[E-learning in Healthcare] Monthly Discussion Feb 2012

A few more stock libraries with high quality content - licensing varies but many don't even require attribution:

stock.xchng http://www.sxc.hu/ (requires free registration)

MorgueFile http://morguefile.com/

and the Wellcome Trust's gallery of photographs (great for medical history and anthropology) is also available to use provided their name is retained on the image

http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/

Does anyone use HealthStream for their learning modules in their facilities? I’m new to both HealthStream AND Articulate so I'm in a pretty high learning curve right now. Does anyone have any tips on loading modules designed in Articulate so it is compatible in HealthStream?

Hey Christy,

We have HealthStream...

Are you publishing the Articulate title as a SCORM file?

Well as I said I'm learning about both HealthStrean and Articulate. When you publish a module doesn't it only publish it as a SCORM file? At least that's what the people at HealthStream told me Articulate did.

Hmm. I think there are other publishing options, but as long as you're designating the files to be output to SCORM, you should be ok. 

The advantage to SCORM-based content in HealthStream is that you "ditch" the HealthStream built-in navigation control bar (the dark gray bar that appears at the bottom of non-SCORM courses) and your users will be able to use the Articulate navigation controls without the risk of closing the course prematurely. So, if you have SCORM publishing options in HealthStream, this is definitely the way to go.

The end result of the SCORM publishing process should be a .zip file that contains all of your course data (in SCORM format). You'll use this .zip file to add the course to HealthStream.  Mind you, you have to have "rights" to do all of this in HealthStream and your organization has to have purchased the SCORM import tool "feature" (it's an optional fee-based feature).   If you don't see the information on Step 2, below, then you may want to talk with your HealthStream administrator (or Sales rep).

In HealthStream, you'll complete these high-level steps to upload a SCORM file:

1) Create a new course and enter the course details, just as you would for any course.

2) On the next screen, select the "Add an Authored SCORM Activity".

3) On the next screen, fill in the course name and completion details.

4) On the next screen, you'll use the "import" link to load your .zip file to HealthStream.

5) Lastly, on the SCORM details screen, you'll want to make sure to visit the link for "Launch Behavior" and update the correct display options for your course. (I set specific dimensions, but if you're using Articulate, you might as well select "full screen")

6) Save these options and then preview to see if the course is working properly.

...if you don't have SCORM options in HealthStream, then you probably would just publish the Articulate file to an HTML output and link the HTML page to the course folder in the HealthStream Authoring Center.  You'll have to "number" the HTML file name so that HealthStream will know to open it.   

All that said, if you don't understand what I've written or you're new to all of this, you may want to check in with HealthStream tech support and access the tutorials on SCORM import...there also may be some online training opportunities for you, through HealthStream, that will get you up to speed.  I'm one of a handful designated super-user resources for HealthStream in my organization, so if you have anyone who is HealthStream Learning Center certified at your clinic/hospital/system, they should be able to read what I've written and help, too.

If you get super stuck, let me know and I'll contact my tech resource at HealthStream and ask him (or a member of his team) to contact you.

Cheers,
Sam

Hi Sam,

We don’t have SCORM options just yet but we are in the process of contacting our rep. We just found out about that option the other day.

Thanks for the detailed steps…they should be very helpful. I’m currently taking a couple of webinars for Authoring in HealthStream. So the processes should start becoming a little clearer before too long. Unfortunately we no longer have a person who is HealthStream Learning Center certified at this time but we do have someone slated to take the training.

~Thanks Again~

Christy

Wow this is wonderful resource everyone!

I recently finished up a Orientation for Personal Care Assistants joining a Health Care Provider. For images to demonstrate healthcare concepts, situations and physical positions/emotional states I used PresenterMedia.com - I used their Medical and Health section extensively!

The annual subscription of $99 is very reasonably priced for FULL acess to tons of

• Animated presentations (great backgrounds/masterslide template for your next project!)
• Animated and static images (lots of meatball figures not those skinny stick figures!)
• Background videos.
• Videos on how to edit/embed images/backgrounds/videos.
• NO PHOTOS OF PEOPLE HERE.

I got all the photos I needed from istockphoto and editing good old free clipart!

Enjoy browsing the meatball family!

Eimear

@Eimear, thanks for sharing - great resource.

A great gem from eFront - A list of 23 Free Stock Photo sites  http://blog.efrontlearning.net/2010/10/free-stock-photos-sites-for-e-learning.html

'Nita

Hi All,

This is great! A forum just for the Healthcare folks.

Thank you for the links..........V 

Thanks all for the great resources!  Nice to find a community of colleagues in the Healthcare Industry focused around eLearning.  Anyone know if there's any eLearning conference focused around health as well?

