Blended Learning in Medical Education specific course or a content that has clear objectives by incorporating suitable teaching-learning activities. Mr. Z. Zayapragassarazan Assistant Professor of Educational Technology Department of Medical Education and The following face-to-face interactions and technology mediated interactions may be considered Dr. Santosh Kumar for effective blended learning: Professor & Head of Departments of Urology & Medical Education, Interactive lecture cum demonstration JIPMER, Puducherry. A short lecture that starts with a brainstorming The goal of medical education is to have well- session could be delivered on the topic of the educated and competent physicians to address the session. A demonstration on the topic if applicable healthcare issues facing today. Hence the teaching may be incorporated suitably. Chalk board and other of medical students has gained the attention of demonstration objects may suitably be used for this. academicians. Medical education faces lot of After the demonstration a small group discussion challenges with respect to pedagogical moderated by the faculty can be organized. If advancements in higher education and the changing necessary a buzz session on the topic can also be learning needs of the medical students. This has introduced to make the learners gather and reflect stressed the need for newer teaching and learning their ideas on the topic of discussion. strategies, resources and learning environment on the part of both the students and teachers. Multimedia presentations Certain contexts of the topic could be covered by The integration of technology into medical pedagogy using videos and power point presentations. has proved effective in many ways. This has made the medical education more flexible, learner Group discussions centered, interactive and collaborative among teachers and learners1. Blended learning is one such Certain identified areas of the content can serve as strategy that has proved effective in all fields of topics for group discussion which will help learners in higher education including medical education. better understanding of the chosen content. Blended learning refers to the systematic integration of online and face-to-face engagement to support Quiz and enhance meaningful interaction between A short quiz with limited questions from identified students, teachers and resources2. Using principles contents can be conducted by providing immediate of adult education, blended learning allows for feedback which will improve the learners’ focused greater flexibility and responsiveness in the teaching attention. and learning process3. Expert address It is also proved that the limitations of time and space, instructional media and methods can be met A video call is now very much possible with the help through integration of online instruction which is a of smart phones. With due appointment, an expert in component of blended learning4. In the present age the respective field may be asked to address the of information revolution and penetration of learners with some novel information about the topic technology and ICT in all fields of education where by calling him/her over a smart phone. The speech medical education is not an exception, it is to be can be projected to the whole class for listening. taken care that technology or ICT should be not used indiscriminately or not to be used just for the sake of Using laptops in the classroom application because application of technology or ICT If lap tops are available with learners and the is highly context-dependent. If certain concepts can classroom has internet connectivity (possibly with be delivered through traditional or face to face mode wifi) important websites of respective subject can be it is always better to follow the same for proven suggested for the learners to browse and reflect on expected outcomes. Unless a technology assures the topic in different views. This can also be done by for better learning outcomes it should not be the facilitator him/herself using an interactive board considered as a strategy and again it depends on the (smart board). experience and expertise of the concerned teacher in using a particular technology or a teaching technique. Collaborative learning 'Blended learning' includes learning activities that An online collaborative writing of assignment or a involve a systematic combination of co-present (face- discussion may be mooted out with the help of online to-face) interactions and technologically mediated tools such as Google docs. interactions between students, teachers and learning resources. Blended learning can be designed for a Peer to peer presentations 4 NTTC Bulletin (ISSN 2250-396X) 2012; 19(2):4-5. Blended learning can also be extended to the next 3. Lewin LO, Singh M, Bateman BL, Glover PB. session through different ways. One of the way is by Improving education in primary care: using Peer to peer presentations. In this, learners will Development of an online curriculum using the be required to present a ten-minute topic of their own blended learning model. BMC Med Educ. 2009; in groups of 4 or 5 to their peers. They should be 9(33):33. DOI: 10.1186/1472-6920-9-33. encouraged to choose topics they felt had not been Available at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472- covered sufficiently in the classroom. 6920/9/33. 4. Gray K, Tobin J. Introducing an online community Glossary into a clinical education setting: A pilot study of Towards the end, based on the discussion held student and staff engagement and outcomes during the session, learners can be asked to prepare using blended learning. BMC Med Educ. 2010; as many number of glossary of terms as possible 10:6. with their meaning or explanation. If this can be digitally prepared using smart board or a iPad it can 5. Laurillard D. The changing university. The Open be immediately transmitted to all the learners via University. [Published 2011 May 05] Available at SMS. http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/paper13/paper13.h ml. There are also other methods such as problem based learning (PBL) which a facilitator can identify or synthesize on his own depending on the nature of the content and teaching-learning needs. Thus blended learning meets both ‘individuation’ and ‘pluralisation’- where ‘individuation’ refers to presenting lessons in ways that are compatible with the learners ways of learning and giving the learner the opportunity to show what he/she has learned and understood and ‘pluralisation’ means presenting important content in a variety of ways, not just via lecture or reading. Pluralisation helps the facilitators reach more learners by making them to think in multiple ways. Blended learning is context-dependent and it is challenging for it demands proper knowledge, attitude and skills on the part of facilitators with respect to teaching techniques and technologies. Thus, a successful implementation of blended learning in one domain does not necessarily mean that it will have value within another domain. Although blended learning makes use of computers and the internet, it should be remembered that the focus should not be on the technology. Rather, the educator must first determine the best way to teach a particular topic and then determine how technology might enhance the teaching5. However, cultural change in teaching practice is more important to bring in innovations in teaching medical and allied health sciences. References 1. Ellaway R, Masters K. AMEE Guide 32: e- Learning in medical education Part 1: Learning, teaching and assessment. Med Teach. 2008; 20:455–473. 2. Garrison DR, Kanuka H. Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education. Internet High Educ. 2004; 7(2):95– 105. 5 NTTC Bulletin (ISSN 2250-396X) 2012; 19(2):4-5.