Context and setting The dissemination of new research knowledge at conferences is commonly facilitated via oral presentations, poster presentations and workshops. Current literature examines the effectiveness of knowledge transfer within the health care field, although none of it examines the effectiveness of the academic poster as a medium for knowledge transfer. Why the idea was necessary Posters are designed to give a visual representation of an issue in a way that first attracts attention and then conveys an intended message. Much of the poster’s success as an educational tool therefore lies in its design. Layout, colour schemes, framing of information and readability all influence how effectively key information is conveyed to the reader. The resulting ‘snapshot’ looks to promote further discussion and interest in the subject area, but is dependent upon author engagement and lacks true interactivity. Although they are visually appealing, traditional poster presentations provide only limited information on their subject matter. As a result, a medium which aims to achieve professional knowledge transfer actually holds dimensional and compositional constraints, which paradoxically limit its overall efficacy. What was done‘MediaPoster’ combines information technology with a traditional poster appearance. The popular static image is retained, but a full interactive potential is incorporated. Presented from a computer base onto LCD or whiteboard screens, wall projection or even online, the MediaPoster allows individual aspects of the poster image to hold embedded links, releasing additional information. Using touch or mouse, viewers may independently select an area of interest on the poster surface and access a full range of linked documents and imagery which open in a dedicated side area of the display. The original poster image remains unchanged and in full view for others to see. Supporting documents may be live and allow access to data and information in any publishing format. An enhanced view aids readability. Digital video footage or specialist computer-assisted imagery may be viewed, with optional audio feed via supplied headphones, thus meeting a range of learning preferences. Links may be placed to individual and institutional resources. Authors may allocate as many or as few supporting data and material as are appropriate, so assigning their own choice of academic depth to the medium. The only restraints relate to the technological capability of the hardware system employed. The technology required for MediaPoster compilation is both familiar and commonly available. Feedback to authors regarding both poster and oral presentations is generally informal. This often results in ineffectual poster presentations that are never seen again. MediaPoster permits authors to incorporate formal evaluation tools by use of questionnaire, website or live e-mail access, and promotes wider digital dissemination. Evaluation of results and impact The MediaPoster concept has recently been presented at a variety of education, medical research and health care conferences, together with a concept model. Informal qualitative evaluation of the concept has been overwhelmingly positive and has resulted in funding to further develop the concept and its potential applications. A readily adaptable MediaPoster template is currently under development for general use; details will be published in the coming year.
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Rowe et al. (2009) studied this question.