Evolution of Histology Lab with Interactive Panel

Introduction Technology assisted learning has gained popularity among medical educators and students for various beneficial reasons. It provides a quick way of assessing student knowledge, provides instant feedback, and has the potential to modify student learning strategies. The objective of this study is to examine the implementation of an Interactive Flat Panel into a student‐centered virtual histology lab environment, while encouraging involvement of all types of leaners with student accustomed technology. Methodology A 75” Interactive Flat Panel was used to create an interactive forum between groups of students learning virtual histology. Students were asked to sit at different tables as groups marked with a specific color. Content on the Interactive Flat Panel was projected to individual student devices via a URL with a room code or QR code. Prompts were assigned by a faculty member for images displayed on the Interactive Flat Panel. Groups were asked to identify different structures while other groups were asked to comment. Results During the musculoskeletal system course, a muscle histology lab session was conducted with one faculty and thirty‐six students organized into six groups. The lab session was designed into three segments. The first segment (15 minutes) consisted of faculty instructions on an Interactive Flat Panel using various histology websites. During the next segment, faculty displayed saved light and electron microscopic images on the Interactive Flat Panel’s white board app and instructed each group to identify and outline important microscopic structures in muscles: sarcomere, actin filaments, myosin filaments , Z‐lines, T‐Tubules, H, A, I bands. Identification markers were placed by group leaders on histology photos that was displayed on the Interactive Flat Panel for other groups to view. The other groups were instructed to post questions or comments via a digital sticky note on the right‐hand side of the screen. All the annotations, comments and images were instantly projected back on the Interactive Flat Panel for the whole lab to view. This interaction encouraged student involvement and interactivity. Faculty were able to instantly address all questions displayed. The comment‐initiated group discussions were easily facilitated by a single faculty member. This pedagogy helped in identifying student misconceptions and engaged sidelined students by forming a new communication setting between groups of students and one faculty. Initial survey results of faculty and ITTS staff are encouraging regarding the learning experience, training and instructional benefits. Initial surveys were taken, and students’ perception were found favorable to using the Interactive Flat Panel when learning histology in a lab environment. We are also in contact with the manufacturer BenQ to configure certain applications to enhance education in a medical school laboratory setting. Conclusion With the use of an Interactive Flat Panel, students were able to manipulate content and clarify misconceptions of histology, which shifted the paradigm from teaching to learning. This form of technology is an opportunity for sideliners and outliers to be involved with group discussions.