Harnessing social media for medical education Rahul Ravindran and Sayinthen Vivekanantham, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
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e thank Han et al. for discussing the timely issue of the online learning requirements of medical students.1 One conclusion of the article was that social networking technologies were not deemed a suitable platform for education, despite extensive usage by clinical students. The reasons stated were two-fold: firstly, students used the medium more for personal use; secondly, sensitive patient information should not be discussed on such an open platform. Nevertheless, we successfully established a Facebook® teaching forum for clinical medical students, ensuring patient anonymity by establishing firm ground rules.2 Students particularly appreciated that our forum encouraged peer-to-peer learning and teaching.
Han et al.’s study highlights that Facebook® is in the top five software technologies used by medical students, with 90 per cent usage reported.1 Teaching via this established medium may allow educators to achieve learning outcomes more effectively. We believe that facilitating learning through similar models to our own would harness the full benefits of social media in medical education. Gikas and Grant discuss three benefits of mobile learning and social media: constant connectivity, collaborative learning and learning on the move.3 With Han et al. demonstrating that students perceive mobile technology as useful for their learning, and that there is extensive usage of social media amongst students on such devices, we suggest clinical
teachers should trial social media mobile application-based medical teaching forums to cater to what students are already using. Dismissal of these ideas based on students reporting only social usage of the medium may be a lost opportunity for educationalists. REFERENCES 1.
Han H, Nelson E, Wetter N. Medical students’ online learning technology needs. Clin Teach 2014;11:15–19.
2.
Ravindran RP, Kashyap MN, Lilis L, Vivekanantham S, Phoenix G. Evaluation of an online medical teaching forum. Clin Teach 2014; doi: 10.1111/tct.12139.
3.
Gikas J, Grant MM. Mobile Computing Devices in Higher Education: Student Perspectives on Learning with Cellphones, Smartphones & Social Media. The Internet and Higher Education 2013;19:18–26.
Corresponding author’s contact details: Mr Rahul P. Ravindran, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK. E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/tct.12234
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 237–239 239
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W
e thank Han et al. for discussing the timely issue of the online learning requirements of medical students.1 One conclusion of the article was that social networking technologies were not deemed a suitable platform for education, despite extensive usage by clinical students. The reasons stated were two-fold: firstly, students used the medium more for personal use; secondly, sensitive patient information should not be discussed on such an open platform. Nevertheless, we successfully established a Facebook® teaching forum for clinical medical students, ensuring patient anonymity by establishing firm ground rules.2 Students particularly appreciated that our forum encouraged peer-to-peer learning and teaching.
Han et al.’s study highlights that Facebook® is in the top five software technologies used by medical students, with 90 per cent usage reported.1 Teaching via this established medium may allow educators to achieve learning outcomes more effectively. We believe that facilitating learning through similar models to our own would harness the full benefits of social media in medical education. Gikas and Grant discuss three benefits of mobile learning and social media: constant connectivity, collaborative learning and learning on the move.3 With Han et al. demonstrating that students perceive mobile technology as useful for their learning, and that there is extensive usage of social media amongst students on such devices, we suggest clinical
teachers should trial social media mobile application-based medical teaching forums to cater to what students are already using. Dismissal of these ideas based on students reporting only social usage of the medium may be a lost opportunity for educationalists. REFERENCES 1.
Han H, Nelson E, Wetter N. Medical students’ online learning technology needs. Clin Teach 2014;11:15–19.
2.
Ravindran RP, Kashyap MN, Lilis L, Vivekanantham S, Phoenix G. Evaluation of an online medical teaching forum. Clin Teach 2014; doi: 10.1111/tct.12139.
3.
Gikas J, Grant MM. Mobile Computing Devices in Higher Education: Student Perspectives on Learning with Cellphones, Smartphones & Social Media. The Internet and Higher Education 2013;19:18–26.
Corresponding author’s contact details: Mr Rahul P. Ravindran, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK. E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/tct.12234
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 237–239 239
tct_12228.indd 239
4/29/2014 7:44:56 AM
