ImededInitiative
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UC Irvine's iMedEd Initiative is a 2012-13 Apple Distinguished Program
The University of California, Irvine has announced that its innovative medical education program based on the iPad as the sole learning tool has been chosen as a 2012-13 Apple Distinguished Program. Apple Distinguished Programs are ones that Apple feels meets the criteria of using Apple technology in an educational setting to provide "...visionary leadership, innovative learning and teaching, ongoing professional learning, compelling evidence of success and a flexible learning environment," according to UC Irvine. UC Irvine's program, known as The iMedEd Initiative, has existed since 2010 and equips new medical students with iPads that are loaded with medical textbooks, apps and podcasts of lectures. The university says that one of the benefits of the iPads is that students can interact with data from digital stethoscopes, bedside diagnostic ultrasound units and myriad other medical devices. Besides the increased learning capability the iPad offers, the university also says that iPad-based learning has increased test scores of virtually all students: "The first class participating in the iMedEd Initiative scored an average of 23 percent higher on their national exams -- taken at the end of the second year of medical school -- than previous UC Irvine medical school classes, despite having similar incoming GPAs and MCAT scores." For those of you interested in medical learning on the iPad, check back soon. I'll have a preview of a revolutionary new medical app that you'll be sure to want to get your hands on as soon as it becomes available. [Image: Steve Zylius / University Communications]
California universities use iPads to report news, diagnose heart conditions; Penn State students are like, 'what's an iPad?'
As you know, colleges and universities love throwing in "free" gadgets to justify bumping up their enrollment fees. To this end, USC Annenberg has announced a new program to provide j-school students with iPads, digital cameras, and audio recorders to help them report the news. Now, don't get us wrong: we appreciate the importance (and we're big fans of) "the journalism," and if an upgrade from those long, skinny notepads to modern consumer electronics helps facilitate a new crop of Woodwards 'n Bernsteins, then so be it. But are these kids really supposed to type their front-line reportage with the on-screen keyboard? And haven't most students had access to proper laptops for years now? In other "iPad in education" news, UC Irvine's iMedEd Initiative is providing first year medical students with "a comprehensive, iPad-based curriculum," according to PhysOrg. The devices are equipped with all the necessary apps for note-taking, recording audio, and faculty will develop podcasts and archiving lectures. Our favorite part of all this? The "digital stethoscope," which interfaces with the tablet for listening to and recording a patient's heartbeat. Once recorded, it can be compared to a library of over 3,000 heart sounds that typify specific heart conditions. Thornton Melon never had it so good! [Thanks, Matt F]
