E-learning: is there anything special about the "E"?

Full Abstract

E-learning has been widely utilized in medical education and suggested by some proponents to represent a fundamental advance in educational methodology. We challenge this conclusion by examining e-learning in the context of broader learning theories, specifically as they relate to instructional design and methods. Core tenets of educational design are applied to e-learning in a unified model for instructional design, and examples of e-learning technologies are examined in the context of medical education, with reflections on research questions generated by these new modalities. Throughout, we argue that e-learning is a tool that, when designed appropriately, can be used to meet worthy educational goals.

Author information

Author/s: Cook, David A (DA); McDonald, Furman S (FS);

Affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Perspectives in biology and medicine (Perspect Biol Med), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-; vol 51 (issue 1) : pp 5-21

Dates: Created 2008/01/14; Completed 2008/04/17;

PMID: 18192762, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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