E-learning course in Refraction for Ophthalmologists
Christine Hitzke · EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology · 2004
In 1996, the Institute of Hygiene and Applied Physiology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich established a course in refraction. To ease the education in refraction for clinical ophthalmologists, we produce an e-learning course in refraction on CD-ROM aiming to transfer basic knowledge and practical skills as well. The project investigates experimentally whether ophthalmologists are higher motivated learning refraction using electronic media and whether ophthalmologists can learn practical skills in refraction using electronic media. The CDROM includes a web server and a database so that individual feedback can be given to the student all over the course. For this purpose tables of the database are initially copied to the hard disk and log files of the web server created. No programs or executables are stored on students PC. Access to information stored in the database and to the learning content is possible with a standard web browser. As the web server, the database engine and the scripts require only 200 MB of disk space, more than 500 MB of disk space are free for multimedia purpose such as video clips showing different procedures in refraction. Introduction Nowadays, ophthalmology has been enriched by fantastic techniques such as cataract surgery or refractive surgery. In future we probably will benefit from possibilities such as retinal transplant enabling blind people to regain vision. It is probably due to mentioned circumstances that refraction has become more and more a neglected topic in ophthalmology. We believe that today: 1. Refraction competes with many other and more fascinating topics in ophthalmology 2. Ophthalmologists working in clinics are lack of time to learn and practice refraction 3. Ophthalmologists, working in clinics often feel observed from seniors and hesitate to train in refraction using available instruments 4. Experts in refraction, who could train others, are not necessarily among the staff of a clinic However, skills in refraction are a prerequisite in an ophthalmological diagnosis. Above mentioned facts we considered in developing an e-learning course in refraction for ophthalmologists. After working through the whole e-learning course ophthalmologists should be enable to perform a correct and efficient refraction.