Question: 

First year medical students have to pass practical courses during which protocols have to be generated. We setup and evaluated a paperless, full electronic course in basic cell biology.

Methods & Results: 

We employed a newly refurbished course room for cell biology with dual monitor PCs (Windows 7) and digital camera equipped microscopes. Using PHP scripts and an apache web server we designed a fully web-based practical course protocol and student management system. For every practical course, specific pre-programmed masks and web-pages guided the students through their experiments. Students had to choose, annotate and upload their experimental images (e.g. stained tissue or cells) into the electronic protocol. After answering specific questions on the protocol's web page a PDF was generated and uploaded into the student's database. Each group of two students had to confirm their protocols in a legally binding manner. Course managers were able to download the protocols, annotate necessary comments and/or changes, mark the protocols and upload them back onto the student's database. Students were able to check their marks immediately after upload and were thus always well informed about their own progress.

Conclusion: 

The all-electronic documentation enabled a modern performance of experimental procedures (e.g. imaging instead of drawing). This also allows better follow up of student's activities (time stamped images instead of drawings copied from a text book). Finally, the organisational workflow (submitting, correcting and sorting protocols, presenting results) is much more efficient compared to conventional methods. Additionally, resources are significantly saved (e.g. lots of paper).