Distance learning for chiropractic physicians
By Paul Powers, DC

Distance learning is education that occurs when the student and instructor are not in the same physical location, usually via electronic media.

Over the past several years, the number of chiropractic physicians using distance-learning programs to meet their state’s continuing education requirements for relicensure has been increasing. This is consistent with the overall trends in higher education, which continue to show a steady growth in distance learning programs.

A recent Sloan Consortium study of 1,100 colleges and universities revealed:

• Schools expect online enrollment growth to accelerate — the expected average growth rate for online students for 2004 was 24.8 percent, up from 19.8 percent in 2003.

• Three-quarters of academic leaders at public colleges and universities believe the quality of online learning is equal to or superior to that of face-to-face instruction.

• Schools that offer online courses believe their online students are at least as satisfied as those taking their classroom courses.

A SHORT HISTORY OF DISTANCE LEARNING

Pennsylvania State University was one of the first institutions to provide distance learning, starting in 1886. The school delivered correspondence courses by the U.S. mail, which was the state-of-the-art technology of its time. Although this is likely the start of organized distance learning, St. Paul’s Epistles provided instruction to far-flung church members in A.D. 50 – 60 and arguably might be the first use of educating from afar.

From these basic beginnings, distance learning has evolved with technology, with courses offered via radio and television. However, this learning mode was not widely embraced by institutions of higher learning until the advent of the World Wide Web.

LEARNER-CENTERED EDUCATION

In October 2002, the Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners updated its rules on continuing education requirements. The board stated, “The new CE rule takes into consideration that there are several unique aspects to adult education. One is that adults will typically make educational choices based on their assessment of needs. Also, adult learning tends to be self-directed with several stages: experience, observation, reflection and then active testing in a new setting.”

Learner-centered education moves away from the tradition in which the teacher lectures and the student listens. The learner becomes the manager, selecting the time, place and rate of learning. As Dr. John E. Reid Jr., a coordinator of Web-based instruction at Kennesaw State University, states, “Occupying a seat in a physical classroom for a specific period of time is fast becoming the exception rather than the rule.”

DISTANCE LEARNING FOR CHIROPRACTORS

Thirty-seven states, plus the District of Columbia, now accept Web-based distance-learning courses toward chiropractic continuing education requirements. For many years, medical doctors have obtained all of their continuing education requirements through distance-learning programs, and state boards of chiropractic are beginning to provide the same diversity of choice for chiropractic physicians.

Chiropractic boards accept several different types of distance-learning programs. Although many state boards allow all required hours to be fulfilled by online continuing education courses, some do not. Even though Texas and New York do not allow chiropractic physicians to complete all their hours online, they do allow chiropractors to obtain the balance of their hours by way of another type of distance learning — teleseminars.

Teleseminars (telephone seminars) are live continuing education experiences offered by way of a telephone conference call. They allow physicians to ask a question or voice an opinion just as they would in a classroom.

Many physicians prefer teleseminars because they offer the benefits of distance learning (such as no need to travel) but still provide the personal interactivity of a live program.

IS ONLINE EDUCATION A BETTER MODEL?

Classroom courses for chiropractic physicians are typically offered in 12 hours over two days. In this model, students sit through six hours of lecture per day. Although it is traditional, is it optimal?

Consider that attention often starts to drift after only 10 to 20 minutes and the average learner is paying attention to the lecturer approximately 50 percent of the time. It should not be a surprise that these students commonly retain less than 20 percent of the material presented.

Unlike traditional classroom programs that are presented verbally, online education programs require that material is presented in a variety of audiovisual modes. Learners are able to progress at their own pace as the material is presented, which optimizes learning.

The classroom learner may miss 50 percent of what is offered only once verbally, but the online learner can review the information as many times as necessary and retain more.

Let’s look at a study that compared how traditional classroom learners fared versus online learners on post-testing:

In 1995, John Arle, a biology instructor at Rio Salado College, developed a series of online lessons for a course on human anatomy.

To test this method of “active learning,” Arle used a national standardized test generated by the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society. “The national achievement average is 51 percent on this test and the sample base is entirely from the traditional classroom.

My students learned entirely online and scored an average of 63 percent on the same items.”

IT’S UP TO YOU

Studies suggest that approximately 83 percent of human learning occurs visually,

11 percent occurs through hearing, 3.5 percent through smell, 1.5 percent through touch and 1 percent through taste. Educational research has identified four different learning modalities: visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic. Social traits also determine learning styles. You may be an independent, dependent, competitive, collaborative, avoidant or participant learner.

What it comes down to is learner choice. If you feel your educational needs are best fulfilled in a classroom setting, you will likely learn more through that mode of instruction. If you feel distance programs best fit your learning needs, you will be best served using that mode. Identify your learning style and choose the instruction method that best addresses your needs.

Paul Powers, DC, is a practicing chiropractor and the site editor of ChiroEcoCE.com, your source for online chiropractic continuing education. He can be contacted at chiroeducation@aol.com

References

• Allen, I. E. and J. Seaman. 2004. Entering the mainstream: The quality and extent of online education in the United States, 2003 and 2004. Needham, MA: Sloan Center for OnLine Education. www.sloan-c.org/resources.

• Diaz, D. P., and R. B. Cartnal. 1999. Students’ learning styles in two classes: Online distance learning and equivalent on-campus. College Teaching 47(4), 130–35.

• The Sloan Consortium. Actively learning online human anatomy. www.sloan-c.org/effective.