Creating effective online learning in an evolving healthcare profession

Abstract

In order to meet the demands of society, higher education institutions are offering more opportunities for online education. Although distance education courses are not as common in healthcare fields, research has proven that the use of online instruction techniques can improve student learning, even for clinical based concepts. In order to provide the student with the best educational experience, many aspects must be taken into account when creating an online course. Some aspects for the instructor to consider include the course design, the method of content delivery and assessment as well as the appropriate selection of various technological tools to incorporate within the course in order to promote student engagement. This article presents an overview of theories and applications of online learning and describes the implementation of proven techniques in order to create an effective online course for a distance education based allied health program.