OnlineTED.com--a novel web-based audience response system for higher education. A pilot study to evaluate user...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Technology
• Interactive Learning Systems

Background:

• Audience response (AR) systems enhance undergraduate medical education.
• Conventional AR systems are often costly and complex, limiting their widespread adoption.
• A novel, platform-independent AR system eliminates the need for hardware clickers or software installation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate OnlineTED, a novel web-based AR system.
• To compare the effectiveness and user satisfaction of OnlineTED against traditional clicker-based AR systems.
• To assess the feasibility of web-based AR technologies in large undergraduate courses.

Main Methods:

• OnlineTED was developed using PHP, MySQL, and Javascript.
• Lecturers can create and manage question sets online; students participate via web-browser on any internet-enabled device.
• A comparative survey was conducted with undergraduate medical students and lecturers at Technische Universität München (TUM).

Main Results:

• OnlineTED received above-average evaluation scores from both students and lecturers.
• Participants rated OnlineTED as on par with or superior to conventional AR systems.
• Up to 80% of students reported owning internet-enabled devices suitable for web-based AR participation.

Conclusions:

• OnlineTED is a well-received, novel web-based, and platform-independent AR system for higher education.
• It serves as a non-commercial alternative to traditional AR systems.
• OnlineTED has the potential to promote interactive teaching, especially in large undergraduate classes.