Majid Zare-Bidaki; Sajad Sadrinia; Ali Rajabpour-Sanati
Volume 12, Issue 1 , May 2015, , Pages 18-27
Abstract
Background & Objective: The core of each WBT system is an online software called learning management system (LMS) The existence of such a system in each university is the minimum requirement for the application and development of WBT methods The present study aimed to investigate the frequency ...
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Background & Objective: The core of each WBT system is an online software called learning management system (LMS) The existence of such a system in each university is the minimum requirement for the application and development of WBT methods The present study aimed to investigate the frequency of LMS usage in Iranian medical universities in comparison with the universities of developed countries Methods: This descriptive crosssectional analysis was performed in 2014 The study population consisted of Iranian medical universities and the universities of 4 developed Englishspeaking countries including USA Canada Australia and UK From among the Iranian universities a total of 52 universities were selected using the census method Moreover 58 universities were randomly selected from among 450 wellknown universities of developed countries The data from LMS of Iranian medical universities were collected through visiting university websites telephone calls and in some cases facetoface interviews The data were analyzed by descriptive methods Results: Of the 52 Iranian universities of medical sciences 33 universities (635%) did not have any LMSs for delivery courses in academic degree programs Of the 19 universities (365%) with LMSs Moodle ATutor Docebo and nativedesigned LMSs were found in 11 4 1 and 3 universities respectively In addition 16 Iranian universities used open source LMSs and 3 used commercial LMSs All 58 (100%) universities of developed countries used LMSs for delivery courses in their academic degree programs Blackboard Moodle Canvas Desire2learn and Sakai were used in 30 13 8 1 and 1 foreign universities respectively Moreover 2 universities were in transition stage and 3 universities used the Mooc system Conclusion: Iran universities showed a considerable difference from universities in developed countries in terms of frequency of LMS usage Educational and IT administrators in Iran should fill this gap especially at high ranking universities
Kambiz Bahaadinbeigi; Zahra Sadat Izi; Simin Salehinejad; Zahra Jarareh; Roya Vatankhah
Volume 11, Issue 4 , February 2015, , Pages 456-463
Abstract
Background & Objective: Today new technology has provided the visually impaired with equal opportunities for education and access to essential information The use of these technologies by students with visual impairment is vital The purpose of this study was to design an application for health training ...
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Background & Objective: Today new technology has provided the visually impaired with equal opportunities for education and access to essential information The use of these technologies by students with visual impairment is vital The purpose of this study was to design an application for health training of the visually impaired and assess their views about its advantages and disadvantages Methods: This was a qualitative study in which a list of mental health information essential for the visually impaired was provided as a result of interviewing 15 blind individuals with different education degrees Subsequently this information was recorded in audio files by a person with appropriate voice and presented in the form of a multimedia compact disc Finally their views were evaluated Results: The results of this study showed that the blind were generally satisfied with the quality of the software and believed it improves their learning However some of the participants believed its content must be better and present more complete information about diseases They believed that this application should be designed for other health information necessary to them Conclusion: Considering the role of information technology and elearning tools in improvement of learning in the visually impaired and the necessity of health information for them trainers and training managers must consider designing and implementing of such tools to educate essential health issues
Bibi Eshrat i Zaman; Hasan Babri
Volume 10, Issue 1 , May 2013, , Pages 95-108
Abstract
Background & Objective: Medical education institutions have always been looking for training methods that have high efficiency and effectiveness Thus the present study has been carried out with the aim of identifying the application of blended learning based on the SWOT pattern in Isfahan University ...
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Background & Objective: Medical education institutions have always been looking for training methods that have high efficiency and effectiveness Thus the present study has been carried out with the aim of identifying the application of blended learning based on the SWOT pattern in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences Isfahan Iran Methods: This was mixed methods and exploratory research The statistical population consisted of all the faculty members students and IT professionals For the samples 39 were selected from faculty members and 102 from students according to stratified random sampling for quantitative research and 10 from IT professionals according to purposive sampling to be interviewed The instruments for collecting data in the quantitative part were the researchermade questionnaire and in the qualitative part the deep semistructured interview Results: The results of the study showed that the areas of weakness and strength in the internal dimension and in the opportunities and threats in the external dimension were statistically significant The views in the area of strengths were similar however they had significant differences in other areas Moreover the advantages and opportunities have been more than disadvantages and threats of blended learning outlook Conclusion: Despite the weaknesses and threats of the blended learning method all participants in this study were optimistic of the prospects of this method in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences
Majid Zare Bidaki; Ali Rajabpour Sanati; Amir Rahmanian Sharifabad
Volume 9, Issue 1 , July 2012, , Pages 18-24
Abstract
Background & Objectives: Mobile technology has provided valuable opportunity for educational planners teachers and students to use it as a continuous process of teaching – learning Mobile books are sources of educational assistance that can be installed and viewed on mobile phones however there ...
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Background & Objectives: Mobile technology has provided valuable opportunity for educational planners teachers and students to use it as a continuous process of teaching – learning Mobile books are sources of educational assistance that can be installed and viewed on mobile phones however there has been already no plan for production and use of them in the universities of Medical Sciences in Iran This study aimed to produce mobile books and assess students attitudes towards this model of learning Methods: First a Javabased electronic book maker software meeting the requirements and specifications of mobile phones was designed Then multimedia learning contents chosen from four medical and paramedical courses were converted and prepared as four mobile books In the next step the attitudes of 158 medical and paramedical students toward mobile learning were collected through a pretest Then the mobile books were installed on mobile cell phones of 106 students to be used by them during the semester At the end of the semester the views of all students toward mobile learning were asked again Data were analyzed using paired and independent ttest Results : According to the results use of mobile books significantly caused a positive attitude and enthusiasm towards elearning (p
Roghaieh Ershad Sarabi; Ali Mirzazadeh
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, , Pages 57-63
Abstract
Background & Objective: The rate of using new information services such as Internet is an important criterion for the assessment of development This study was designed to determine the rate of using internet and biomedical databases by academic staffs of Kerman Medical University (KMU) and their ...
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Background & Objective: The rate of using new information services such as Internet is an important criterion for the assessment of development This study was designed to determine the rate of using internet and biomedical databases by academic staffs of Kerman Medical University (KMU) and their attitude towards the available services Methods : In this crosssectional study 120 individuals referring to the KMU Information Center during a period of three months (the first semester of 2006) were selected by convenience sampling and examined by a selfreported questionnaire consisted of 4 sections related to the demographic features subjects opinions about the availability of soft/hardware and subjects attitude and practice in regard to using Internet Results : The response rate was 74% About 64% of the subjects had personal computers at home of whom only 535% had internet connection Only 35% of male respondents and 20% of female respondents had access to KMU Internet connection (P=012) Among 97% of subjects who had active email addresses only 213% used KMU email service About 73% of the subjects were using the subscribed fulltext databases of KMU Science direct Ovid Blackwell Image MD and MD Consult were respectively the most used sources According to the subjects Internet connection at home had a significant positive effect on their professional communications and use of email services (P
