The availability of open‐access videos offered by dental schools

Abstract

Background The Internet has become an established learning tool in dental education where students can access online videos on a range of dental subjects. However, finding reliable peer‐reviewed content is not straightforward. Aim To evaluate the video content offered by UK and Republic of Ireland (RoI) Dental Schools on their YouTube channels and public websites. Methods Free videos offered on UK and RoI Dental schools websites and YouTube channels were watched and set according to its purpose, as educational or non‐educational. The number of views, length, category and date of publication were analysed. Results A total of 627 videos offered by dental courses were evaluated. Videos were available on 83% of the websites, but only 9% was educational content. Dental courses YouTube channels received more than 2.3 million views, but less than 5% of the material offered is educational. Instructional videos found on the websites (3.2 min) were shorter than those found on YouTube (8.5 min) (P = .03). The majority of the videos, provided by Universities, were not educational and focused on promoting the dental courses. Most websites have demonstrated a password‐protected area where quality content may be offered. Conclusion Students wishing to watch instructional videos will find limited educational content provided by UK and RoI dental courses. Therefore, they are likely to access course‐related material elsewhere on the Internet that may not be necessarily peer‐reviewed.

Self-Reported Effectiveness of e-Learning Classes during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Nation-Wide Survey of Pakistani Undergraduate Dentistry Students

“…This observation resonates with other authors of previous studies who concluded that creating effective, innovative, and educational online content is a challenging and time-consuming exercise that will require a necessary transitional period of training and adaptation. 32,33 We recommend that this pressing student concern is addressed in time as teachers can be encouraged to enroll into online training courses and programs, which will give them the necessary tools needed to become acquainted with different aspects of virtual learning modalities. This will aid the dental educators in improving the quality of online sessions currently being delivered.…”

Online videos: The hidden curriculum

“…Most studies published in scientific journals concerning the use of videos in dental education focus on the offering of teacher‐created videos to their own students, under very specific and controlled situations 26–29 . As a result, online dental content is delivered by unreliable sources 9 . Understanding how students use online dental educational videos during self‐learning sessions, out of the dental school, will be a major asset in integrating this behaviour into future methodological approaches.…”

“…6,7 Online content can be created and published by anyone without any peer reviews. 8,9 Infodemic is the term used by the World Health Organization to define the far-reaching, spreading overabundance of information, including false or misleading materials, that makes it hard for people to find reliable online content. 10,11 The scientific judgement of an undergraduate student may not be able to critically review online content sensibly.…”

Aprendizagem ubíqua em foco: uma view científica no conteúdo de Odontologia do YouTube e Facebook – estudo piloto

“…O conteúdo que é disponibilizado nesse cenário digital é considerado bastante atrativo para os acadêmicos de odontologia, pois esses ensinamentos podem ser encontrados de diferentes formas, e o aluno pode selecionar aquela que melhor se adapta à necessidade do momento e ao seu estilo de aprendizagem. Além disso, é válido salientar que as redes sociais virtuais têm ganhado cada vez mais espaço na sociedade, o que corrobora para que o número de adeptos a esse sistema seja cada vez maior (Silva, Pereira & Walmsley, 2019;Turban et al, 2018).…”