Visible Body

Description: App (phone, tablet, or computer) that is an atlas of the human body and includes animations, practice quizzes, and interactive views of the anatomy, physiology, and histology.

Cost: Students pay a fee to use the app for 2 years. Fee is currently $50.

Demo: To learn more about this technology and how to use it as a teaching tool, watch my demonstration of Visible Body.

UDL

Visible Body fits UDL guidelines across all principles; however, it best fits as part of representation.

Representation: Visible Body Human Anatomy atlas app allows students to examine the anatomy of the body in an interactive format that includes pronunciation, definitions, pathology, selection of individual and multiple structures aiding in the comprehension of anatomical structures. This fits UDL guidelines with providing options for comprehension, language expression, and perception.
Engagement: This tool is interactive and allows students to utilize flashcards, quizzes, and instructor assignments to engage in learning and assessing their mastery of the content. This fits UDL guidelines with providing options for self-regulation and sustaining effort and performance.
Action & Expression: While there are limitations to this UDL principle for this tool, it does enable students to use visual and auditory tools to learn the material in an asynchronous way outside of lab, creating an equitable resource for students to learn anatomy. This fits UDL guidelines with providing options for physical action.

For specific areas that Visible Body fits the UDL principles, please see infographic below with highlighted areas showing the specific integration of Visible Body with UDL guidelines.

Curriculum and Example

Visible Body is used mostly in my class as a way for students to practice learning the anatomy in an asynchronous online format. This allows students to review material outside lab where expensive models are typically not available to students making this an equitable alternative for learning human anatomy. This also allows the ability to develop online lab materials for asynchronous or hybrid anatomy and physiology courses.

Typically learning anatomy requires knowing not only the structure, but also how it relates to other structures. The assignments I use Visible Body for incorporate both the digital interactive tool with instructional videos and images from lab models for students to compare the anatomical structures.

Example: Students have the option of learning the anatomical structures in person in lab with models or using online resources (this activity) to learn the anatomy of bones, muscles, and articulations in a region of the body. Using the Canvas platform, I link the Visible Body activity with the resources available in the lab and videos to help students learn and review the material.

WATCH this demonstration of a typical online lab activity using Visible Body as a supplemental tool to help students learn about muscles in the leg.

SWOT Analysis

Context: Online/hybrid college science (anatomy and physiology) 200-level (sophomore) course.

S-Students can access extensive tools (including a pronunciation tool, definition, pathology) to learn and explore the anatomy of the human body. The quality of the anatomy includes thorough details of the anatomy (bony landmarks, origins/insertions, blood supply and innervation). Instructors can customize assignments and quizzes for students.

W- The cost of the app is expensive, but does give students access for two years from the date of purchase. Highlighting of structures is in blue, which makes highlighting the veins and arteries confusing. The app is somewhat complex and challenging to navigate initially.

O- Students can use the digital human atlas to study anatomy in an asynchronous manner (including making their own flashcards) giving students access to materials outside lab. The interactive activities increase student engagement and ability to assess their knowledge of the material. The tools and extensive anatomy details can combine to give an interactive understanding of how structures of the human body integrate together in form and function.

T- The material in the app is comprehensive and can be beyond the scope and overwhelming for students in an introductory anatomy & physiology course. Options for assessments are limited to quiz assessments since other formats of assessment are not available.

Comparison to Other Tools

There are several versions of digital atlases, many of which require a fee to use after a limited time free trial. Since I don't have access to other paid subscriptions and I want to see how this compares to free resources on the internet and apps, I have chosen to focus on the free tools: Inner Body, Get Body Smart, and Anatomy Zone.

Visible Body has more tools (pronunciation, pathology, and landmarks) compared to the free versions. In addition the interactive features in Visible Body allow you to fade, hide, rotate, and multiply select structures to customize your view. The graphics are more detailed in Visible Body, as the other free resources provide diagrams that are only include selecting the anatomical structure from a list to highlight it and definitions of the structure. Inner Body has the best free version of the anatomy drawing and select-able structures making it the most interactive of the free sites. Visible Body also has the possibility for students to make their own flashcards; whereas, the student would need a snipping tool to create any version of a flashcard with the other tools as it is not build in with the app. Visible Body does have quiz self-assessments; however, Get Body Smart also has a free quiz feature. Get Body Smart if a free tool powered by KenHub, which is the paid version of their anatomy tools, so there is advertisement for KenHub on the site. Anatomy Zone includes videos describing the structures and is limited version as new content is being updated, so of the three, it is the least comparable to Visible Body.

Reflection

During the pandemic, my A&P class was online for lab. I started using the Visible Body App to help students learn the anatomy of the human body. At the beginning of the pandemic, this was a free resource. The cost of the app is expensive now for students, but they keep access for two years. Since many of my students are continuing to transfer programs in healthcare, it is a valuable resource for them. I explored other free anatomy atlas apps, but many of those did not have the details of the anatomy and were not as extensive compared to this app. Students enjoy using the app and find it a helpful resource to learn anatomy.

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