Electronic
Based Instructional Resource Special Interest Group (EBIR-SIG)
This was another
successful year for EBIR-SIG programs at the Annual Meeting. The SIG partnered
with the Section of Teachers of Pharmacy Practice for a 4.5 hour session
on Sunday. The talks included
The presiders for the
Sunday session were Therese Poirier (Duquesne) representing Pharmacy Practice
and Catherine Jarvis (Colorado) representing EBIR-SIG.
Additionally, the SIG
provided nine hours of hands-on workshops in the auxiliary computer room. The
workshops included
“Excellent program.I got
a lot out of this workshop.”
“More workshops like
this!”
“Best program I attended
at AACP”
EBIR SIG will collect written
evaluations from the participants of each hands-on workshops and the SIG
will be compiling the results of the evaluations.
On Tuesday morning the SIG
held a meeting to discuss plans for the coming year. In attendance were Cathy
Jarvis (Colorado), Barbara Zirkin (Maryland), Charles McCall (Georgia), Simon
Albon (British Columbia), Bob Day (California), David Bourne (Oklahoma), Bill
Riffee (Florida), Pat Malone (Creighton), Gary Theilman (Mississippi), Graham
Glynn (Creighton), Tony Ranno (Nebraska), Debra Sibbald (Toronto), Cliff
Littlefield (Texas).
Some of the projects and
ideas we discussed for the coming year included:
1)
Check
into availability of a Listserv for the SIG. It was suggested that there be two
lists: An announcements-only listserv which would only be used occasionally for
messages regarding elections, meetings, etc. All SIG members would receive
announcements from this listserv. The second would be an optional, open
listserv to which all members could post. Members could opt out of this list if
they feel that there is too much traffic that doesn't meet their needs.
2) Several people commented on the advantages of there
being a separate computer room at the meeting for workshops and training. We
were lucky to have access to a room this year because there was PharmCAS
training going on and we got the room when they weren’t using it. We may want
to work on getting such a room for the 2002 meeting as well. It might be
necessary to obtain sponsorship from vendors to pay for it.
3) The Council of Faculties introduced a proposal for a
taskforce on electronic education to look into issues of scholarship, faculty
development and assessing effectiveness. We are hoping that EBIR-SIG will be
able to contribute to the taskforce.
4) We are going to have to integrate the EBIR-SIG
website with the main AACP website. David Bourne reported that the AACP website
was going to be upgraded with new software, probably within the next six
months. He suggested that we hold off on moving our website until they had the
new software installed. Others suggested that we work to make the SIG more
visible from the main AACP web pages.
5) There were a number of requests that the SIG do more
to facilitate peer-reviews of electronic teaching materials and projects. It
was suggested that we look into partnering with the American Journal of
Pharmacy Education on this.
6) There was a suggestion that we hold obtain a booth or
an area at the next poster session to publicize the SIG, it’s website, and the
review service.
7) We talked about possible programming for next year’s
meeting. It was pointed out that unless we partner with a section (such as
Pharmacy Practice), the SIG is only given 1.5 hours of time in the schedule. It
was suggested that we could provide much more programming if we had a separate
computer room available. Some of the ideas for programming included:
a. More talks on platforms such as WebCT and Blackboard,
but perhaps with more of an emphasis on open-source solutions.
b. There are new requirements that certain websites
comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
c. Technologies that will become very important in the
next few years, such as XML.
d. “Mobile learning” technologies from companies such as
IBM.
e. Use of PDAs in teaching and clinical practice.
f.
Establishing and
assessing a mandatory laptop or PDA requirement for students
g. Audience-centered discussions of how new technologies
could be used in education.
There were also
suggestions that we provide different levels of workshops and presentations to
meet the needs of faculty with different levels of comfort with technology.
Based upon the discussions
at the Annual Meeting, here are some projects with which would like to have
people volunteer to help. If you are interested in working on one or more of
the projects, send an e-mail to gtheilman@pharmacy.umsmed.edu
B) Computer Room. Investigate possibility of setting up a separate computer room for the
2002 Annual Meeting in Kansas City. The room would allow us to provide more
programming and workshops.This may involve getting in touch with vendors who
might help sponsor the room. This group would work in conjunction with the
Programming Committee.
C) Website. People
who might be able to help David Bourne with moving the existing EBIR-SIG
website to the AACP website. This might involve developing some new content for
the site.
D) Peer Review.
Work to make it easier for AACP members to have their electronic teaching
projects peer reviewed. This would involve updating the present process and
looking into the possibility of partnering with AJPE.
E) Programming for 2002 Meeting. Looking for people who would help Pat Malone and
Gary Theilman coordinate programming. Also looking for suggestions of topics
and speakers for next year’s meeting.
Submitted July 12, 2001.