Design, Development, and Content Creation for an Open Education Physics Website for MRT Education

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Medical Imaging
• Radiation Science Education

Background:

• Rapid advancements in healthcare technology necessitate continuous professional development for healthcare professionals.
• An initiative was launched to create open education resources for radiation medical sciences and imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design an interactive, engaging, multilevel radiation medical physics resource.
• The resource is publicly accessible and functional on all computing devices.
• Target audiences include students and professionals in medical radiation technology and healthcare for continuing professional development.

Main Methods:

• Parallel design, development, and content creation tasks were prioritized for efficiency.
• A modern, responsive web design was implemented for compatibility across desktop and mobile devices.
• Only open-source tools and libraries were utilized in the development of the OpenPhys website.

Main Results:

• The website features a tile-based homepage with interactive concept maps linking to 10 online lessons.
• Content ranges from atomic structure to MRI basics, including text, images, equations, quizzes, and animations.
• User feedback was collected via an online questionnaire from radiation therapy students and alumni.

Conclusions:

• OpenPhys is presented as the first open education resource dedicated to radiation physics and medical imaging.
• The resource is expected to address gaps in physics education delivery and support blended learning initiatives.
• Future plans include a formal evaluation of the website and its content.