Letters to the editors
Is the keyboard mightier than the pen? Dev Katarey, Surgery Department, Kingston Hospital, Kingston Upon Thames, UK Irene Francis, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK
W
e read with interest the recent publication by Dr Hannah Beckwith, entitled ‘Teaching undergraduate medical students: are we hitting a wall’.1 We believe the author fails to consider a variety of advantages that technology offers in the classroom. Lecture slides are often available on university portals prior to the delivery of the lecture, and students may annotate these slides on their personal device to avoid copying these slides word-for-word on paper. Furthermore, many students in this generation are able to type faster than they write, which allows for the more efficient creation of notes on laptops.2 Another intrinsic advantage with typed notes
is that they are easily amendable and stored for the indefinite future, whereas amendments to handwritten notes become messy and notes are easily lost or damaged in time. Combining these factors actually allows the learner to pay more attention to the lecture and interact more with the lecturer, as less time is spent with their head down in their notepad scrambling to write every last point.
visual learners can supplement lecture materials with pictures retrieved from the internet to help maximise their learning experience.
Using the internet within tutorials is another advantage, even if using websites like Wikipedia. Sometimes these non-scholarly websites provide an excellent overview of difficult concepts, so that a basic understanding can be attained prior to learning more from scholarly sources. Furthermore,
REFERENCES
Overall, technology-assisted learning is becoming a norm that should be embraced, as technology optimises the learning experience by improving time efficiency and the effectiveness of content.
1.
Beckwith H. Teaching undergraduate medical students: are we hitting a wall? Clin Teach 2014; 11:60–61.
2.
Horne J, Ferrier J, Singleton C, Read C. Computerised assessment of handwriting and typing speed. Educ Child Psychol 2011;28:52–66.
Corresponding author’s contact details: Dev Katarey, Department of Surgery, Kingston Hospital, Galsworthy Road, Kingston-Upon-Thames, KT2 7QB, UK. E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/tct.12241
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 321–323 321
tct_12241.indd 321
6/2/2014 1:33:14 PM
Is the keyboard mightier than the pen? Dev Katarey, Surgery Department, Kingston Hospital, Kingston Upon Thames, UK Irene Francis, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK
W
e read with interest the recent publication by Dr Hannah Beckwith, entitled ‘Teaching undergraduate medical students: are we hitting a wall’.1 We believe the author fails to consider a variety of advantages that technology offers in the classroom. Lecture slides are often available on university portals prior to the delivery of the lecture, and students may annotate these slides on their personal device to avoid copying these slides word-for-word on paper. Furthermore, many students in this generation are able to type faster than they write, which allows for the more efficient creation of notes on laptops.2 Another intrinsic advantage with typed notes
is that they are easily amendable and stored for the indefinite future, whereas amendments to handwritten notes become messy and notes are easily lost or damaged in time. Combining these factors actually allows the learner to pay more attention to the lecture and interact more with the lecturer, as less time is spent with their head down in their notepad scrambling to write every last point.
visual learners can supplement lecture materials with pictures retrieved from the internet to help maximise their learning experience.
Using the internet within tutorials is another advantage, even if using websites like Wikipedia. Sometimes these non-scholarly websites provide an excellent overview of difficult concepts, so that a basic understanding can be attained prior to learning more from scholarly sources. Furthermore,
REFERENCES
Overall, technology-assisted learning is becoming a norm that should be embraced, as technology optimises the learning experience by improving time efficiency and the effectiveness of content.
1.
Beckwith H. Teaching undergraduate medical students: are we hitting a wall? Clin Teach 2014; 11:60–61.
2.
Horne J, Ferrier J, Singleton C, Read C. Computerised assessment of handwriting and typing speed. Educ Child Psychol 2011;28:52–66.
Corresponding author’s contact details: Dev Katarey, Department of Surgery, Kingston Hospital, Galsworthy Road, Kingston-Upon-Thames, KT2 7QB, UK. E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/tct.12241
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 321–323 321
tct_12241.indd 321
6/2/2014 1:33:14 PM
