Biomedical Engineering and Telemedicine Centre (GBT), ETSI Telecomunicación, Center for Biomedical Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Avda Complutense, 30 28040, Madrid, Spain.
Jesús Usón Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre, Carretera Nacional 521, Km 41.8 10071, Cáceres, Spain.
Int J Med Inform. 2023 Dec;180:105269. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2023.105269. Epub 2023 Oct 24.
Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) can provide the tools to safely master minimally invasive surgery (MIS) skills in patient-free environments and receive immediate objective feedback without the constant presence of an instructor. However, TEL-based systems tend to work isolated from one another, focus on different skills, and fail to provide contents without a sound pedagogical background.
The objective of this descriptive study is to present in detail EASIER, an innovative TEL platform for surgical and interventional training, as well as the results of its validation.
EASIER provides a Learning Management System (LMS) for institutions and content creators that can connect and integrate TEL "external assets" (virtual reality simulators, augmented box trainers, augmented videos, etc.) addressing different skills. The platform integrates all skills under an Assessment Module that measures skills' progress in different courses. Finally, it provides content creators with a pedagogical model to scaffold contents while retaining flexibility to approach course design with different training philosophies in mind. Three courses were developed and hosted in the platform to validate it with end-users in terms of usability, performance, learning results in the courses and student self-perception on learning.
In total 111 volunteers completed the validation. The study was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which limited access to external assets (virtual reality simulators). Nevertheless, usability was rated with 73.1 in the System Usability Scale. Most positive aspects on performance were easiness to access the platform, easiness to change the configuration and not requiring additional plug-ins to use the platform. The platform was rated above average in the six scales of the User Experience Questionnaire. Overall, student results improved significantly across the three courses (p < 0.05).
This study provides, within its limitations, evidence on the usefulness of the EASIER platform for distance learning of MIS skills. Results show the potential impact of the platform and are an encouraging boost for the future, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
技术增强学习（TEL）可以提供工具，以安全地掌握无患者环境中的微创外科（MIS）技能，并在没有指导老师不断在场的情况下立即获得客观反馈。然而，基于 TEL 的系统往往彼此孤立工作，专注于不同的技能，并且无法提供没有良好教学背景的内容。
本描述性研究的目的是详细介绍 EASIER，这是一种用于手术和介入培训的创新 TEL 平台，以及其验证结果。
EASIER 为机构和内容创建者提供学习管理系统（LMS），可以连接和集成 TEL“外部资产”（虚拟现实模拟器、增强箱训练器、增强视频等），以解决不同的技能。该平台将所有技能集成到一个评估模块中，该模块可衡量不同课程中技能的进展情况。最后，它为内容创建者提供了一种教学模型，以支撑内容，同时保留灵活性，以不同的培训理念来设计课程。开发了三个课程并在平台上进行了验证，以评估其在可用性、性能、课程学习结果以及学生对学习的自我感知方面的效果。
共有 111 名志愿者完成了验证。由于 COVID-19 大流行限制了对外部资产（虚拟现实模拟器）的访问，因此该研究受到限制。尽管如此，系统可用性量表的评分为 73.1。在性能方面，最积极的方面是易于访问平台、易于更改配置以及无需额外插件即可使用平台。平台在用户体验问卷的六个量表中均被评为高于平均水平。总体而言，学生在三个课程中的成绩均有显著提高（p<0.05）。
本研究在其限制范围内提供了有关 EASIER 平台用于 MIS 技能远程学习的有用性的证据。结果表明了该平台的潜力，并为未来，特别是在 COVID-19 大流行之后，提供了令人鼓舞的推动。
