Learnosity is an Educational ICT company. We generally do not provide any content- instead we provide a platform which allows our customers to easily add their own content. One of the reasons that we don't try to provide content is that it would be almost impossible to provide content for the vast array of languages, geographic markets and industry sectors in which our customers are finding applications for our platform.
The platform was originally developed for the teaching and assessment of spoken language skills, although we have seen it be used in surprising ways. Learnosity Voice as a platform is content agnostic- it can be used with any language, and the whole interface (both the voice interface, and the web interfaces for students, teachers and administrators) can be easily translated to any language.
After a recent conversation with a lecturer in Dublin's Royal College of Surgeons, we at Learnosity worked with doctors to design some sample content for the Learnosity Voice platform focused on medical students with English as a second language. We did this by modeling the way a doctor takes a patient history in the mobile learning environment. As soon as the prototype was developed, it was immediately clear to all concerned that this was equally applicable to clinical training as to an ESL exercise.
The application can be used to teach and assess important aspects of medical training, like diagnosis of symptoms, communication skills and bed side manner. This offers students the option to practice English in real life medical situations, helping them become more comfortable with the language and medical terminology. It allows students to virtually interact with patients in a low stakes environment.
Learnosity Voice offers a number of methods for students to practice proper medical protocol using English in a comfortable and natural way:
Voice Response
About Voice Response
Students call into the system and will be asked certain questions or prompted for certain responses. A tutor can later review these responses using the Learnosity Voice web interface, where the tutor can mark and leave feedback for the student on areas that need improvement. The student, too, can log on to a web interface to view the questions and their own responses, along with exemplary answers so they can do self-assessment and learn from the exemplary answers.
More info about Learnosity Voice Response
Voice Response as a medical training application
The "Voice Response Patient Roleplay" involves a student speaking to the system, leaving voice responses. These responses are later reviewed by a tutor.
For example, the student might be prompted to introduce himself and take a medical history. The student would respond by introducing himself and asking a series of questions related to taking the presenting complaint. A tutor would then critique the response focusing on how the student came across while introducing himself and if he asked the right questions. This sort of practice helps the medical students become accustomed to proper procedures and improve their conversational English.
In this example, we modeled the taking of a patient history with prompts and responses in the following areas:
- Presenting Complaint
- History of Presenting Complaint
- Medical History
- Social History
- Family History
- Review of Systems
At each stage the student is given a response from the patient and told what to ask about next. This should prompt the students to ask certain questions at each stage. A sample marking scheme is included in the voice response script.
Sample Question Script
Questions Script and Sample Marking Scheme (pdf, 2 pages, 100kb)
Voice Chat
About Voice Chat
Students call into the system and this time, instead of being connected to the computer, they are connected to another student. Each student is then given a role to play in the conversation. These roles are complimentary so that one student asks for information while the other student is instructed to give certain information. The conversation is then recorded and available for review by both tutors and students on the web-interface portion of Learnosity Voice.
More info about Learnosity Voice Chat
Voice Chat as a medical training application
"Voice Chat Doctor/Patient Roleplay" connects many students, two at a time, in conference calls. They then play the role of a doctor or patient to practice their language skills. The conversations are recorded and may be later reviewed by a tutor.
Medical students can practice their medical protocols in English at a conversational pace. The students would mimic real life situations using Doctor/ Patient Role-play. For each call, one student would be assigned the role of the doctor while the other would be assigned the role of a patient with a specific medical history and certain symptoms. The student assigned the role of doctor would then be responsible for taking a proper medical history, which follows specific protocols. This is also an opportunity to allow the student doctor can practice his bed-side manner, learning how to interact with patients and develop a rapport with them.
Sample Question Script
Prompt 1 (Patient):
Play the role of a 55 year old overweight male builders laborer presenting with a crushing chest pain, and pain down their left arm. Symptoms present after any exercise, are getting worse lately, and are alleviated by GTN spray and rest.
Patient has high blood pressure, high cholesterol and angina. He takes aspirin, lipitor, and istin.
Patient is very heavy drinker and smoker, with a very unhealthy lifestyle.
Family history includes a father and brother dying in early 50s from heart attacks, and another brother who had a bypass.
Prompt 2 (Doctor):
You are presented with an overweight male 55 year old patient with chest pain. Take a patient history.
Learnosity Voice has a proven track record of improving spoken language learning and offers a very easy to use system. It offers a great opportunity for those medical students trying to improve their English skills and allows great flexibility in use and application. Demos of the above applications are available for you to try from your own phone. For more information about Learnosity Voice or to access the demo, please feel free to contact us.
