Multimedia E-Learning in Surgery, 10 Years Experience at the University of Würzburg

Abstract

Digital content on the internet has become an important learning resource for medical students. E-learning can play a major part in supporting learning processes. At the same time, educational content on the internet can reach a greater audience than traditional learning formats. In addition to the curricular learning program of the surgical university hospital Würzburg, an open-access e-learning platform was established which covers the complete topic of general and visceral surgery, presented with multimedia and interactive elements. In the period from February 2010 to April 2018, 1,444,806 pageviews where counted on the different websites of e-learning. 350,212 users accessed the platform, 24.04% from mobile devices or tablets. With open source software it is possible to establish a modern e-learning resource. In order to maximise the reach of the e-learning beyond the own faculty, it is crucial not to use proprietary standards, but to respect a platform-independent technical design and to make the content strictly public accessible. In future development, greater emphasis should be put on personalising the e-learning experience in order to better understand the effects on the learning results.