Mobile based E-learning for health care professionals

ASP.Net 3.5 – Web Form, MS AJAX, JQuery, JSON, FFMPEG, Maciphonesdk 3.0, MSSQL

When his clients found less and less time on their laptops but had a hand on their iPhones all the time, our client who’s in the business of delivering continuous education programs to healthcare professionals decided it was time to offer his programs on iPhones and so did his development team at Cygnet Infotech, that was developing, maintaining and supporting his Web based solutions moved over to iPhone delivered solutions.

The concept was to enable health care professionals to upgrade themselves with the latest in their fields and also complete their requirements for continuous education through programs and content delivery on iPhones.

The concept required

Converting content to be delivered on iPhone screens so that it has a pleasing GUI and no distortions
Having to select between features that can be carried on iPhone and those that remain on web
Having a site navigation that is does not hamper user experience yet sufficient and concise.
Ability to complete the user experience of learning without the need to go to the laptop or a desktop

A complete strategy for migration from web to mobile was put in place, prototypes developed, multiple rounds of testing cycles were completed and course delivery started on iPhones.

The first step was building API’s to display content from existing formats to new formats. The team began by collecting the pieces of main site that were required to migrate to the mobile interface such as E-learning Content, Notebooks etc and arranging the site navigation as per iPhone screens. The videos and audios were converted to Mobile formats (MP3, Mp4 formats) making it compatible with IPhone QuickTime player. The graphics team at Cygnet created Image thumbnails and saved on server ensuring that content readability is intact and users experience web like reading comfort.

The application underwent numerous testing cycles on iPhone on all types of network connections for the final feedback and go. The users can now easily access their notebooks, store their notes and earn points towards continuous education with evaluation process/ certification.

The end result is a mobile application that extends the reach of the e-learning program. The surgeons now have all the information at hand as and when required. The good response the client received for this launch of mobile version of his application has increased his business value ten fold.

Background

The client is involved in delivering e-learning solutions that deliver continuous education programs for professionals (spine surgeons). Looking at the mass appeal and growth of mobile usage and the increasing power of mobile phones the client wanted to use Mobile technology as a viable learning tool.

The client wanted to deliver his LMS based learning through m learning and improve the students learning experience by providing innovative system of interactive learning.

Some of the key requirements posted by the client were as follows:

Converting content to be delivered on iPhone screens so that it has a pleasing GUI and no distortions
Having to select between features that can be carried on iPhone and those that remain on web
Having a site navigation that is does not hamper user experience yet sufficient and concise.
Ability to complete the user experience of learning without the need to go to the laptop or a desktop
Intuitive Content presentation.
Online Notebook Access
Supports various content types like Text, images and downloadable documents (PDF).
Flexibility to attempt Online Test and Surveys

Solution

In order to explore the effectiveness of this new teaching environment and approach the client engaged the services of Cygnet Infotech.

Cygnet analyzed the requirements & utilized the experience it has gained from developing various mobile applications to deliver the solution.

The key features implemented in the system were:

Orientation changes were managed gracefully by handling events in code in such as way that allows to adapt the page layout (portrait to landscape) for either tall or wide layouts to provide a better user experience.
MP4 version of Videos was generated so that Quicktime player in iPhone can support this format and play videos inserted in the IEP Content.
To handle the display of content on iPhone screen (created by in house backend team) the team modified Width/Height of html elements so that content display is readable in iPhone screen.
The users can access their notebooks, store their notes and earn points towards continuous education with evaluation process/ certification.
For optimized user experience, thumbnails with size appropriate for iPhone/iPad is pre-generated and saved on server.
iPhone simulator was used to develop & test iPhone site. Later on, detailed testing was performed on iPhone on all types of network connections for the final feedback and go.
The application underwent numerous testing cycles on iPhone on all types of network connections for the final feedback and go.

Technology highlights

Software/ Tools	ASP.Net 3.5 – Web Form, MS AJAX, JQuery, JSON, FFMPEG, Maciphonesdk 3.0
Back End	MSSQL

Benefits to the client

Mobile based online learning experience with wider reach
Increase in the number of clients
Increased revenue