to get a grant to support a collaborative effort from Palm. The major outcomes of the discussions included a general consensus that
PDAs and handheld will play an important role in basic science education
in the near future. However, most of the currently available software
is for patient records and other clinical applications. It is vital
that basic science educators maintain technical competencies in order to
remain effective teachers. A mechanism to share resources with our
Latin American colleagues is an important goal.
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