Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Open letter RE: Use of FLASH for instructional presentations

To the general population of medical educators and hospital administrators:

Using FLASH for student training is an inefficient way to convey information, and an absolute waste of time.  Here are the reasons why:
1) My piece-of-crap computer takes forever to load each screen (primary reason)
Please note that being forced to click pictures of fake mouses to display situations on fake computers and open fake resource folders and answer a fake phone on a fake desk to "speak" with a fake administrator ONLY PROLONGS THIS AGONY
2) My reading speed is approximately 1100 words per minute.  I do not, under any conditions, ever want to listen to someone else read a screen to me.  Their reading speed is approximately 0.2 words per minute.  My attention span is NOT long enough to effectively focus on what they are saying after the first 30 seconds.
3) My reading comprehension is approximately 99.999%.  My auditory comprehension is approximately 4%.  So WTH are you reciting lists to me instead of allowing me to read it for myself?!?!?!?
4) I get so bored with the lack of progress the reader is making, I begin writing a blog post in a new tab and the voice of the instructor fades into something resembling "the-adult-voice-through-the-phone" in the Peanuts animated clips.
Wait...."the-adult-voice-through-the-phone" is how ALL verbal communication sounds to my ADHD brain.... 
Point #4 is perhaps slightly less valid than the other two, as I may have a perception bias.

It's been 47 minutes and I'm only on screen 26 of 64!   Of the first training video!

*headdesk*

 P.S.  If I am so stupid that I have to be reminded to "Let's try another one!  Click on the best answer and then click submit!" for every. freaking. question. . . . I
a) probably wouldn't be in medical school and
b) you probably wouldn't want me doing clinicals in your hospital or caring for a patient EVER.

P.P.S.   >.<  After all that BS, the javascript failed on the last screen and I couldn't print my freaking certificate of completion.  DAMNit!!!!  Seriously?!?!?!!??

1 comment:

  1. ya, i find the same thing...the automated voice reading out the print in front of one...is so distracting I can't concentrate. Annoying. And I don't even have ADHD. I think....ummmm...heh.

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