Pharmacy educator evaluation of web- based learning

<div class="line" id="line-7"> <span style='font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;'> Background: Web- based learning (WBL), instruction facilitated through the Internet, has demonstrated utility in classroom and clinical education settings; however, there is a void of literature about the use of WBL by clinical educators within pharmacy. The purpose of this research is to evaluate a WBL initiative within clinical pharmacy education. </span></div><div class="line" id="line-608"> <span style='font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;'> &nbsp; </span></div><div class="line" id="line-617"> <span style='font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;'> Methods: Based on the results of a pilot survey, 10 asynchronous WBL clinical modules (videos and interactive patient cases) were developed for pharmacy educators and students in clinical education af&filig;liated with two schools of pharmacy in the midwest USA. A 21- item, cross- sectional, electronic survey was administered to pharmacy educators within acute and primary care to assess the use of WBL within clinical pharmacy education. </span></div><div class="line" id="line-626"> <span style='font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;'> &nbsp; </span></div><div class="line" id="line-635"> <span style='font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;'> Results: Of the 115 eligible clinical educators, 69 participated in the survey (60% response rate), with the majority working within acute care; 38% of educators encouraged the use of WBL. Respondents not using WBL stated a lack of awareness (48%) or existing student time commitments (33%) as reasons. For educators encouraging WBL, 87% agreed that it enhanced student clinical knowledge, 68% stated that it decreased direct instruction time commitments and 100% stated they would encourage its use for future clinical education. </span></div><div class="line" id="line-644"> <span style='font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;'> &nbsp; </span></div><div class="line" id="line-653"> <span style='font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;'> Conclusions: Clinical pharmacy educators reported that the WBL initiative resulted in a perceived stronger student clinical foundation, and all pharmacy educators using WBL encouraged its continued use for future clinical education. Web- based learning provides clinical educators with a learning tool to augment clinical experiences by reinforcing student knowledge, at the same time minimising direct instruction time. </span></div>