Academic Technology Services
About our Services
The vision of the Office of Academic Technology is to see the School of Medicine internationally recognized as a leader in the delivery of its curriculum through the use of cutting edge technologies.
To achieve this vision, the Office of Academic Technology researches, evaluates, develops, implements and supports those technologies that will optimize and maximize the strengths of our students, faculty and staff.
Following the ADDIE Model, our team (instructional designer, instructional technologist, creative designer specialist and expert in curriculum innovation) can assist faculty, staff and students to:
| Analyze | Clarify instructional goals and learning objectives, identify the learning environment and learner's existing knowledge and skills, and select media and technologies to accomplish those goals. Define a work schedule between SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) and OAT (Office of Academic Technology). |
| Design | At this stage blueprints and templates are developed by OAT, and SMEs can work on content. |
| Develop | OAT team create, assemble content assets blueprinted in the design phase, and approve them as accessibility compliant.* Feedback is received by SMEs. |
| Implement | OAT publishes instructional materials and ensures that everything is in place and functioning. |
| Evaluate | Faculty, students, and staff evaluate the project. |
Business Hours/After Hours
The Office of Academic Technology business hours are from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. You may visit us in person, or contact us by email at OATHelp@tamu.edu to arrange a meeting in person or via WebEx.
Important: If you are utilizing academic resources not developed by OAT, you must take steps to ensure that those resources are accessible. For more information, see EIR Accessibility or contact OATHelp@tamu.edu.
Educational Technology Services
Blackboard
- LMS Management
- Faculty/Staff/Student Orientation
- Course creation and management
- Personnel enrollment
- Information gathering, manipulation, and disbursement
- ePortfolios creation
For more information, consult our Blackboard tutorials.
Medical Jeopardy
We have developed a Jeopardy-style game that faculty uses to review block content before high-stake exams. We have successfully used this game during the past two academic years (2016-17 and 2017-18) on a total of 10 occasions to review content before high-stakes exams in the following pre-clerkship courses: Medical Gross Anatomy, Clinical Skills, Ethics in Medicine, and Preceptorship.
The content has been developed by our faculty, and the game with a lock-out buzzer system was developed by the Office of Academic Technology. Currently, our four campuses have the opportunity to play it.
If you would like to use the game in your course/class, please send us an email at least four weeks in advance to start working with your project.
Self-Directed Learning Modules
Self-learning module development support (conception to delivery), with the following authoring tools:
|
Features |
Blackboard | Camtasia | Articulate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content | Text or Files | Work with Existing PPT | Work with Existing PPT |
| Quizzes or Surveys | Yes | No | Yes |
| Audio/ Video recordings | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images, videos or links attached | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Branching scenarios | No | No | Yes |
| Screen recording tool | No | Yes | Yes |
| Grade answers | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reports/ Statistics | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Demo | NA | Contact us | Contact us |
If you would like to design and develop an online module for your course, please use this link to send your request at least 3 months in advance.
Exams, Quizzes and Surveys
We provide online training tutorials or in person training, assist, develop and maintain exams, quizzes and surveys using these authoring tools:
- ExamSoft
- Blackboard
- Qualtrics
- Google Forms
- Pigeonhole Live
- Poll Everywhere (replacing Turning Point)
Review the features for each of these Authoring tools: Exams, Quizzes and Survey Tools.
To request an exam creation on Blackboard, please use our Service Request Form. We ask you to send the information at least 5 business days before the assessment release date.
Discussion Board, Q&A and Polling Tools
Additional to Blackboard, we are using Pigeonhole Live, Poll Everywhere (replacing Turning Point) as alternative communication channels between faculty, staff and students.
- Blackboard: for Discussion Boards
- Pigeonhole Live is an interactive Q&A platform useful for faculty and students during the lectures. Students can anonymously post a question using a computer or mobile device, and a moderator curates the questions and project them to be answered.
- Poll Everywhere: is an Audience Response tool (replacing Turning Point). It can be used in class and events for polling, quizzes, surveys, presentations and more. Participants can respond using a device that has a web browser, text messaging, or with Twitter. Poll Everywhere can be presented from a web browser or integrated in a PowerPoint presentation.
