How does tele-learning compare with other forms of education delivery? A systematic review of tele-learning educational outcomes for health professionals

Abstract

Telecommuniciation technologies, including audio and videoconferencing facilities, afford geographically dispersed health professionals the opportunity to connect and collaborate with others. Recognised for enabling tele-consultations and tele-collaborations between teams of health care professionals and their patients, these technologies are also well suited to the delivery of distance learning programs, known as tele-learning. Aim: To determine whether tele-learning delivery methods achieve equivalent learning outcomes when compared with traditional face-to-face education delivery methods. Methods: A systematic literature review was commissioned by the NSW Ministry of Health to identify results relevant to programs applying tele-learning delivery methods in the provision of education to health professionals. Results:The review found few studies that rigorously compared tele-learning with traditional formats. There was some evidence, however, to support the premise that tele-learning models achieve comparable learning outcomes and that participants are generally satisfied with and accepting of this delivery method. Conclusion: The review illustrated that tele-learning technologies not only enable distance learning opportunities, but achieve comparable learning outcomes to traditional face-to-face models. More rigorous evidence is required to strengthen these findings and should be the focus of future tele-learning research.Telecommunications are increasingly being used by the health professions to deliver health care services and to exchange health information across distances. Telehealth, tele-collaborations and tele-consultations are contributing to improvements in the quality, availability and efficiency of health care services to distance locations.1 Telehealth, for example, enables existing forms of interactions between health care providers and recipients to occur at a distance, through the use of telecommunications.2 Similarly, distance learning methods utilising telecommunication technologies are helping to overcome the challenges of engaging in traditional forms of education across distances. Referred to as 'tele-learning', it involves making connections among people and resources, and transferring images and voice data via communication technologies, for learning-related purposes. 3,4 Like telehealth, tele-learning utilises telecommunications to connect participants, helping to alleviate barriers to accessing learning opportunities and enriching distance learning experiences. The relative ease of use and availability of telecommunication technologies means that audioconferencing (teleconferencing) and videoconferencing are well established and frequently used communication mechanisms for staff in the health sector.5 For the purpose of this review, the term 'tele-learning' describes the use of video and/or audio-based technologies for distance learning purposes.Enabling collaborations between geographically distributed health workers makes the use of telecommunications especially relevant to ...

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