Using gigapixel technology for a cell biology e-learning module

Abstract

Using gigapixel images in a web-based e-learning environment provides advantages in different learning settings in medical education when image-guided topics are concerned. In addition to conventional teaching at the microscope, with digital microscopic specimens students can learn independently of time and place. Moreover, within the e-learning environment, images can be supplemented with additional learning material. Our approach was to integrate a gigapixel viewer into a content management system, the "Medical Schoolbook", used at Hannover Medical School for a number of different subjects e.g. cell biology. In the Medical Schoolbook gigapixel images are automatically converted in a particular format and displayed in a viewer. © 2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston.