Northeast Ohio Medical University

Challenge:

Medical school is complex enough for students without adding the possibility of virtual courses. Between lab work, campus events and community connections, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) is centered around hands-on, in-person learning. 

Amid the pandemic, the Rootstown, Ohio university needed to  develop a socially-distant plan that would still allow students the in-person, interactive experience necessary to medical education.  

Solution: 

NEOMED found the perfect formula for live hybrid classes: a rotating schedule for on-site and online students and an essential mix of Mediasite streaming live- and on-demand video lectures and Zoom collaborative calls. Medical students still receive a front row seat to all classes, demos, simulations, and campus events, regardless of where they’re learning.   

Creating socially-distanced hybrid learning experiences 

Staff and faculty record lectures with Mediasite for students to watch prior to class time in their Sakai learning management system. Students and instructors will then spend class time discussing rigorous topics, focusing on the areas where further instruction would be most useful. Students follow a rotating schedule to determine if they’ll be online or on campus that day.   

In-person classes take place in NEOMED’s new large group space, which is now used for small group interactive discussions where they can be properly social-distanced, and instructors use Zoom to connect them with online students. The in-person students see the lesson content and online participants on several large screens in the room, and the online students can interact, chat and ask questions. Instructors also use a student response system app called Turning Technologies.   

The Zoom recordings are uploaded into Mediasite where they can be managed in one secure and searchable place beside all other campus videos. Plus, the Zoom recordings benefit from the full functionality of Mediasite – robust accessibility tools and search, video and caption editing capabilities, anytime and anywhere publishing, interactivity options to track viewer engagement and back-end analytics.   

Capturing lab work 

NEOMED has a fully-integrated gross anatomy lab to capture simulations and share live streams with students in their LMS whether they’re watching in-person or at home.   

“Similar to lectures, students will take turns visiting the lab. We’ll be teaching the same content and Mediasite can capture several angles of a demonstration, so students won’t miss a beat. A gross anatomy lab is one of the most valuable resources to medical students, but each lab experience is a one-and-done operation. You can’t recreate it, but you can use Mediasite to capture the moment for on-demand review,” said Michael Wright, Director, Academic Technology, NEOMED. 

Results: 

NEOMED was well-positioned to pivot quickly in the spring and is leading the way among its peers.  Students are able to gain a front-row seat to every class and lab no matter where they are. In a hybrid, non-traditional learning environment, this is a critical part of students’ success. Being able to see all angles of simulations and instructors’ lessons, re-watch them and learn at their own pace personalizes learning.  

“Our students and faculty were already comfortable with online learning prior to the COVID-19 shutdown last spring, because we’ve been using Mediasite for the past 15 years,” Wright said. “Mediasite is at the heart of our video strategy. Everything was in place prior, and it took us less than a week to pivot to virtual. The fall semester will be an adjustment, but we are confident our students and faculty will have an enjoyable, engaging and comfortable teaching and learning experience.”  

The university is not only using the most engaging technologies to keep students connected during classes, it is also thinking outside the box to help keep the college experience alive by live streaming campus events. NEOMED streamed the spring commencement ceremony via Mediasite. Using Zoom, campus leaders and students joined the virtual ceremony – leaders made congratulatory remarks, family members hooded their graduates and students could say a few words.   

“The students had a more enjoyable event because they were surrounded by family and friends, and everyone saw the students’ reactions up close. It was much more personable,” Wright said.   

In addition, NEOMED live streamed its Match Day ceremony in which students found out where they will complete their residencies. They joined via Zoom and again, Mediasite streamed it live.   

Learn more about NEOMED’s gross anatomy lab in this webinar, originally recorded at the Mediasite user conference, MSX, last fall.   

Also, read this blog post, Academic Technologists Reflects on 15 Years with Mediasite at Northeast Ohio Medical University.