learning - Academic Conferences Limited

Tim Cappelli
at a time and increasing the possibility for incorrect data entry. Feedback from stakeholders indicated
that interaction with the small screens would be difficult for examiners.
Further, a review of the digital pens and sensor solution suggests that, whilst extremely useful for
capturing notes, this approach would be problematic for forms such as the marking sheets. It would
be very difficult to ensure that the student and OSCE data were correctly matched, to verify that the
marks were as intended or to easily compile the marks into a global spreadsheet for analysis.
Removal of these options left the comparison of hand-held devices such as Tablet PC, Netbook or
iPad systems with the digital pen and digitised forms systems. An analysis of both these approaches
against the objectives of the pilot revealed that all these technologies could potentially achieve the
objectives. Hence, the choice of technology rested on which offered the cheapest and most practical
solution. Each approach was assessed against the set of criteria above and the results are shown in
Table 1 below.
Table 1: A comparison of touch based devices with digital pens
Criteria Tablet PC based solution
Handheld device with electronic
forms software on the client and/or
server. Examiner interacts with the
Data security
Performance
Connectivity
Data integrity
Scalability
Human
Computer
Interaction
Training
Robustness
device with stylus and/or finger
Data can be cached securely on the
local device and transmitted or
downloaded in encrypted format
Data can be captured locally on the
device without the need for
connection to the network. Devices
generally reliable but are at risk from
battery or other failure
Data can be stored on the local
device and transmitted or
downloaded when possible.
Data can be stored on the local
device and could be checked on
each device, or downloading to a
local PC prior to transmitting to
Central Office for collation
Scaling to all base hospitals would
require the purchase of 16x4 (64)
devices with sufficient reserves as
back up
Touch devices are dependent on the
software that presents the form. The
software could be designed to be
intuitive and allow for corrections,
etc.
Some training would be required for
any examiners unfamiliar with touch-
based technologies.
The devices tend to be reliable
though a major device failure that
results in all data loss cannot be
ruled out.
Set up Costs Cost per device: £600+
Software: £20k +
Licence cost (per device): £180
Maintenance
Costs
Training costs: £3500
Ongoing support: £2500
Forms cost: £0
Digital Pen based solution
Digital pens and digitised forms. Forms
management software on the server. Examiner
interacts with the system with the pen and paper
in the same way as currently
Data can be cached securely on the local device
and transmitted or downloaded in encrypted
format
Data can be captured locally on the device
without the need for connection to the network.
Devices generally reliable but are at risk from
battery or other failure, though the use of hardcopy
forms ensures the test can continue and
data captured later.
Data can be stored on the local device and
transmitted or downloaded when possible.
Data can be stored on the local device and could
be checked by downloading to a local PC prior to
transmitting to Central Office for collation
Scaling to all base hospitals would require the
purchase of 16x4 (64) devices with sufficient
reserves as back up
The pens look and feel like an ordinary pen and
are therefore already familiar to examiners. The
software that comes with the pen covers the
required features.
No training should be required, but rather a
highlighting of the pen’s features in the current
briefing
The devices tend to be reliable though a major
device failure that results in all data loss cannot
be ruled out. Fortunately, the continued use of
hard-copy forms and ink with this approach
provides a back-up without further investment.
Cost per device: £120
Software: £500
Licence cost (per device): £315
Training costs: £0
Ongoing support: included
Forms cost: £250
On the basis of the data gathered, the digital pen based solution appeared to offer a number of
advantages, namely:
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