What we did:
Created short, interactive resources with Visme and embedded them into our WordPress site. We called these microresources Quick Tips for Teaching (QTips) and created them to deliver actionable teaching strategies or techniques. They involve 3 or 4 steps and can be done in 5 minutes wherever our faculty happens to be at the time – at home, in the office or in the clinical learning environment.

Why we did it:
Clinical faculty in medicine are medical professionals first, teachers second. Their time for faculty development is limited so when they have the time and inclination to learn, they require just in time resources on specific topics. We conducted focus groups with faculty and they made it clear they wanted:

• context specific, targeted resources
• something they could digest and integrate in a short period of time – as little as 5 minutes
• no more than 5 clicks on any one interactive resource
• using full sentences only when absolutely needed.

In addition, we always have to consider when developing all our resources:

• No sign ins, content must be open with no barrier to access
• Content needs to be accessible and searchable on our website
• Needs to be organized so it is clear who the content is for (level of learner) and audience (new clinical faculty, experienced clinical faculty)
• Resources can be easily updated – policies and procedures change and it’s important to be able to update content and not worry about incorrect or fossilized information
• Require the ability for faculty to provide feedback

The fact that the main resource is embedded on a page also means that we can put descriptions, information about the target audience, instructions and feedback forms on the WordPress page and avoid cluttering the actual resource, which already has limited space.

How we did it

We looked at different software and settled on Visme because:

• It’s easy to use and though limited in some ways, does what we need it to well enough that the limitations are easy to work around
• It’s inexpensive for educational users at around $125 per year (compared to something like Articulate)

To create and refine our process, we started with existing resources/content. We iterated and have found the following process effective:

• Pull content – about one page fits our 3-4 step aim for a QTip
• Build a V1 in Visme with base content to give SMEs/collaborators an idea of the scope and flow of the resource
• Get initial feedback and move the content to a word document for more substantive multi-collaborator feedback
• Get feedback and create a V2 in Visme
• More feedback to focus the content for brevity and look at the flow and use; Create V3 in Visme

How you can do it!

We’ll take you through:

• a guided tour of the backend of Visme
• showcase some diverse & flexible Visme templates
• outline some of Visme’s drawbacks and our brilliant workarounds
• show a Visme QTip in wordpress with all the bells and whistles