https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2109-9885
Impact statement
The future technology-integrated healthcare education needs: (1) empirical studies on “two-way remote interactions”; (2) empirical research and learning analytics on the “process of education” enhanced by technology, but not “technology” per se; and (3) minimizing educators’ innovation resistance to online education.
Introduction
COVID-19 pandemic’s implication on current education systems
With the continuous spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, our daily lives have changed drastically. Schools and universities have eliminated in-person education, rushing to fill the void with online content due to the closure of physical spaces to avoid close contact among students and prevent the clustering of COVID-19 infections.
In the last few years, with increased complexities in the needs of consumers (i.e. students, parents, and stakeholders) – mainly due to a financial crisis caused by low fertility and a rapidly aging population (Park & Park, Citation2022) – online education has already been engaged in playing a viable and necessary role in the educational system of the future. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is quickly accelerating this change. Due to the increasing importance of cost-to-benefit ratios and reasonable consumption, a consumer needs more of this “education anywhere” concept. Therefore, the speed of the movement is now virulent.
Of course, various complications have occurred. Educators who are unfamiliar with online preparation have difficulty meeting the high standards of students’ expectations for education (Gratz & Looney, Citation2020). This inevitably leads educators to adopt “unilateral knowledge transfer” classes, which utilize contents of the public education system – e.g. the state-sponsored education broadcasting system of Korea – rather than “two-way remote” classes such as Minerva University (Park & Park, Citation2022). But unilateral knowledge transfer doesn’t allow for students to engage in their learning. Accordingly, college students’ anger over low-quality online lectures is leading to protests demanding tuition cuts worldwide (particularly, in Korea, Canada, and the United States). A student’s attitude toward learning greatly affects the success of education (Park & Park, Citation2022), something that educators should carefully consider in choosing between the two very different dissemination methods. Nevertheless, without that thoughtful consideration, students are being pushed into “unilateral knowledge transfer” classes due to educators’ inadequate preparations for online education. Socioeconomic issues also aggravate the problem, including the malfunction/disruption of Internet service, inequity in education caused by information technology equipment disparity, and limited disability services. This impact is undoubtedly more serious for disadvantaged and vulnerable students. Indeed, stating that all members of the education system are suffering from a sudden emergency-driven uncertainty is not an exaggeration.
We are now more than two years into the pandemic and with the staggered vaccination rollout, the pandemic landscape is in a state of flux. There is no doubt that learning modalities will continue to be impacted for some time to come and so it is important that we start to explore possible solutions and envisage next steps. Thus, we hereby suggest three strategic research directions on future technology-integrated healthcare education to address problems sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) empirical studies on “two-way remote interactions” between educators and learners in technology-integrated healthcare education; (2) empirical research and learning analytics on the “process of education” enhanced by technology, but not “technology” per se; and (3) minimizing educators’ innovation resistance to online education.
Discussion
Empirical studies on “two-way remote interactions”
First, empirical studies that address the development and evaluation of technology-integrated healthcare educational programs for “two-way remote interactions” between educators and learners are urgently needed. Literature in healthcare education is mostly about studies on a simple application of an online education program for “unilateral knowledge transfer.” These research evidences don’t illuminate the synergy and chemistry that can be created by “two-way remote interactions” between educators and learners. Consequently, it impedes advances in education science by limiting the possibility of bringing about the multidimensionality of truth – specifically referring to the way knowledge happens when two or more are gathered: the Greek aletheia (truth as a process) and the Hebrew emeth (experienced truth between truthful encounters and others) (Becker et al., Citation2015).
The COVID-19 pandemic is significantly changing our daily lives as we must make prevention a reality for people of all ages. Thus, study participants should not be limited to healthcare professionals, such as physicians or nurses. These types of technology-integrated healthcare educational programs also should not be put into practice solely for the prevention of infectious/contagious diseases but for long-term use in ever-adapting educational systems.
