The view from here
Teaching undergraduate medical students: are we hitting a wall? Hannah Beckwith, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK I found myself facing a sea of technology
S
o, I realised last week that I was up against a wall with this group of medical students: literally and physically, a barricade of grey and black plastic, otherwise known as personal laptops and tablets.
and tablets form a key part of daily life. The physical wall constructed by a row of workstations can, however, be very daunting, and provides a considerable challenge, particularly to the inexperienced educator.
As someone who uses student interaction and engagement to pitch the level of my teaching and assess student knowledge and understanding, I was a bit taken aback. The new students all had individual computers or tablets, and had arranged them in such a way that I found myself facing a sea of technology, with no faces visible, and certainly no idea what they were up to behind the screens.
First of all, I found myself asking the question ‘why?’ Why had the students felt it necessary to bring a laptop to the tutorial? Were they scared? Had previous sessions been too interactive, and did they feel the need to place a physical barrier between the ‘interrogator’ and themselves? Or were topics too complex, and learners struggling to keep up? Such that they needed to search the internet during the tutorial to supplement understanding? Or were they bored, and using the time to check e-mails or
Students today are very technologically literate: laptops
Facebook, messaging their friends around the globe complaining about their ‘ridiculous timetables’? The second question I found myself pondering was ‘what should I do about it?’ Ask the students to turn off their computers? Or prowl around the room, checking out the programmes they each had running on their screens? And what programmes would be acceptable? Should I be allowing Wikipedia as a potential knowledge source?! Instead I did neither. Fortunately the task I had designed was very practical in nature, and I had prepared handouts in anticipation. I reverted back to first principles and rearranged the teaching environment, moving all chairs
60 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 60–61
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impact of new technologies is changing learning and teaching, and as educators we must acknowledge this and devise new and innovative strategies to ensure continued engagement and interactivity. As learners become more and more reliant on technology to assist with their learning, the changing dynamics between students and facilitators will continue to create increasing challenges. Perhaps next time I should bring in my laptop too: over 5 years old, a comparable brick, I could hide behind that… to the centre for a group discussion, leaving the offending wall of laptops behind.
The impact of new technologies is changing learning and teaching
I had never experienced such a physical challenge to the delivery of teaching before. The
Corresponding author’s contact details: Dr Hannah Beckwith, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Funding: None. Conflict of interest: None. Ethical approval: Not required. doi: 10.1111/tct.12070
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 60–61 61
tct_12070.indd 61
1/2/2014 2:11:53 PM
Teaching undergraduate medical students: are we hitting a wall? Hannah Beckwith, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK I found myself facing a sea of technology
S
o, I realised last week that I was up against a wall with this group of medical students: literally and physically, a barricade of grey and black plastic, otherwise known as personal laptops and tablets.
and tablets form a key part of daily life. The physical wall constructed by a row of workstations can, however, be very daunting, and provides a considerable challenge, particularly to the inexperienced educator.
As someone who uses student interaction and engagement to pitch the level of my teaching and assess student knowledge and understanding, I was a bit taken aback. The new students all had individual computers or tablets, and had arranged them in such a way that I found myself facing a sea of technology, with no faces visible, and certainly no idea what they were up to behind the screens.
First of all, I found myself asking the question ‘why?’ Why had the students felt it necessary to bring a laptop to the tutorial? Were they scared? Had previous sessions been too interactive, and did they feel the need to place a physical barrier between the ‘interrogator’ and themselves? Or were topics too complex, and learners struggling to keep up? Such that they needed to search the internet during the tutorial to supplement understanding? Or were they bored, and using the time to check e-mails or
Students today are very technologically literate: laptops
Facebook, messaging their friends around the globe complaining about their ‘ridiculous timetables’? The second question I found myself pondering was ‘what should I do about it?’ Ask the students to turn off their computers? Or prowl around the room, checking out the programmes they each had running on their screens? And what programmes would be acceptable? Should I be allowing Wikipedia as a potential knowledge source?! Instead I did neither. Fortunately the task I had designed was very practical in nature, and I had prepared handouts in anticipation. I reverted back to first principles and rearranged the teaching environment, moving all chairs
60 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 60–61
tct_12070.indd 60
1/2/2014 2:11:48 PM
impact of new technologies is changing learning and teaching, and as educators we must acknowledge this and devise new and innovative strategies to ensure continued engagement and interactivity. As learners become more and more reliant on technology to assist with their learning, the changing dynamics between students and facilitators will continue to create increasing challenges. Perhaps next time I should bring in my laptop too: over 5 years old, a comparable brick, I could hide behind that… to the centre for a group discussion, leaving the offending wall of laptops behind.
The impact of new technologies is changing learning and teaching
I had never experienced such a physical challenge to the delivery of teaching before. The
Corresponding author’s contact details: Dr Hannah Beckwith, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Funding: None. Conflict of interest: None. Ethical approval: Not required. doi: 10.1111/tct.12070
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 60–61 61
tct_12070.indd 61
1/2/2014 2:11:53 PM
