Evaluation of Different Forms of Interactivity in Distance Learning

Introduction. A series of experiments involving 3 dental schools has shown that distance learning can be acceptable to residents and effective in teaching concepts that are fundamental to orthodontic practice. Methods. Residents in each dental school participated in seminars, clinical conferences and clinical seminars via high-speed Internet connections. The acceptability of this form of instruction was judged from evaluation forms completed by the residents. In addition, its effectiveness in producing learning gains was judged from preand post-tests on the seminar topics. Results. The improvement from preto post-test scores after observing a sequence of distance seminars was similar to direct instruction. Orthodontic residents rated the educational experiences very positively. While live participation in seminars via video conferencing was preferred to live observation without real-time interaction and to later observation of a recording, each approach provided similar improvement in test scores. Conclusions. The acceptability of the distance seminars appeared to be influenced by the instructor’s personality and teaching style in facilitating interaction, the seminar subject, the residents’ comfort level in dealing with this technology, and the sequence for interaction vs observation. Further development of recorded seminars with live follow-up discussions has the potential to supplement distance learning instruction in a cost-effective manner.