Empirical research and learning analytics on the “process of education” enhanced by technology, but not “technology” per se
Second, all types of educational technologies should be considered to explore the most effective delivery mechanism in healthcare education, e.g. artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual/augmented/mixed reality, robotics, gamification, open-type Massive Open Online Courses, online simulations, and flipped learning, among others. Therefore, a close collaboration with data/engineering scientists may be necessary.
However, the focus of future research efforts shouldn’t be the “technology” per se, but rather on issues related to “the process continuum of assessment, teaching, learning, and evaluation” and “how they are affected or enhanced using those technologies over long-term periods.” Thus, (1) empirical research on how technology contributes to overcoming the existing educational inequities and/or inequalities on the frontline of local education and (2) learning analytics essential for research in various applications, assessments and evaluations, pedagogical models, and educational systems/environments should be situated on a priority axis, together with findings that can be applied to the global spectrum.
Minimizing educators’ innovation resistance to online education
Most importantly, the most significant prerequisite resides in lowering educators’ innovation resistance to online education. Benefits of online education – i.e. easier access, more flexibility, greater diversity (enabling discussions on issues from broader perspectives), and better competitive advantage in net profit margin for higher education institutions – are advancing a paradigm shift in the existing educational system (Gratz & Looney, Citation2020; Park & Park, Citation2022). Students’ online experience was even better or the same as in-person courses (note. this is for college students only) (Magda & Aslanian, Citation2018). However, healthcare educators remain hesitant and reluctant to change their pedagogical mode of delivery from face-to-face education to contact-free online education. Some of them even view such change as difficult and unnecessary due to (1) lack of time, skills, confidence in planning, organizing, and teaching online; (2) difficulty in adapting to new technologies; (3) limited technological assistance; (4) insufficient institutional support (particularly, financial incentives); (5) undesirable recognition (i.e. they perceive online education as a devaluation of their profession); (6) stereotyped beliefs that their discipline is unsuitable for online teaching or that online education is not as effective as in-person education with regard to educational outcomes; (7) fear of losing authority as an educator; and (8) fears of losing connection with students (Gratz & Looney, Citation2020; Ocak, Citation2011).
Such resistance to change should be thoroughly addressed in a timely manner to prevent healthcare educators from failing to meet the ever-changing needs of students for better education. Otherwise, this in turn results in the disruption of education and failure to ensure students’ right to learn. Unwillingness to change may also have a considerable negative influence on prospective healthcare educators’ future by weakening their educational competitiveness, which may even endanger the viability of their higher educational institutions.
Prospective healthcare educators should consider that their job security may be threatened by the following factors: (1) rapid advances in computing and artificial intelligence technologies beyond time and space limitations; (2) significant decreases in the number of students due to the low birthrate and aging population worldwide; and (3) prohibitions or restrictions of face-to-face education caused by the pandemic (Park & Park, Citation2022). Therefore, active and conscious endeavors for positive changes in an outmoded way of thinking and embracing online education platforms equipped with various advanced technologies are required, along with the removal of these obstacles. Prospective healthcare educators are especially required to have an irreplaceable competitive edge while keeping themselves updated with various modes of healthcare education delivery systems (Park & Park, Citation2022). Future online education systems may make this “winner-takes-all” paradigm possible based on its super-connectivity (Park, Citation2018; Park & Park, Citation2022). With the absence of the irreplaceable competitive edge to prove the necessity of their existence to be differentiated from others, their job security might be even further threatened by the paradigm (Park & Park, Citation2022).
Conclusion
Expecting a full return to normal life/our former society is impossible in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic: unexplained infectious/contagious illnesses and diseases such as this disease will continue to emerge, mutate, and return in the future. Our safety and well-being could again be threatened unless we are ready for a full-scale battle with such diseases – and on every front. Therefore, education in the post-pandemic period is accordingly expected to be replaced by the ‘un-tact’ (a South Korean term for non-face-to-face) online education. Now is the time for us to prepare for a paradigm shift in our educational system as we reflect on the true purpose of education and seek answers to the fundamental quest for new knowledge – which can make a substantial difference in the field of education.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
References
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