Also, a quick random question:  Are any of you considered "exempt" from overtime?  I've been working as an hourly contract Instructional Designer and just found out - after much overtime - that they consider me exempt from overtime pay rules (I think they're considering me a 'computer professional').  Thoughts?  Are Instructional Designers/eLearning Developers generally considered exempt even when hourly and not salaried?

Thanks!

e

Hey e,

I think it depends on what State you live in (assuming you're in the USA). For me, here in California, the eLearning exempt/non-exempt discussion is tricky and is largely based on the creative, "from scratch" aspect of the job -- which makes the position exempt. 

...you might want to check your State's Employment and Fair Housing site...there should be guidelines there for exempt vs. non-exempt positions.

Cheers!

Although I am not in the healthcare industry (I work in state government), I'm always looking for parallels between various needs and expectations of learner groups and resources we can share.   

Here's a great book published under Creative Commons that I think this group will appreciate.  The book offers a series of case studies dealing "with the design of distance eduation at an emerging dual-mode university ... offering both on-campus and online courses."

The book was written from the point of view of an instructional designer working alongside ten univeristy faculty members dealing with preparing them and their instruction for use online.  Although your clients aren't faculty -- your subject matter experts' needs may not be too different from those explored in the book. 

A Designer’s Log

Case Studies in Instructional Design

Michael Power, 2007

http://www.aupress.ca/books/120161/ebook/99Z_Power_2009-Designers_Log.pdf

Also, be sure to explore the appendices; Appendix C, in particular, provides examples of teaching activities used in distance education and online learning. 

Hi Sam,

Thanks for answering.  I'm your neighbor to the North in Oregon.  My duties are pretty spread between creating documentation, graphic design, interviews, consulting, editing and updating existing eLearning, working in collaboration with other eLearning folk on new modules, etc.

I spent some time trying to read through the legalese on the rules for exemption, but I found them to be pretty obfuscated.  That's why I was hoping I might get a sense of an industry standard around eLearning professionals here.

Can you say more about the 'from scratch' piece?

thanks,

e

Hi again,

From what I've been told by our compensation team, the creative aspect applies if the employee creates work from scratch, meaning that the employee creates words, images or other media that were not purchased or from another source, such as a staff writer or curriculum designer.  So, if you were a designer who simply assembles a project in Articulate with content received from others, for example, I got the impression that the exempt status didn't apply.  But, if you created the course, the imagery and had a hand in writing the text yourself, then that is a "from scratch" approach that would indicate an exempt position.

...maybe you should check in with your compensation person and see what he/she has to say about your role and how he/she determined the status.  That's what I'd do.

Cheers for a nice weekend,

Sam

Sorry I'm late to the discussion, but thought I would add our experiences...

E I am salaried and exempt.

Sam, I love your idea of going out regularly taking pictures and I appreciate the idea of storing them in one place.

Doug, we do typically take a shot list with us when we go out to take pictures. Usually by the time I take pictures for a project I know what I want. Also, when we shoot videos we always take a still camera along so that we have pictures too.

It can be more time consuming, but is so worth it for the buy in from learners.

Hi Doug!

I´m sorry that I´ve missed your post/question. Here how I do it. I usually build the whole course BEFORE I take the photos. When I know exactly what I want I book ½-1 day to take the photos. The key is a GOOD "picturemanuscript". 

Good luck!

I also usually use a shot list that is a brief description of the photo(s) I need for each slide. I usually shoot many more photos than I might actually use in the course to build up my stock gallery. I also try to get different compositions of the same photo - different angles, close-up, etc. so I have many choices when I return to the slide deck. 

Great approach Greg and Annica. Do you use an Excel doc or could yu share with the community the picture manuscript formats you use?

I keep it simple and usually use and Excel doc. Columns for slide number, photo description, props and actors, and photo source. 

Thanks Greg. Do you do any additional meta tagging in your properties?

Meta tagging ... for the photos? Nope. 

Even though I have thousands of photos I have never had time to organize those photos into anything more than topical folders. 

Hi! It seems like me and Greg are working very similarly. I also use excel (or ever word sometimes) and all the photos should need some tagging. I don´t know about you Greg but I´m a nurse and I´m educated to take care of our patients. Still learning how to handle all this with "digital learning- technique stuff". This forum is great and I´m happy to have found it - you all.

Great to have you participating in the forum Annica!

This week Tom had an excellent post on managing graphics. We have been using ta similar consitant file structure as a team for the past few years and it has certianly helped keeping our projects organized. The minute you have more people collaborating on the project, each person tends to use their "own" system. I found after working within a team, someone would not update the Excel worksheet for the Assets and this led to an unneccessary waste of time especially if there is not a discriptive filename for the asset and the defaul camera numbering was used. One of the other columns we added to our tracking sheet was FileLocation that we hyperlinked to the asset.

Let me know if you want to discuss further!

'Nita