The Competition

We're counting votes! We'll announce the winners of the 2012 Learning Competition on May 24, 2012.

Winners of the 2012 BloodTechNet Learning Competition Announced

May 24, 2012 (Halifax, NS) — Canadian Blood Services is pleased to announce the recipients of the second BloodTechNet Learning Competition. This year four worthy ideas supporting professional development for MLTs in Transfusion Science were chosen by MLTs from across the country. Kieran Biggins, president of the Canadian Society For Transfusion Medicine (CSTM) made the announcement today to an appreciative conference audience. Winning projects ranged from keeping the best of the traditional learning approaches — a face to face Expo learning event — to taking advantage of new web technologies — crowdsourced exam bank and events calendar. This unique competition created by Canadian Blood Services aims to empower and support transfusion community learning initiatives across the country.

Launched in February 2013, the BloodTechNet Learning Competition encouraged MLTs to visit www.bloodtechnet.ca to share ideas. A panel of judges was tasked with inviting applicants with the best ideas to provide project details in the next stage of the competition. MLTs then voted for the projects that best supported their professional development, ultimately choosing which projects would receive funding.

Canadian Blood Services congratulates the winners of the 2012 BloodTechNet Learning Competition:

Large Projects ($15,000 - $25,000) Winner

  • Continuing Education at Your Fingertips: Crowdsourced Continuing Education Calendar and Tracking Tool for Transfusion Technologists — Calvino Cheng, Nova Scotia — An online evolving exam bank from the collective transfusion 'conscience' with questions submitted by technologists, and 'crowdsourced' — that is, tagged, rated, edited and approved for use by other technologists. Technologists earn points for participating and for taking auto-generated examinations.

Medium Projects ($15,000 - $25,000) Winners

  • Online mentoring in transferable skills & project management — Pat Letendre, Alberta — A network of mentors and protégés building on the BloodTechNet network that will, for the pilot project, give all MLTs who submit projects to the 2013 Learning Competition access to some of the best advice available to guide them through the application process and, should they win the competition, to develop and implement their projects in the following year.
  • SOPs That Hinder; SOPs That Help — Keltie Cameron-Choi, Ontario — An online workshop in which participants collaboratively redesign real standard operating procedures using ten cognitive learning principles that have consistently shown though research to enhance learning.

Small Projects (up to $5,000) Winner

  • Expo of Learning — Gayle Ashe, Nova Soctia — A two day event that gives staff a collegial inter-professional opportunity to experience a topical displays and demonstrations including new fractionation products, provincial guidelines for reporting to adverse events, and Blood Emergency Management Plan.

BloodTechNet is a not-for-profit learning network for Medical Laboratory Technologists interested in Transfusion Science. The Learning Competition is administered by Canadian Blood Services, with unrestricted funding provided by Grifols. It is our way of supporting the transfusion community.

For more information contact: Shanta Rohse, (613) 739-2067, info@bloodtechnet.ca

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