We can help to select the appropriate tool for your course and how to implement it. Review the features for each of these tools: Discussion Board, Q&A and Polling Tools.
Audiovisual Services
Audiovisual Teaching Aids
Plan and prepare audiovisual teaching aids and methods
- Interviews
- Documentaries
- Other (talent events, fund raisers, which support COM)
- PowerPoint Presentations, PDFs, Weblinks
- iBooks (eBook coming soon- Inkling Habitat app)
- Medical Science Library (MSL) Support (Temple)
Audio and Video Production
- Editing, conversion & posting of (classroom/ seminar/ workshop/ special event) recordings to the Mediasite Video Server.
- Transcription and captioning of video recordings
- Mediasite Media Server audio and video hosting
- Construction of Team-based Learning (TBL) presentations using Camtasia
Lecture Recording Guidelines
Almost all lectures in the Phase I and Phase II curriculum and many in the third year are recorded for your use. Other events with education-relevance will be recorded as the need arises, and if it is possible to record the event.
Under normal conditions, recorded materials are guaranteed to be provided to you within 72 working hours after completion of the event and no sooner. Equipment failure, operator error or other unforeseen problems may cause the delay or loss of recordings of curricular events.
- The recordings will be available to you from a link posted in Blackboard in the appropriate block learning module.
- All recordings posted into Blackboard are downloadable. These recordings may NOT be distributed outside the Texas A&M College of Medicine or altered in any manner.
- We recommend to use VLC Media Player.
- When accessing the link, you can just click the "Download Now" button. There is no need to provide an email address.
- If viewing problems arise, please contact COM-OAT@medicine.tamu.edu
Technology Services
Computer Requirements
The Texas A&M HSC College of Medicine requires that all students have a functional laptop at all times. This policy exists for two reasons:
- Our curriculum is paperless.
- All notes are provided as pdf files. We will not prepare anything on paper, nor prepare materials in a printable form unless it is a requirement that they be printed.
- We strongly encourage our students to learn to use computer-based formats and tools for study because the medical world is rapidly embracing paperless processes for all aspects of the learning and practice of medicine.
- All written examinations are given using a computer-based testing program on your laptop.
See the College of Medicine Minimum Computer Requirements
Laptop Computer Loaners
- Windows and Macintosh laptops for short term use during:
- Laptop repairs
- Problems with a student's laptop prior to an examination
- Faculty/Staff events
- iPad
- 10 loaner iPad Mini's for students/faculty/staff (2 week checkouts, Bryan)
- Application recommendations
- Demonstration on setting up and using device
- Device management
We encourage the use of Apple iPads version 2 or 3, but we do not require them. We do not currently support tablets using platforms other than iOS. However, we have included information as to whether recommended software is available for Android-based devices.
If you will need a computer for exams (separate from the NBME Workstation Certification), please fill out this separate Google form.
How to present materials using multiple input sources
Faculty can use multiple input sources to present lectures materials to students and display them using the classroom's data projector.
Some input sources:
- Presenter's computer (podium desktop or laptop with a VGA input or adapter to VGA). Adapters for Macintosh are limited, and need to be provided by faculty if planning to use a personal computer.
- iPads (Lightning Adapter to VGA. Supports iPhone 5+, iPad Mini+, iPad Air +, iPad with Retina Display)
- Video camera (Epiphan Adapter, please contact Academic Technology)
- Blu-ray (Blu-Ray & DVDs can be shown, but not recorded due to copyright).
OAT and A/V can facilitate the technology to accomplish faculty's goals. Please ask for a demo.
Timeclock Plus
TimeClock Plus is our electronic sing-in system. We use this software to allow our students to sign-in(clock-in) for the different events that encompass our curriculum. Students must physically be present in order to clock-in as the system has a Geo-location tracker that is enabled only if the student is at the correct location. TimeClock Plus is our primary tool for running attendance reports and works as documentation to align with our attendance policies. Students have the ability to clock-in using the MobileClock App or the Student Log-in portal.