The Academy’s Online Education and Multimedia Technologies committee is
seeking active volunteers to join the committee to help further the
mission and goals of the Academy by advancing the resources available
through the Internet. Some of the projects that the committee has been
responsible for are the planning, development, and expansion of the
Academy website, and the development and initiation of the online
graphics library.
Some great tools have been developed, but in order for the projects to
flourish, we need the help of dedicated Academy members who are willing
to volunteer some of their time to help make these projects as
successful as possible.
Individuals who are interested in participating on this committee do not
have to have any programming skills, or knowledge of the inner workings
of computer technology. As a matter of fact, all they need to know is
how to use email and use a web browser. We are looking for individuals
who are willing to work in the following areas:
Academy Website Subcommittee
Individuals in this subcommittee will be responsible for reviewing the
Academy website www.oandp.org for accuracy and functionality. This will
require spending some time surfing through the Academy website to make
sure that all the links are working correctly, that there are no
listings of outdated activities, assisting in collecting information
from the Chapters for inclusion in the Chapter section, and for checking
for thoroughness in the JPO library. These tasks can be distributed
among a few individuals. The time commitment for this project would
initially be a an hour or two per week for the first month, and scale
down to approximately a few hours per month. Progress would be
documented, and reports sent to the committee chair on a monthly basis.
Academy Online Image Library
The Academy has established an online image library that has the
capability of storing thousands of clinical images, sorting them by
categories and allowing them to be found through keyword searches. The
images are obtained from practitioners who donate the use of their
slides to the Academy for scanning/digitization. Slides are returned
after digitization takes place, and the donor receives a CD with a
digital version of their entire slide collection. The image library is
intended for Academy members to have access to clinical images for use
in non-commercial and instructional projects such as clinical
in-services or lectures. There are two areas that we need active
participation in to make this project a success.
IMAGE COLLECTORS: A very critical part of this process necessary for
success is the collection of slides from practitioners. We need
individuals who will contact practitioners to obtain donations of images
for this project. The individuals responsible for this part of the
project will be responsible for enlisting donors, and following up with
these donors until the slides are obtained. The slides must then be
properly identified, packaged and sent for digitization. Images that
are used on the online system identify the name of the donor. Time
commitment is expected to be about 1 hour per week.
IMAGE CLASSIFIERS: Once the images have been digitized, they are placed
in the online image storage system in a common area where they need to
then be sorted and classified. Image classifiers will be responsible
for viewing images online, determining what their classification is
(i.e. Lower Limb Orthotics, Upper Limb Prosthetics, etc.), and then
providing a description and/or keywords to help identify the images to
aid others in finding the images through the search feature. Image
classifiers will also be responsible for weeding out images that are not
appropriate for use in the system (i.e. text slides, unidentifiable
images, etc.). The system is very easy to use, and thorough
classification and identification of the images will help add
significant value to this system. Time commitment is expected to be
anywhere from 1-2 hours per week. The more people involved, the better.
Participation on this committee requires active participation, and will
help provide real benefits to the entire membership of the Academy. This
is a great way to get involved in some cool projects to help the
Academy that you can do from home on your computer at your leisure. Most
communication will be through email, and there will be no travel
involved. If you have been looking for a way to get involved, now is
your chance! Be an active part of YOUR Academy, and make a difference.
If you are interested, please email [email protected] You must be an
Academy member to participate on a committee.
Thanks a lot.
Paul E. Prusakowski, CPO
Chair, Online Education and Multimedia Technologies Committee
