Journal of dental education
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Comparative Study
Comparing face-to-face, synchronous, and asynchronous learning: postgraduate dental resident preferences.
The Department of Dental Medicine of Lutheran Medical Center has developed an asynchronous online curriculum consisting of prerecorded PowerPoint presentations with audio explanations. The focus of this study was to evaluate if the new asynchronous format satisfied the educational needs of the residents compared to traditional lecture (face-to-face) and synchronous (distance learning) formats. Lectures were delivered to 219 dental residents employing face-to-face and synchronous formats, as well as the new asynchronous format; 169 (77 percent) participated in the study. ⋯ The residents also rated the quality of student-instructor and student-student interactions in the synchronous and asynchronous formats significantly higher after taking the lecture series than they did before taking it. However, they rated the face-to-face format as significantly more conducive to student-instructor and student-student interaction. While the study found technology had a major impact on the efficacy of this curricular model, the results suggest that the asynchronous format can be an effective way to teach a postgraduate course.
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A growing body of literature suggests that today's learners have changed and education must change as well since Millennial generation students expect technology to be used in their coursework. This study sought to determine what educational technology is being used in U. S. dental hygiene programs, what student and faculty perceptions are of the effectiveness of technology, and what barriers exist to implementing educational technology. ⋯ The greatest perceived barrier to implementing technology was technical difficulties. This study suggests that support services should be available to faculty and students to ensure successful implementation of technology. Dental hygiene educators have adopted many types of educational technology, but more data are needed to determine best practices.