Digital Education: Twitter, Podcasts, Visuals, and Beyond

Digital Education: Twitter, Podcasts, Visuals, and Beyond is the first annual national conference presented by the Innovations in Media and Education Delivery (iMED) Initiative at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In the last several years, we have seen an explosion in medical educators using new types of media to reach their learners. Trainees and faculty are increasingly digital natives and desire educational content in digital, portable formats. These trends have only been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim of the conference is to provide a comprehensive and practical experience for medical educators. A “main track” will provide an overview of digital education, critical appraisal, curriculum integration, and how all of this plays into professional development for educators. Four parallel “skills tracks” will provide small group learning on practical skills to both consume and produce digital education. All the sessions will be recorded and made available to all attendees. All the sessions are taught by national leaders in digital education; dedicated networking time and opportunities will be provided throughout the conference.

The conference has been specifically formulated to reach educators of all training and skill levels. Who should come to this conference?

Digital novices who want to familiarize themselves with a broad overview of issues in digital education
Medical educators of all training levels– from residents to seasoned attendings – who want to integrate digital education into their own teaching or curricula
Content creators (and those interested in creating content) who want practical skills in podcasting, Twitter, and visuals/graphic medicine
Anyone who consumes digital education and wants to learn from leaders in the field

Our hope is that this annual conference will foster a community of digital educators from across the country. We hope to see you there!

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

Discuss varying formats of new media and understand their benefits and pitfalls.
Create the fundamental elements of new media and incorporate them into medical curricula.
Apply a framework for critical appraisal of new media that can be taught easily to other educators.