Abstract:
There are many terms that describe the employment of assorted technologies via the internet (or local intranet) in order to assist and better learning, both in terms of performance and knowledge. This integration of ICT with learning theory has been popularly coined 'e-learning or 'web based learning', (WBL). The effective use of these novel technologies should optimise learning and should also justify the considerable investments in time and money that are required to properly establish them. To achieve this it follows that our use of educational technologies must be guided by established educational theory. E-learning has been heralded as a unique tool that can assist in the establishment of modern pedagogical models in particular by enabling individualised learning while promoting an interactive role for the educator. In a web based learning environment the educator can act as a facilitator of learning, as opposed to a mere disseminator of content that is the role sometimes ascribed to instructors in more traditional models. While there is much discussion regarding how best to implement the various new tools that e-learning offers, the increasing number of publications relating to educational technologies highlights the need for evidence relating to when, how and which option to employ. This report will address these issues. We will present the existing research or empirical data available that gives evidence to guide informed decisions and support definitive protocols regarding the use of these technologies in medical education. In addition similar data from outside of a medical environment gives breadth to our understanding of the problem.