Multiprofessional Faculty Development - E-Learning in Clinical Teaching

What is e-learning? e-learning is now very much part of mainstream health professions' education. Medical students and trainees are very familiar with using computers and other technologies as part of their day-today life, in healthcare management and in education. In this article e-learning refers to electronically mediated learning in a digital format (using computers and the internet) to enhance or facilitate teaching and learning (Bullen, 2006). This definition covers the use of technologies to supplement face-to-face teaching through to distance teaching opportunities in which teacher and student may never meet face-to-face such as British Medical Journal (BMJ) Learning (Walsh and Dillner, 2003). Ellaway and Masters (2008) distinguish between e-learning, e-teaching and e-assessment, highlighting that e-learning is not just about the content and the delivery of teaching, but is a pedagogical approach that aims 'to be flexible, engaging and learner-centred: one that encourages interaction (staff:staff, staff:student, student:student) collaboration and communication'. Although there are huge opportunities to enhance clinical teaching through e-learning, a number of challenges exist in addition to determining pedagogical aspects. Teachers will need to be familiar with the range of innovations available so that they can select appropriate means of developing content, facilitating the process of learning and enabling communication. Other challenges include becoming familiar with new systems, processes and online environments; making time to filter through and select appropriate materials, having time to support learners as they utilise e-learning and keeping materials and activities up to date. Thinking point: What are the key challenges for you as a clinical teacher in introducing e-elarning? 'The challenge for medical educators is to be aware of the new changes and to consider how the latest technology can be used to enhance learning' (Sandars and Haythornthwaite, 2007). Technological innovations appear tempting, particularly when students are learning at a distance and when there is such an array of possibilities available. However if we are going to talk about e-learning in an educationally useful way we need to start by talking first about teaching and learning. Taking an approach that first identifies and looks for answers to educational challenges will be more likely to result in the appropriate use of technologies (Laurillard, 2008). Technology must take second place to good practice in education, hovering 'shyly in the wings, ready to lend its power, but only as needed' (Ahmed, 2003).