Use Any Phone to Record Your Teaching
Dr. Bob Arnold trains instructors in specific methods for teaching medical communication, but he couldn’t always observe his trainees in their classrooms or provide feedback face-to-face. He wanted to find a way for trainees to record themselves teaching, send him the recordings, and get his feedback – and to make the process clear and simple for busy trainees. To meet this need, I designed a new online service that combines phone recording with a custom website. Trainees record their classroom with their phone simply by dialing a certain number. When the trainee hangs up, the recording is transferred automatically to a website where Dr. Arnold can make comments that are automatically timestamped in connection with the recording. When finished, the website sends the recording with its comments to the trainee. The service is now being developed by VitalTalk (http://vitaltalkconversations.com/) and as new features are added (e.g., portfolios) this system will be used not only by Dr. Arnold’s trainees but in classrooms across the nation.