eLearning-Radiology.com: Quality Assurance of Radiology
Education Material on the Internet
 
Authors:
Roland Talanow, MD, PhD, Cleveland Clinic; Markus Grunewald, MD
 
Background:
Previous studies have shown that more than 50% of radiological e-learning tools on the Internet were no longer accessible after a certain period of time. It is not feasible for single providers of educational resource lists to guarantee the availability of the links. As a consequence, an independent and peer-reviewed program for quality assurance is necessary to shift this responsibility to the users themselves. The aim of this project was to establish a solution for quality assurance of published radiological e-learning tools.
 
Evaluation:
“eLearning Radiology” was developed by an international taskforce of radiologists and educators. It allows authors to present their programs and users to evaluate those tools based on several criteria in order to obtain information about the complexity and quality of e-learning tools and to remove inoperable links. In the author module the user may suggest educational resources including title, URL, and description, and categories such as site language, target groups, available modalities, and specialties. In the administrator module taskforce members proofread the submission before releasing or deleting it. In the search module users may search for educational material based on multiple criteria, including categories and ranking by peers. Furthermore, the user may evaluate the resources on a 5-point scale, based on several criteria including image quality, layout, completeness, user friendliness, maintenance, and interactivity. The administrator can easily be notified if a link no longer provides the promised information, or if a link is dead.
 
Discussion:
Based on previous studies showing that a significant amount of online published educational links become unreliable, leads to an increase in time to find the desired educational resources, subsequently decreasing work efficacy and user frustration. A control mechanism, such as ww.eLearning-Radiology.com, became necessary to oversee the growing number of inaccessible links and assuring a reliable interface between user and the variety of educational resources available.
 
Conclusion:
www.eLearning-Radiology.com is an independent, international, and peer-reviewed tool for quality assurance of published radiological e-learning tools.
 
References:
eLearning Radiology. www.eLearning-Radiology.com.

Ketelsen D, Talanow R, Uder M, Grunewald M. eLearning-radiology.com. Sustainability for quality assurance. Rofo. April 2009;181(4):362-6.