Michael Sultan considers the pros and cons of online education.
Although online learning existed before the outbreak of the pandemic, it seems that since Covid-19 became part of our lives that a day doesn’t go by when I’m not emailed multiple offers for online courses, webinars and other digital learning experiences.
Of course, during the pandemic this was rather useful. We all had to get our CPD somewhere, and while services were frozen it was a good chance for us to brush up on our skills. Plus, with face-to-face contact impossible, online learning really did provide a safety net for us to fall back on.
But is this form of education likely to become the norm?
What got me thinking about this topic was that I came across a study that examined the impact of e-learning on dental educators and their opinions about adopting this method of instruction more in the future. This study, that spoke to a small pool of educators, found that the majority of these individuals had gained confidence in teaching via digital means during this time and hoped to adopt these technologies more in the future so that blended learning approaches were available to all.
But what are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach for us professionals?
The good side to virtual education
Arguably, one of the biggest benefits of online learning is that, in many cases, it provides a more flexible approach. After a long week of working in practice, having to book an in-person seminar somewhere, travel to the destination and find accommodation and so on can be a daunting task, especially if this is information that could as easily be communicated via an online channel, such as a webinar. The excellent thing about webinars is that many of them, past their initial broadcast, are available for anytime access. This way, we can better tailor our learning around our already tight schedules, slotting in an hour webinar when we can rather than having to interrupt our usual working lives in order to attend a conference miles away.
Online learning also has a significant financial advantage. As delivery of information in this format doesn’t require renting an event space, the courses themselves are likely to be much more affordable. Plus, without the need to find accommodation, food, travel and other expenses, online learning has opened up a more convenient, affordable route for professionals at all levels.
Research that has examined the advantages of e-learning found that this method of teaching may also help to improve information retention, and that in total, this method of learning is far less time-consuming, meaning that any skills learnt can be implemented faster.
The negatives of online learning
Whilst all these perceived benefits should have us all glued to our screens, we also need to remember that unlike other industries, dentistry retains a very important practical element. As such, the advantages of online learning are somewhat limited in their applications so far – I don’t know about you, but if I heard that a professional had learnt how to place a dental implant from watching a video alone, I’d probably have concerns.
That being said, even without the practical element of our work being taken into consideration, e-learning isn’t infallible. So much that makes working in dentistry enjoyable is the ability to bounce ideas off our colleagues and connect at events – if these were no longer available, it would undoubtedly have a considerable impact on our career fulfilment. Plus, in an industry that is facing tough times due to the pandemic, it really is a good opportunity to for us to embrace these chances to gather and create a sense of solidarity and understanding – it’s less about strength in numbers and more about finding compassion among those of us who really understand what’s been going on in our world during the past two years.
There’s also the hurdles of bad internet connections, confusing technology and other impediments to smooth online learning that can cause problems. Not every single dental professional is a whizz kid on a computer, and while we probably all have a fairly good understanding of how online video communication and other sources work, there’s no denying that a dodgy internet connection can nip any learning in the bud – all beyond our control.
The last thing I would say against online education is that there’s a real level of self-motivation required to make the most of it. For some professionals this will be a breeze – we’re used to working to schedules and making the most of our time – but for others this may not be the case. When you attend an event, the learning is there for you to take. When you have to hunt down courses and do them in your own time, the motivation levels can drop, especially if you are already exhausted and are trying too hard to slot education into an already very tight schedule.
What’s the way forward?
In my opinion, the pandemic has proven that online learning is a very valuable tool that perhaps should have been utilised more before we were forced to all use it over the last two years. However, I’m also a firm believer that face-to-face learning, interaction and understanding is a part of the lifeblood of dentistry, especially as the practical side of what we do is so paramount to success.
No matter your preference, a blended learning approach is likely to give you the best of both worlds. What this boom in e-learning has really done is prove that we can take a more tailored approach to how we learn within our profession, and that, to me, seems like a very good thing, as long as we don’t start to lean too heavily on e-learning and forgo some of the parts of being in this profession that make it such a rewarding field to work in.