Application of digital media and information technology as an educational method in the Ophthalmology journal club.

Background: A journal club session tends to be boring after many hours of work during the week. Attendees lose their attention span shortly after the activity begins. Objectives: To introduce a new educational model, including the use of digital media devices and social media, in journal club teaching and to evaluate whether this new model could prolong attendees’ attention span. Methods: An online survey from the ophthalmology journal club was conducted to evaluate the range of attention span, the problems and suggestions. Then a team was convened to build a new educational model based on the survey results. Observations in the classroom, the information gathered from the social media, and a post-action online survey were used to evaluate the outcomes. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used for data analyses. Results: There were 20 journal club sessions during the study period. The journal club is comprised of 30 residents, 10 fellows and 19 staff members. The pre-action survey showed important information about the most boring part and the median attention span was 30 minutes. After the new educational model was introduced, the median attention span increased to 55 minutes (p<0.001, Wilcoxon signed ranks test). The status of the attendees, frequency of attendance, and frequency of falling asleep did not show statistically significant association with longer attention span. Students’ achievement scores were good. Conclusion: The new educational model increased the attendees’ attention span and provided learning achievement in the ophthalmology journal club.