Use of an Open Source Platform for e-Learning with Virtual Microscopy H.P. Sinn Dept. of Pathology University Hospital Heidelberg

Agenda Platforms for Virtual Microscopy Characteristics of Moodle Types of courses Modules Scripts and Tricks Application examples

ILC IDC ACC MPC TUB MED PAP SEC CRIB MUC

Platforms for virtual microscopy Embedded pages (USCAP, AFIP) Specialized solutions for virtual microscopy (SlidePath) Localized standalone systems (Basel, Zürich) Personal sites (Aachen) E-learning Systems (Moodle, WebCT)  Course oriented  Community oriented Introduction

Things to consider when choosing a system E-learning functionality  Authentication, LDAP support  Interactive Modules  Exams  Feedback  others Easy to use content management system Flexibility (Modularity) Low or no cost Community support Introduction

Moodle Moodle is an open source e-learning system It is course-based It uses a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) architecture Modular, Object-Oriented, Dynamic Learning Environment Introduction

Course Management A teacher administrator has full control over all settings for a course, including restricting other teachers Choice of course formats such as by week, by topic or a discussion-focused social format Flexible array of course activities : Forums, Journals, Quizzes, Resources, Choices, Surveys, Assignments, Chats, Workshops, Internalmail Display recent changes to the course since the last login can be displayed on the course home page Easy editing of text for resources, forum postings, journal entries using an embedded WYSIWYG HTML editor Import and export custom courses, examples, and scorm compatible objects Introduction

Topic based format Lists of topics within one course Within each topic „activities“ (such as lessons, hyperlinks, questionaire etc.) or „blocks“ (data, images) may be included Convenient for presentation of a list of cases, such as a study set of digital slides Basic Moodle

Topic based format Basic Moodle

Topic based format - Drawbacks - Not good for maintaining large cases series  Repetetive formatting of every cases  Maintainence of hyperlinks tedious Not good for structured documents, such as unknown cases and solutions No database facilities like search or sort Basic Moodle

Database module Provides one or multiple sub-databases per course Database fields include numeric, text, textarea, file, image, menu, URL and others Teacher and/or student can enter data Lists can be searched and sorted Modules

Database module Modules

Database module Modules

Database module Modules

Database module Modules

Database module Modules

Database module Modules

Database module Modules

Database module Modules

Database module Modules

Database module - Further uses - Accessability of database content from other modules Linking database from external sources (e.g. through PHP) Interactive use, e.g. allowing students to enter data Modules

Book Module Provides textual and non textual content Arragend in chapters and sub-chapters Input is plain HTML using the integrated HTML editor or not No search of sort facilities Modules

Book Module Modules

Wiki module Uses Nwiki (based on dfWiki), from Moodle 1.9 Syntax like MediaWiki (used in Wikipedia) Ideal for collaborative editing Students and Teachers can enter data Usueful for collecting structured information, such as when building a course Beware: Texts in the Wiki syntax cannot be used anywhere else in Moodle Modules

Wiki module Modules

Lesson module Interactive questions and answer pages Case-based learning Modules

Lesson module Modules

Lesson module lesson construction page Modules

Tricks and Hints tag Javascript Execution of custom PHP files Tricks and Hints

Use of and external PHP script Tricks and Hints or die( "Unable to select database"); $query="SELECT * FROM svs WHERE substr(kurs,12,3)='".$serie."' order by id";

Example internet sites using Moodle and virtual microscopy IAP Germany (testing site) University of Heidelberg elearning.uni-heidelberg.de Sandbox for application development Examples

IAP Germany Examples

General Pathology elearning.uni-heidelberg.de Examples

Neuropathology elearning.uni-heidelberg.de Examples

CP Conference elearning.uni-heidelberg.de Examples

Summary Moodle is a versatile platform for pathology teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels Provides connectivity to other systems through open standards and great variety of modules