12 TIPS FOR CREATING AN EDUCATIONAL AUDIO TOUR

Alien W. Riedstra, Peter G.M. de Jong*, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, THE NETHERLANDS.

PURPOSE: The Leiden University Medical Center possesses many pathological and anatomical specimens gathered together in an Anatomical Museum. With the rise of integrated and patient oriented education, the attention paid to basic sciences like anatomy and pathology is declining. In order to fill this gap, we tried to integrate the specimens in the Museum into the curriculum by developing an audio tour.

METHODS: While developing an audio tour we briefly followed this procedure: The course director selects specimens from the museum and records comments on the specimens with a voicerecorder. These audio files are edited and converted to MP3 format. Students download the files from Blackboard. They visit the museum in small groups and listen to the audio tour on their own MP3 device.

RESULTS: 4 audio tours have been developed and successfully integrated in four different courses of our (bio-) medical curriculum. Both students and teachers were very enthusiastic about this learning tool and requested more tours in other courses. Based on our experiences, we developed a list of educational, technical, organizational and practical do’s and don’ts. In this presentation we offer you twelve tips to help you develop and integrate audio tours in your own curriculum.

CONCLUSION/FUTURE DIRECTIONS: Following our twelve tips, you can successfully develop a modern and innovative learning tool that matches closely with the ‘digital’ generation of students nowadays. It’s a cheap and easy way to integrate an existing unique collection of specimens in the curriculum.