Twelve tips for supporting online distance learners on medical post-registration courses

There is an increased interest in online distance learning programmes targeted at medical professionals as they are often marketed as providing an ideal way to study due to the flexibility to access high quality materials anywhere, any time and any place. Traditionally, however, online distance lear...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical teacher 2005-08, Vol.27 (5), p.396-400
Main Authors: Smith, Liz, Curry, Margaret
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer-Assisted Instruction - utilization
Courses
Curriculum
Distance learning
Education, Distance
Education, Medical, Continuing - methods
Health education
Humans
Internet
Learning support
Medical personnel
Medical professionals
Medical schools
Online Systems - utilization
Retention
Social Support
Students
Technical support
Time Factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:There is an increased interest in online distance learning programmes targeted at medical professionals as they are often marketed as providing an ideal way to study due to the flexibility to access high quality materials anywhere, any time and any place. Traditionally, however, online distance learning programmes have low retention rates. Online distance learners are distinctive students who have more constraints than traditional face-to-face students such as time issues as many are working full-time and have family commitments. Lack of student support has been identified as a major factor in students dropping out of online distance learning courses. This article examines the characteristics of a good support system for online distance learning courses and provides practical advice on implementation from development through to evaluation.
ISSN:0142-159X
1466-187X
DOI:10.1080/01421590500086649