THE POPULARITY and power of Apple’s digital media player is being harnessed as an educational tool to help train diagnostic radiography students at a university in Britain.
Thirty-five students at the University of Derby are being supplied with iPods and video tutorials to help them learn radiographic techniques.
Students are under pressure to learn the techniques quickly and accurately, as incorrect positioning could lead to repeat X-rays for patients, and therefore increased exposure to radiation, or could result in an inaccurate diagnosis.
The university hopes the DVD footage and portable player will help students brush up on their techniques when – and where – they can, be it at home, at college, during work placements or even while travelling.
The purpose-made video footage and graphic animations include commentary on how the positioning techniques of the upper and lower limbs, skull and chest should be carried out.
“Approximately 70 per cent of the workload within a diagnostic imaging department is plain film radiography and these X-rays call for standard positioning techniques; this training device will be of enormous benefit,” said Steve Delay, senior lecturer at the university.
The initiative is the brainchild of Derby staff Geoff Glover, Chris O’Reilly, Alan Parsons, Steve Delay and Ruth Chester.
The university has already looked to new technology in a bid to improve education for students, including a programme in the radiography department to help teach students more about the human skull using an online virtual reality model.
Chris O’Reilly, e-learning development coordinator for radiography within the Faculty of Education, Health and Sciences, said the institution is always on the lookout for innovative ways to deliver education to students.
“By embracing iPod technology we’ve enabled them to access their learning materials wherever they are,” he said. “The supportive ‘tutor in a box’ approach will help reinforce what they’ve learned, boost their confidence and enhance the quality of what they do.”
Ohio State Universitys medical school also recently announced it was using the iPod Touch in its programme.
