Dear Scholars,
You all are well aware that COVID-19 has disrupted every aspect of our lives including K12 and higher education sectors. Keeping in view the WHO recommendations, nations are enforcing social distancing in all fields including primary, secondary, higher secondary and university education. If we think positively, then this culprit COVID-19 is a blessing in disguise as the people are now taking care of personal hygiene, cleanliness of their surroundings and trying their best to improve their immunity. Besides educational institutions are reaching to the students.
During the past three months, the schools and universities around the globe have extended their outreach from a confined classroom to the students` bedrooms. Now the students can learn with more flexibility without wasting their times in travelling to their respective schools. The online mode of education has proven fruitful as it has lead to reduce institutional expenses which they had been spending on building & maintenance of infrastructure, electricity, furniture, multimedia and computing equipment. There is likelihood that tuition fee may be reduced with time if the situation prolongs (god forbid).
Apart from the above facts, I personally believe that online mode of education can not replace laboratory and clinical training of students who are pursuing their undergraduate studies in medicine, dentistry, engineering and such other technical fields.
What do you think? Will this batch of undergraduate students who are learning through online media i.e. LMS, Zoom, Webax etc, be able to acquire the professional competencies required in their respective fields. If the answer is no, then how can we utilize online platforms to ensure delivery of the quality education and achievement of course and program learning outcomes?
Thank you .
I do not think so. We know that students after graduation learn significantly during practice and from real situations. We might need to train them in this area to foster such a process. I think students who have completed the first four years in the program and now in the middle of their final year will be affected by such change, and the quality will not be different.
Learning is never about the number of weeks or hours. We have no evidence that students who complete medicine in a three-year course (as it is in some universities in Canada) are doing less than students who graduated from a four-year program. However, I think we need to look at the student selection criteria to join medicine and include items about learning with less support, ability to accomplish things online, skills in coping and online communication etc. More research is needed into such area.
Thanks Prof. Samy Azer for your valuable feedback. Yes I agree with you that internship after graduation enables the graduate to learn real time experience and hands on skills while treating the patients factually. But how can we compensate the required credit/contact hours specified for laboratory practicals and Clinical training through online mode of education? Although computer simulations and case studies if added may be beneficial to some extent but in my opinion these would not be sufficient in case of Dentistry, Surgery and Engineering where students have to learn psychomotor skills, hands and eye coordination and manual dexterity through their lab and clinical training.
Thanks, Muhammad Shoaib Ahmedani .Some universities moved the assessment to the first two weeks in the new academic year. In most Western countries they will conduct the alternative online assessment; not extensive and comprehensive but focused on the learning outcomes (MCQs, Short-Answer Questions, Work-place Assessment and Online portfolio), all or part of these. Then will calculate the average of performance in all years and the average of performance on the current year. Through a computer program, we can calculate from these two means and the scores from the online examinations, the final score of a student. The margin of error is small, and compensate as we do the whole cohort.
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Samy Azer Abdelkader Mohamed Elsayed Thanks Dear. Jazak Allah khair
No. As we all know before they graduate they are almost equip will full knowledge and they cam compete with this modern time.
Clinical experience cannot be replaced, in Dentistry the students needs lo learn how to behave with the patients in real situations. In some cases, the online classes are better for the students, because they improve the self regulation in the learning process.
Dear Dr. Zorica Popović
, thanks for your comments. The same is my concern. Unlike medicine, dentistry and Engineering are skill based, which needs laboratory, preclinical and clinical undergraduate trainings before internship. I fear quality of graduates of Surgeons, Dentists, gynecologists and Engineers graduating in the coming year/s will be affected if the online mode of training prolongs.
While we have taken the didactic portion of the Dental Hygiene program to online form, in Ontario Canada the requirements for the clinical portion must still be met. Therefore we will not be eligible to graduate till those clinical requirements have been fulfilled.
Thank you so much for the supportive answer. This was the purpose of asking questions that didactic component can not compensate laboratory, preclinical or clinical requirements whether in classroom or through online teaching. You and your school have made excellent decision to fulfill all requirements for each course before graduation.
As these specializations required applied side of study, they may be affected in one way or another.
Dentistry is art and science. With online training one can learn science but aquiring skills need preclinical and clinical sessions. Specially in dentistry undergraduates work on patients for 3 yrs before independent practice. Online teaching in no way can teach and assess these competencies.
No matter what, currently nothing can replace clinical skill set acquisition without hands-on clinical practice, that is central to deliver optimum patient care. But then, it really depends long this crisis lasts... capacity building in virtual learning environment (VLE) and risk management plan could go a long way in salvaging a crisis as this.
Please go to this link:
https://wenr.wes.org/2018/03/education-in-the-philippines
education can be done online for the theory part 100% . however regarding the practical part it is part to do it on campus ,but in certain situations some academic staff can teach you in different ways the practical principles and it will be perfect .
I think yes ,because e learning is only covering the theoretical part of the study there is a practical part or clinical one that cannot be covered in theses circumstances
Although online teaching is better alternative in pandemic but certainly not as effective as conventional face to face teaching when in comes to medicine and dentistry's practical component.
Agreed Raya Al-Naimi for your valuable input. Even the theoretical component remains thirsty due to the level of interaction, technological problems, internet issues, and the absence of a physical classroom environment.
Exactly Dr. Zorica Popović
. But you know we are forced to adopt an online mode of education forcibly. What do you suggest to make online learning more effective?
Yes, Dr. Naseer Ahmed . I agree with you in toto. can you give some valuable suggestions to make online education more effective and lose to the classroom and lab/clinical environment?
Yes, the quality of education of graduates of all health specialties and even specialties which require practical training will be adversely affected. More emphasis on simulation methods and problem based learning may be helpful.
Well said Zorica Popović
I especially like the phrase "Mission Impossible"...
Thanks, dr. Zorica Popović
for your valuable suggestions. Yes, it is true that we can use the online mode of instruction as an alternative to classroom learning. There is no doubt that technical education needs grooming of students in practical and clinical environments. But again the danger of COVID-19 crossing infection is there. The academic is, therefore, thinking to reduce the duration of the practical lab as well as clinical sessions to minimize the risk. What do you think, we should introduce practical and clinical simulation training so that when students enter the lab and clinics, they already have acquired the bais information and training about the task or skill for which they enter the physical environment?
Thanks, Dr. Sanaa N Al- Haj Ali for your feedback. I totally agree with you that simulation techniques will boost practical learning while staying at home. I think different software and simulation models be developed where students are able to take the history of the patients, diagnose the issue, and suggest treatment plans. After attending the simulation session at home, it will be easy and time-saving for the students to handle similar cases in the clinics with more focused and comparatively reduced interaction with the patients.
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