The Classroom Chronicles: Voices of HI Educators – Resources & Tools

As health information (HI) professionals, we realize that the era of relying solely on textbook-provided instructor materials has passed. Today’s healthcare landscape demands that educators embrace adaptability, resourcefulness, and innovation in their instructional design.

To effectively prepare students for the realities of the workplace, we must create learning experiences that are both professionally grounded and creatively engaging. This approach ensures students are not only competent in technical skills but also equipped to navigate the dynamic expectations of modern healthcare environments. But with the rise of so many potential resources and tools available at our fingertips, it can become overwhelming on where to start. Here are a few ideas on where you might want to get started. 

No Cost Resources 

Open Educational Resources (OER) can help with finding and creating instructional resources, as well as support faculty development. Many of these sites have collaborative features to assist with curriculum development and use platforms like Open Author to publish and remix content for educators to use. 

• OER Commons is a comprehensive public digital library that offers open educational resources and tools for creating and sharing instructional materials. 
• Free course materials and books are also available on sites like OpenStax, MERLOT, and LibreTexts. 

Faculty may occasionally observe students struggling to grasp certain concepts, even when the material is familiar to the instructor. Communicating these ideas in alternative ways can be challenging. To support the diverse learning needs of students, supplemental lectures, and tutorials are available as additional instructional resources. 

• Khan Academy for Teachers supports a flipped learning style by allowing students to explore new material through videos and resources. The video tutorials can be especially helpful if a student needs to work through problems in statistics, for example. 
• TeacherTube can also be a great resource to supplement learning activities. The educational video-sharing platform that was created specifically for teachers, students, and schools, is generally not blocked by schools like YouTube often is. This platform is meant to support classroom learning, instructional content, and lesson planning with user-generated educational resources. 

While some interactive tools can come with a price tag, there are some available options that offer helpful suggestions for free.  

• MagicSchool is just one example of an AI-powered platform that streamlines course tasks. With over 80 specialized tools, you can find assistance in developing lesson plans, generating rubrics, and refining assessment outcomes.
• For case studies, the medical case study generator available through WriteCream may be of interest to you. There are some interesting blog posts that may also generate ideas that you can incorporate into the classroom. 

With the anticipated updates to new curricula competencies, you will want to revisit the AHIMA CourseShare. These learning resources will include a variety of instructional activities such as lectures, assessments, and content-specific presentations that you can repurpose with your own ideas and needs in the classroom. Faculty development and program support materials feature toolkits and free instructional tools. Additionally, you'll be able to find faculty development opportunities with ongoing educator training. Look for updates coming soon. 

Database Support Options

Choosing the right database support options to meet the diverse needs of students can be challenging. To make the decision less complex, try out one option a year. Committing trying out one keeps you on track to implement it into your program but keeps options open if it doesn’t seem like the right fit.  

• A free, open-source, multi-platform database is DBeaver. This tool is designed for personal projects to manage and explore several different databases and has a helpful DBeaver community, but will require a download.  
• MySQL is a popular option, though it can seem intimidating for those not familiar with the installation setup and SQL syntax. However, it does offer some options like db-fiddle.com, which is browser-based, requires no installation, and links can be shared with students.  

Simulation Platforms 

Probably two of the most populated simulation platforms for health information management selected by instructors are the AHIMA virtual lab and EHR Go. While not free, students can access these platforms with a paid subscription directly or through the college bookstore or program. 

• EHR Go provides several hundred customizable patient cases and activities designed to simulate real-world healthcare scenarios across several disciplines. 
• AHIMA VLab® helps students explore healthcare technology through hundreds of patient cases and activities utilizing different platforms. 

Continuing Education Opportunities

Balancing continuing education needs among healthcare educators can be challenging. While program directors or full-time staff may be focused on education-specific training, adjunct instructors may benefit more from content-focused development.  

Educator-ppecific professional development:

• Instructor workshops and pedagogy training: 
• These opportunities can be found at your own institution. Don’t be afraid to speak up and encourage your instructional designers and others to provide ongoing training.  
• There are free webinars in a variety of areas including student engagement, AI strategies in the classroom and much more through Inside Higher Ed and Innovative Educators.  
• Free opportunities that may assist with assessment design and competency-based education can be found at Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) website. For accredited programs, the monthly townhalls are offered free of charge. There are also opportunities to attend the CAHIIM Summit on Higher Education annually, and additional training opportunities, for a fee. 
• AI literacy and technology integration for healthcare educators are offered through many professional organizations. Some of these are offered free of charge while others may come at a cost.  
• Websites to check out may include: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society | HIMSS , AMIA - American Medical Informatics Association, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), etc. 
• Publishers also offer a variety of training opportunities in innovation and best practices.  
• Some examples include: Cengage (Education Conferences, Events, Conventions and Webinars – Cengage) and McGraw Hill Higher Ed Events (Higher Ed Events | McGraw Hill). 
• If an educator finds that they need to do some upskilling for a course or topic, there are several free or small fee opportunities. This may include getting some foundational understanding or completing a certificate to comprehensively achieve mastery of a topic or process.  
• Some options include: edX, GCFGlobal.org, LinkedIn Learning, Udacity, and Coursera. 

In today’s ever-evolving healthcare landscape, HIM educators are called to be agile, inventive, and forward-thinking. Embracing adaptability and resourcefulness in instructional design has become an essential part of what we do. While this isn’t an exhaustive list of resources for educators, it can be a starting point for those stepping into the world of education. Whether well-seasoned or new to education, don’t hesitate to explore, experiment, and innovate! You might just uncover the next hidden gem that transforms your teaching practice.

This article was written by JLynn Jennifer Brown, MSL, RHIA, CPCO, CDEI, CPB, CMRS, CMCS, AHI (AMT), RMA (AMT), HITCM-PP, of Neosho County Community College.