Flexibility And Convenience Fuel E-learning Growth - But Interaction Still Matters Says Vetacademy Survey
11 years ago
1190 views
Posted
28th May, 2013 22h06
The flexibility and convenience of ‘e-learning’ is fuelling growth in this type of CPD with 60% of veterinary staff questioned in a recent survey saying they expect to conduct a greater proportion of their CPD in this form over the next 12 months. This contrasts with 21.1% who responded that they expected to increase the proportion of CPD they undertook face to face and 23.2% who said they expected to actually decrease it.
With 80% of respondents citing the interaction between lecturer and colleagues as the key benefit of face to face CPD, however, its continued importance was confirmed with 55% saying they expected their investment in it to stay the same.
The survey of 100 vets and veterinary nurses, primarily from the small animal sector, was conducted by Vetacademy, the online CPD service from online veterinary content supplier Vetstream between November 2012 and April 2013. The majority had been qualified for more than five years.
When asked what they found most challenging about meeting their CPD commitment, 35.8% cited cost. ‘Freeing up the time to go’ was cited by 24.2% with ‘travelling long distances’ mentioned by 20%. In addition to the 80% who rated ‘interaction’ as the key benefit, a further 48.4% thought that the availability of practical sessions was important.
Disadvantages cited were the time commitment (mentioned by 59.6%) and the cost of attendance (57.4%). Almost half (47.9%) also highlighted ‘the choice of topics available in my region.’
When asked about e-learning, flexibility was seen as the major benefit (77.9%) with convenience rated by 66.3%. The choice of topics was cited by a smaller 32.6% while 27.4 mentioned cost. The ‘potential for interruptions’ was rated by 44.2% as the key disadvantage while 42.1% said that they missed the colleague contact. The ‘variable quality of sessions’ was mentioned by 37.9% with ‘technology issues’ cited by a further 25.3%.
When asked what developments in e-learning would encourage them to conduct more of their CPD in this way, the most frequently raised points were:
- A greater degree of interactivity to increase engagement, for instance, using questions throughout the training rather than just at the end and an increased use of video clips
- More ‘on-demand’ CPD rather than a set viewing time so that CPD can be viewed a convenient time and picked up if the session was interrupted
- A greater opportunity to have questions answered
Commenting on the survey’s findings Dr G Mark Johnston, Managing Director of Vetstream, said: “It’s clear that an increasing number of time-pressured veterinary staff are turning to e-learning to help them meet their CPD requirements. It’s also clear that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution and that face to face learning continues to play an important role. What we’re seeing is a gradual evolution in CPD habits with veterinary staff starting to fulfil much of their requirement online, then cherry-picking a smaller number of face to face learning opportunities on top to complement their online learning and help develop their practical skills.
While the e-learning sector has come a long way in a short space of time, we’re still developing the level of interactivity and increasing the flexibility, range and breadth of content available. Using the Vetacademy video player, for instance, veterinary professionals can have access to more than 200 videos from a range of CPD providers and veterinary specialists, including the Royal Veterinary College; the Video Vet and the Association of Anaesthetists. Some are provided free of charge and others are available on a pay-per-view basis with free previews and no subscription fee or downloads required.
We will continue to work with our partners and the veterinary profession to bring them an e-learning experience, which is engaging, flexible and cost-effective.”
More from
