E-learning in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: E-book and interactive case presentation with XML

Abstract

The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMF) is one of the four main subjects in the clinical curriculum of dental medicine in Germany. Despite of the large collegiate demand there are only few e-learning offers in this subject now. Here, we present the development of an E-Learning facility in the subject of OMF, that combines systematical knowledge with case based clinical knowledge. A high disposition to work with E-learning was asserted in the student body with a structured questionary in a user and demand analysis. As important issues in E-learning students mentioned: search functionality, learning questions, links between systematical textbook knowledge and clinical case knowledge, embedding multimedial sources and the clarity of navigation. An established OMF textbook in combination with clinical cases are presented in an integrated web platform to achieve these demands. Links between XML case representation and systematical knowledge are navigable and searchable. Based on the representation that has been developed on the structure of medical cases as so far 15 case were implemented. Compared to classical attempts of case-based learning the presented effort is relatively “lightweight”, however, associated with reduced development effort. Central aspects of case based learning are accomplished without abandoning the systematic textbook knowledge. The XML structures are standardized (DocBook) or generic so that utilization is possible in variable contexts.