New horizons for e-learning in medical education: ecological and Web 2.0 perspectives

Abstract

An ecological and a Web 2.0 perspective of e-learning provides new ways of thinking about how people learn with technology and also how new learning opportunities are offered by new technology. These perspectives highlight the importance of developing connections between a wide variety of learning resources, containing both codified and tacit knowledge. New adaptive technology has the potential to create personalized, yet collective, learning. The future implications for e-learning in medical education is considered.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John Sandars

JOHN SANDARS, MB ChB (Hons) MSc FRCGP MRCP CertEd, is Senior Lecturer in Community Based Education in the Medical Education Unit at the School of Medicine, The University of Leeds.

Caroline Haythornthwaite

CAROLINE HAYTHORNTHWAITE, BSc (Hons) MA MIS PhD, is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.