Distant learning in medical education has several advantages but also limitations. It allows flexibility in pace and location but cannot replace traditional learning which relies on hands-on training. During COVID-19, online classes became necessary but are not ideal long term as medical education requires practical skills development. While technology improves access, infrastructure limitations in Bangladesh remain barriers. Overall distant learning shows promise when blended with in-person methods but full replacement of traditional teaching is not recommended.

2. Distant Learning in Medical Education: Bangladesh
Perspective
PROSPECT OF DISTANT LEARNING
PRESENTER
DR SUMAN KUMAR SAHA
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF CARDIOLOGY
DHAKA MEDICAL COLLEGE

3. Definition of distant learning
 Distant learning or e-learning, describes the use of information technology or the internet for
learning activities. The integration of e-learning into undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical
education is consistent with adult learning theory and presents a revolution in medical education.
 Distance learning is conventionally defined as: any educational or learning process or system in which the
teacher and instructor are separated geographically or in time from his or her students; or in which
students are separated from other students or educational resources.

4. Related concepts
 E-learning
 Web learning
 Computer assisted learning
 Synchronous e-learning(live broadcast ,same time but physically separated)
 Asynchronous e-learning(stored/recorded audio/video web presentation,learners can freely decide when
to study)

5. Tools of distant learning

8. The Role of distant Learning in Medical
Education
 The environment in which medical students learn today is vastly different than it was 20 years ago when
the Internet was not such a dominant tool in medical education. Distant learning platforms are now
increasingly utilized by medical schools around the world and comprise adaptive tutorials, audiovisual
clips, and virtual models.
 These educational media possess several distinct advantages over traditional didactic models of
instruction, including the ability to update material in a timely manner to ensure delivery of the latest
evidence-based content to trainees. E-learning has been demonstrated to be as effective as conventional
didacticism and can be used to foster self-directed learning.

9. The Role of distant learning in Medical Education
contd
 It encourages medical students to exert greater control over their learning by allowing
flexibility over content and pace. In such models, educators can evaluate competencies
objectively through online assessments, enabling students to receive personalized feedback
for self-improvement.
 E-learning will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the environment in which future
medical students learn. The gradual shift towards e-learning is seen as a catalyst for applying
adult learning theory, which will see more medical educators taking on the role of facilitator
and assessor of competency.

10. The Role of distant learning in Medical
Education contd
 Most medical students view distant learning as enjoyable and effective but, interestingly, do not
see it replacing traditional didactic methods.
 Studies on nursing and medical students have demonstrated that satisfaction is consistently
higher in a blended learning environment compared with a traditional lecture setting.
 Medical educators should continue to engage with e-learning in an effort to come up with
innovative approaches to train medical students.

11. Distant learning model
 Distance learning (E-learning) as a part of tele-education has gained popularity in the past decade;
however, its use is highly variable among medical schools and appears to be more common in basic
medical science courses than in clinical education.
 Distance learning does not preclude traditional learning processes; frequently it is used in conjunction
with in-person classroom or professional training procedures and practices. Tele-education has mostly
been used in biomedical education as a blended learning method, which combines tele-education
technology with traditional instructor-led training, where, for example, a lecture or demonstration is
supplemented by an online tutorial.

12. Distant learning model
 Distance learning is used for self-education, tests, services and for examinations in medicine
i.e. in terms of self-education and individual examination services.
 The possibility of working in the exercise mode with image files and questions is an attractive
way of self education. Automated tracking and reporting of learners’ activities lessen faculty
administrative burden. Moreover, e-learning can be designed to include outcomes assessment
to determine whether learning has occurred

13. DISTANCE LEARNING AS MODERN METHOD OF MEDICAL
EDUCATION
 The most important factor which influences the changes occurring in education has been the installation
and development of the Internet and electronic multimedia techniques.
 Distance learning is used for self-education, tests, services and for the examinations in medicine, i.e. in
terms of self-education and individual examination services. The possibility to work in the exercise mode
will image files and questions is an attractive way for self-education

14. Advantages of Distant learning
 the economical factor
 a student has 24 hour access to needed information
 he/she is given the opportunity to learn the subject in his/hers own time and speed
 he/she can access learning materials independently of a place or time
 he/she is given the opportunity to learn how to work independently
 using e-mail or chat rooms he/she is able to contact a professor or his/hers assistant if there are any
questions or confusions regarding lectures;

15. Advantages of flexible education
 More efficiency
 Increase capacities of educational institutions
 Education can be easily adopted to the needs of education on-the-job
 Costs of educational process are smaller
 It is possible to distribute the education uniformly, thus the new educational programs are available for
fields outside of educational and economic centres
 It enables the possibility of access to the foreign educational resources to the various institutions
 Superior quality of the knowledge gained

16. Disadvantages of distant learning
 More initial Cost
 Net connectivity
 Expertise required
 Availability of resources
 Lack of trained faculty
 Not yet fully evaluated

17. Traditional Vs Distant learning

18. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education:Bangladesh perspevctive
 Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with nearly 160
million people.Transforming the potential people into a productive force and ensuring a
dynamic environment for social, economic, and political development is still a big challenge
for its government.
 Education, therefore,has been recognized as a priority sector by all governments since its
independence in 1971. Today, digital information is everywhere and available to almost
everyone. In this era of information technology, medical education is now confronted with
novel challenges.

19. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education:Bangladesh perspevctive contd
 On the one hand, the online healthcare information boom is continually challenging medical
students to rapidly update and expand their existing body of knowledge.
 On the other hand, the informatics competency requirements of healthcare technology, such
as utilizing electronic healthcare records, learning systems, and aided-diagnosis systems, also
present a new challenge for medical students to master even for the so-called digital native
learners.
 To prepare qualified doctors for today’s environment in which the internet provides ubiquitous
digital information,the teaching methods used for educating and training medical school
students should be reconsidered..

20. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education:Bangladesh perspevctive contd
 Offline learning, or traditional classroom teaching, represents teaching in the pre-internet era. Although
some forms of information technology have already been utilized to assist instruction, traditional teaching
methods required that teaching and learning should take place at the same time and place.
 Online learning, also called internet-based learning or web-based learning, does not have the time and
space limitations, and therefore, makes teaching and learning separable via internet-based information
delivery systems.

21. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education:Bangladesh perspevctive contd
 Both online and offline teaching has been widely used in higher education.The use of online learning has
vastly increased since 2012,as evidenced by the thriving of massive open online courses (MOOCs).
 However, evaluating the effectiveness of online and offline teaching remains difficult. Evaluations have
failed to reach consistent conclusion, resulting in complex decisions when selecting a teaching method for
medical education. The effectiveness of online learning is influenced by many factors.

22. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education:Bangladesh perspevctive contd
 Some factors create barriers for online learning, such as administrative issues, social interaction, academic skills,
technical skills, learner motivation, time and support for studies, technical problems, cost, and access to the
internet.
 Other factors could result in low-quality online learning, for example, an ineffective design and arrangement of
multimedia materials. The effective analysis of online and offline teaching in medical education, therefore, should
depend on a comprehensive consideration of how they are used across groups.
 It should all be assessed including the learning goals, design properties of the learning materials, evaluation of
learning outcomes, etc.

23. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education:Bangladesh perspevctive contd
 Internet connections are very few, this model has high potential to attract large crowd, which helps to
entrepreneur to be a part of e-learning.
 People can learn what they need to learn and go at their own pace.
 High quality Internet infrastructure and networking will help to deliver high quality courses. CD-ROM
training now offers movie-quality lectures by famous Professors that include a variety of quizzes and
exercises.
 Computers with high internet infrastructure will help to reduce the overheads as there won't be any
recruitment, training, and up gradation of faculties.

24. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education:Bangladesh perspevctive contd
 Due to socio-economic conditions, large number of students still avoids schools; e-learning may involve
them in studies.
 E-learning provides the courses round the clock i.e. 7 days a week and 24 hours a day, which further attracts
working peoples, students and even individuals.
 The courses provided in this model are having wide variety of courses based on IT and non IT topics, which
is an additional benefit to attract the large crowd from all the background.
 The learners need not pay any additional amount for any up gradation on the courses once being a
member. This saves learners times and cost.

25. Development of distant learning culture

26. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education in COVID 19 pandemic
 The government of Bangladesh closed all in campus educational activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic
since 18th of March 2020 and that clicked a sudden pause of teaching-learning activities. As like in other
countries, the online class has introduced a major focus in the education system of Bangladesh.
 However, virtual teaching had been a new experience in almost all medical colleges; sudden closures of
face-to-class gave the least opportunity to both the faculty and students to get adopted with the new
option of virtual class and classroom.

27. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education in COVID 19 pandemic cont
 The online classes for medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic situation are a
positive and noble initiative within limitations. However, it also felt that such classes cannot be
a replacement of classroom teaching for a long time as medical education is primarily based on
practical, lab tests, patient’s tests, professional and highly specialized.
 Now a days Microsoft and many other developers provide efficient tools for distant learning.
Unfortunately, those tools are not very much integrated into our formal medical education
system.

28. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education in COVID 19 pandemic cont
 However, as prerequisites, availability of the digital device and required internet connection must be
ensured.
 Universities, UGC and other stakeholders like the Ministry of Telecommunication who regulates internet
prices, as well as service providers, sit together and go for an open dialogue hearing from the students
and teachers. Realistic solutions should come from a coordinated effort that may not be derived by hasty
moves.

29. Prospect of distant learning in medical
Education in COVID 19 pandemic cont
 A recent observational study on 51 medical students in Kushtia Medical College (by Mst Shakila Parvin)
shows that, only 29% of students think online medical education has some prospects but not beneficial
for the long-term. They think online education has become a new normal. Nobody knows when exactly
all the educational institutions will open. It will help students to advance their academic progress.
Psychological trauma can be removed due to online education during the COVID-19 period.
 However, 71% of respondents think there are no prospects in online medical education as it is a very
crucial and technical and practical knowledge based education. Further larger and comprehensive
studies needed to make further evaluation.

30. Evaluation of students’ attitude toward distance learning during
the pandemic (Covid-19): Yassine Ismaili,ELTE university,Hungary

31. Evaluation of students’ attitude toward distance learning during
the pandemic (Covid-19): Yassine Ismaili,ELTE university,Hungary

32. Conclusion
 With advances in technologies and social media, distance learning is a new and rapidly growing approach
for undergraduate, postgraduate, and health care providers. Regardless of reported benefits, medical
students preferred the blended approach in teaching as distance learning represented a major challenge to
acquire adequate clinical medical skills. Satisfaction in distance learning is strongly linked to students’ prior
experience in distance learning as well as instructors’ experiences and interactions.
 Technical and infrastructural resources reported as a major challenge for implementing distance learning,
so understanding technological, financial, institutional, educators, and student barriers are essential for the
successful implementation of distance learning in medical education.

33. Take Home Messages
 Distant learning is relatively a modern method of study
 With the advent of technology distant learning is becoming more popular
 It is accepted by both teachers and learners due to its flexible nature
 Recent COVID-19 pandemic make the distant learning process as the only way of learning
 Prospect of distant learning in medical education is not good for a long time as it is practical tool based
education process
 Hybrid or blended learning can be good option in current perspective