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QUESTION OF THE MONTH
NEWS
QUESTION OF THE MONTH WOULD A ‘PAPERLESS’ APPROACH TO DENTAL EDUCATION APPEAL TO YOU? magine not having to tote around textbooks, laboratory manuals and other course materials during your four years of dental school. This will become a reality in August for firstyear dental students when they arrive at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. Instead of buying books and manuals, they instead will buy one slim digital video disk, or DVD, that contains all of their course materials for the next four years. UB is one of seven dental schools that have been developing an electronic dental school curriculum. The others are Boston University, the University of Texas at San Antonio, New York University, the University of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey, the University of Iowa and the U.S. Navy Postgraduate Dental School. When asked if a “paperless” approach to dental education would appeal to them, 48 percent said yes. “The future is here!” said one enthusiastic reader. Several respondents said they would be happy to not have to carry books around. “It would really help prevent back pain,” said one. Saving natural resources also was mentioned. “Reducing the use of our natural resources— trees—has great appeal,” said a respondent. The shelf life of educational materials was another gain readers commented on. “By the time I got out of dental school, my texts were outdated,” said one reader. “Updating materials now should be easier,” said another. Others cited ease of use as a benefit. “We would be able to do searches for the specific material we want, using the DVD,” said a reader. Some respondents said they thought that the DVD would be a great educational tool, as long as it is cheaper than the printed materials. UB said the price of their DVD had not been set, but they guess that it would be similar to what students would pay for printed materials, in addition to needing a computer with DVD capability.
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Forty-four percent of the respondents said that a paperless approach to dental education would not appeal to them. “I need physical items to write my notes, comments, ideas on—hands-on still supersedes the video screen,” said one reader. “Underlining and highlighting on a computer screen is just too messy,” said another. Some mentioned the drawbacks of staring at a computer screen for long stretches of time. “I have bought textbooks on CD,” said a respondent. “There is significant eyestrain to reading a screen. The reality is that you print out the pages you want to read.” Portability was also a big factor. “It’s hard to take your computer to bed to study or read,” said one reader. “I still want to take it home, underline it, go to lunch with it, earmark the pages and read it on the bus,” said another. Technology was another issue. “What will they use in 10 years when the technology changes?” asked a reader. “A book is durable, low-tech and esthetically pleasing.” “How many people have a drive to run my 1988 5.25-inch Frogger floppy?” asked another. Eight percent of the respondents said they did not know if an electronic curriculum would appeal to them. “Even though progress is being made by challenging new frontiers, there still is something unique to cracking open a book and studying from it,” said a respondent. “I am a faculty member at one of those schools,” said another reader. “I am having trouble committing to my curriculum three and onehalf years in advance.” Reported by Amy E. Lund, editorial coordinator. JADA’s Question of the Month is presented as an opportunity for JADA readers to express their views on the issues of the day, for the interest of their colleagues in dentistry. The Question of the Month does not qualify as a scientific survey, and its findings should not be construed as statistically significant.
JADA, Vol. 131, June 2000 Copyright ©1998-2001 American Dental Association. All rights reserved.
QUESTION OF THE MONTH WOULD A ‘PAPERLESS’ APPROACH TO DENTAL EDUCATION APPEAL TO YOU? magine not having to tote around textbooks, laboratory manuals and other course materials during your four years of dental school. This will become a reality in August for firstyear dental students when they arrive at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. Instead of buying books and manuals, they instead will buy one slim digital video disk, or DVD, that contains all of their course materials for the next four years. UB is one of seven dental schools that have been developing an electronic dental school curriculum. The others are Boston University, the University of Texas at San Antonio, New York University, the University of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey, the University of Iowa and the U.S. Navy Postgraduate Dental School. When asked if a “paperless” approach to dental education would appeal to them, 48 percent said yes. “The future is here!” said one enthusiastic reader. Several respondents said they would be happy to not have to carry books around. “It would really help prevent back pain,” said one. Saving natural resources also was mentioned. “Reducing the use of our natural resources— trees—has great appeal,” said a respondent. The shelf life of educational materials was another gain readers commented on. “By the time I got out of dental school, my texts were outdated,” said one reader. “Updating materials now should be easier,” said another. Others cited ease of use as a benefit. “We would be able to do searches for the specific material we want, using the DVD,” said a reader. Some respondents said they thought that the DVD would be a great educational tool, as long as it is cheaper than the printed materials. UB said the price of their DVD had not been set, but they guess that it would be similar to what students would pay for printed materials, in addition to needing a computer with DVD capability.
I
730
Forty-four percent of the respondents said that a paperless approach to dental education would not appeal to them. “I need physical items to write my notes, comments, ideas on—hands-on still supersedes the video screen,” said one reader. “Underlining and highlighting on a computer screen is just too messy,” said another. Some mentioned the drawbacks of staring at a computer screen for long stretches of time. “I have bought textbooks on CD,” said a respondent. “There is significant eyestrain to reading a screen. The reality is that you print out the pages you want to read.” Portability was also a big factor. “It’s hard to take your computer to bed to study or read,” said one reader. “I still want to take it home, underline it, go to lunch with it, earmark the pages and read it on the bus,” said another. Technology was another issue. “What will they use in 10 years when the technology changes?” asked a reader. “A book is durable, low-tech and esthetically pleasing.” “How many people have a drive to run my 1988 5.25-inch Frogger floppy?” asked another. Eight percent of the respondents said they did not know if an electronic curriculum would appeal to them. “Even though progress is being made by challenging new frontiers, there still is something unique to cracking open a book and studying from it,” said a respondent. “I am a faculty member at one of those schools,” said another reader. “I am having trouble committing to my curriculum three and onehalf years in advance.” Reported by Amy E. Lund, editorial coordinator. JADA’s Question of the Month is presented as an opportunity for JADA readers to express their views on the issues of the day, for the interest of their colleagues in dentistry. The Question of the Month does not qualify as a scientific survey, and its findings should not be construed as statistically significant.
JADA, Vol. 131, June 2000 Copyright ©1998-2001 American Dental Association. All rights reserved.