e-learning is the need of the Hour: for the motion

• E-learning plays an important role in the educational growth.

• 21st century declared to be the age of information and communication technology. This is the time when more people everywhere are involved in acquiring new knowledge and skills.

• We can not work in the society without on-line technology & has entered the field of education.

• The integration of e-learning in medical education is the need of the hour. Medical Council of India (MCI), the regulatory body of medical education in India, has recognized the importance of the technology and has included the use of electronic means in the broad competency “Lifelong learner committed to continuous improvement of skills and knowledge”.

• The student has to continuously acquire new skills and keep himself abreast of latest development, a goal presently considered difficult to attain in the absence of technology. The use of e-learning can help them achieve the goal of continuous professional development, considering the vastness of syllabus, paucity of time, and already overburdened schedules.

• ‘Digital natives’, “generation Y”, or the ‘net generation’, with sophisticated technical skills and learning preferences --for which traditional education is unprepared/do not match.

• The differences are so significant that the nature of education itself must fundamentally change to accommodate the skills and interests of these ‘digital natives’.

• Technology is a powerful tool for effective teaching and deeper learning. Incorporating technology into teaching and learning activities introduces new thinking about teaching effectively.

• It also increases opportunities to invent new learning experiences for students that will take us further beyond traditional classroom or lecture-based learning.

• E-learning adds many dimensions to the educational process and if utilized well, has the potential to enhance both the students and instructors educational experience.

• In this changing paradigm, educators no longer serve as the sole distributors of content, but are becoming facilitators of learning and assessors of competency. E-learning offers the opportunity for educators to evolve into this new role by providing them with a set of online resources to facilitate the learning process.

• A key advantage of e-learning is that learners have control over the content, learning sequence, pace of learning, time and, often, media offering choices to suit different learning styles.

• Evidence suggests that e-learning is more efficient because learners gain knowledge, skills, and attitudes faster than through traditional methods.

• E-learners demonstrate increased retention rates and better utilization of content, resulting in better achievement of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Clark, 2002).

• The presence of desired resources likely makes internalization more efficient as it can be accessed at any time and can be carefully scripted and delivered to facilitate internalization.

• Increased accessibility are helpful for those with full time jobs or family obligations, to take classes remotely while securing or maintaining employment or housing at a distant location.

E-LEARNING SERVICES CAN SUPPORT

• Shortage of trained faculty and increase in number of medical students and colleges in India.

• Deteriorating standards in Medical education ??

• Online resources can reach out across time and space barriers.

BENEFITS

• e-learning can result in significant cost-savings, compared with traditional instructor-led learning (Gibbons, 2000).

• Savings are related to reduced instructor training time, travel costs, labor costs, reduced institutional infrastructure, and the chance to expand programs with new educational technologies (Gibbons 2000).

• Take advantage of digital technology and workers in resource poor countries with learning copyright-free content to resources that will be effective in improving health outcomes

• Develop short learning modules that actively engage the learner

• Involve health staff in resource-poor countries

• Learner satisfaction is high with e-learning as compared to more traditional forms of education.

• Effective educational complement in many scenarios.

• With the growing prevalence of online resources for medical students, evaluating the role of e-learning as a primary source for educational purposes may be feasible in the near future.

• Cook explains that e-learning, one to be studied and evaluated for “when” and “how” it should be utilized, and not “if ” it should be utilized.

• The shift toward competency-based curricula, the complexity and breadth of medical education content, changes in health care delivery and advances in medicine have all increased demands on doctors to update their knowledge constantly. These factors require adaptations in education and e-learning is a proposed solution.

Regards,

Dr Arvind Sangavi B.