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 Ratings
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| Reviewed: |
Oct 07, 2007 by Business Editorial Board |
| Overview: |
Break A Leg is a module on health insurance terminology and processes. It covers the basics on how health insurance works so that learners can make decisions about the value of health insurance protection and identify trends in the cost of medical care in the United States. |
| Learning Goals: |
As a result of using these materials, students should be able to:
Define basic components and terminology related to individual health insurance.
Make decisions about the costs and benefits of health insurance protection.
Identify trends in the cost of medical care in the United States. |
| Target Student Population: |
K-12 according to the site, but this material is a bit advanced for the younger students. |
| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
None |
| Type of Material: |
Tutorial |
| Recommended Uses: |
As a tutorial, this module can be used in multiple settings depending on teacher goals. |
| Technical Requirements: |
Web browser |
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| Strengths: |
Complete and detailed information on health insurance is provided from basic terminology to trends in the cost of medical care. Links are included to many web sites that contain good information for persons without an understanding of how insurance works. Break A Leg will help users understand facts as opposed to speculation. In addition, some very good questions are built into this module. |
| Concerns: |
The content comes from many different sources. As a result, the learner is required to click on links to various websites. Over time, maintaining live links may become a problem. Some of these sites are authored by the insurance industry and contain advertisements for insurance products. The ads may be a distraction for learners and carry insurance industry biases. In one example, the health insurance information applied to only one group of members that had insurance at a particular company. This example may or may not be representative of the overall health insurance industry. Finally, while the site claims to be useful for students from K through 12, it is probably better suited to students in the upper range of grade levels. |
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
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| Strengths: |
The module covers key concepts and then strengthens learning by having students do an exercise on a health insurance case with several scenarios. Further understanding is achieved by having students draw conclusions about the importance of health insurance. Objectives are clearly defined and some of the links are very nice. |
| Concerns: |
The organization of the learning is somewhat questionable. For example, learning key terms has been included with the exercises. It would be more appropriate to have students review key terms earlier in the module. As indicated previously, some of the sites referenced contain a significant number of advertisements, which are distracting. The module also appears to be more effective for older students than younger ones. As a result the target audience identified should probably be modified. |
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
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| Strengths: |
Very little instruction is required to use Break A Leg. Methodology is basically point, click, and read. As a result it is easy and intuitive to use. The module's visual appeal is very good. The degree of user engagement is satisfactory. |
| Concerns: |
Break A Leg is not really interactive. It is chiefly comprised of links to other web sites. One particular link, How Major Medical Insurance Works is fairly long and difficult to navigate between sections (forward movement only). As a result it is easy to get lost between the sections. Linking to so many other sites leaves no control over the stability of the content, which may change over time. Encountering dead links is also a risk associated with the use of this module. |
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