Learning with digital media in emergency medicine-a path through the jungle of possibilities

• Published in: Notfall & Rettungsmedizin Vol. 25; no. 5; p. 1
• Main Authors: Elsenbast, Christian, Sachs, Sebastian, Pranghofer, Johannes, Luiz, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: German
• Published: Germany 01.08.2022
• Subjects: Learning, digital; Media literacy; Education, medical, continuing; Educational technology; Virtual reality
• DOI: 10.1007/s10049-021-00957-y
• ISSN: 1434-6222

Digital media, such as podcasts, wikis, ePortfolios, and extended reality applications, provide excellent learning opportunities with a high degree of connectivity and flexibility for learners, as well as for learning facilitators. This not only enables location-independent and pandemic-resilient learning, but also a high degree of autonomy for the learners. The megatrend of digitalization opens up many possibilities, but there are also stumbling blocks and limitations. This article is intended to provide readers in the emergency medicine/rescue field with an overview, various aspects to consider, and awareness of stumbling blocks. However, a balancing act between didactics and medicine as well as the heterogeneous group of addressees is necessary. By means of a narrative review, an assessment of digital media is made and subjected to an evaluation from the perspective of educational practice. Learning is not only changing due to new learning technologies, but also due to the growing importance of informal learning, the increasing significance of the ability to quickly access high-quality knowledge, faster-changing professional biographies, and the use of digital universal tools. Thus, in the jungle of possibilities, an estimation of scientific quality criteria is often difficult and a differentiated consideration is necessary. Basically, the question of appropriate methods must be asked and it must be critically questioned whether the learning/competency objectives can be achieved with the planned digitalized media. Digital media cannot and should not replace practical training in the workplace.