High engagement, high quality: A guiding framework for developing empirically informed asynchronous e‐learning programs for health professional educators

Abstract

E-learning involves the transfer of skills and knowledge via technology so that learners can access meaningful and authentic educational materials. While learner engagement is important, in the context of healthcare education, pedagogy must not be sacrificed for edu-tainment style instructional design. Consequently, health professional educators need to be competent in the use of current web-based educational technologies so that learners are able to access relevant and engaging e-learning materials without restriction. The increasing popularity of asynchronous e-learning programs developed for use outside of formal education institutions has made this need more relevant. In these contexts, educators must balance design and functionality to deliver relevant, cost-effective, sustainable, and accessible programs that overcome scheduling and geographic barriers for learners. This paper presents 10 guiding design principles and their application in the development of an e-learning program for general practice nurses focused on behavior change. Consideration of these principles will assist educators to develop high quality, pedagogically sound, engaging, and interactive e-learning resources.

Learner satisfaction, engagement and performances in an online module: Implications for institutional e-learning policy

“…One of the critical elements affecting the quality of online education is the need to ensure that learners are effectively and adequately engaged in the educational process (Robinson & Hullinger 2008;Sinclair et al 2017). Learner engagement refers to the effort the learner makes to promote his or her psychological commitment to stay engaged in the learning process to acquire knowledge and build his or her critical thinking (Dixson 2015).…”

“…Learner-centred approaches further imply that the right balance has to be established between masscustomization (one-size-ts-all), and personalized learner support within such environments. Learner support is an essential aspect of quality assurance to be taken into account in technology-enabled learning policies (Sinclair et al 2017).…”

The effectiveness of assertiveness communication training programs for healthcare professionals and students: A systematic review

“…Although easy to access and cost effective, no e-learning programs were used as either the primary or supplementary intervention in any of the included studies. The underlying assumption for face-to-face approaches may be that communication training, including assertive communication, is more effective when participants are given opportunities for deliberate practice with the provision of immediate feedback (Sinclair et al, 2017). However, the potential for e-learning approaches has not been adequately explored and therefore, there are opportunities for this approach to be trialled and evaluated.…”

Good practices in asynchronous e-learning — a short guideline document for Polish medical teachers — a pilot study

“…It is the learning outcome, not the process of education itself, that should be emphasised. Learning outcomes are useful because they provide a template for a lesson and allow this plan to be adhered to, from the choice of learning material to activities in order to assess whether learning has really occurred [4,9,38]. Unfortunately, due to a lack of defined learning outcomes, this process could not be followed in any of the examined courses.…”

“…Unfortunately, due to a lack of defined learning outcomes, this process could not be followed in any of the examined courses. Meanwhile, learning outcomes are also extremely important from the learners' point of view because they provide them with aim, guidance, and information about what to focus on [2,11,38]. The aim should be clear in order to motivate students, otherwise the whole course is just content [11].…”