b'| EDUCATION GUIDEThe Present & Future of Online LearningChanged expectations may prove to be the new educational normalBy Joe DarrahF rank Aviles, Jr., PT, CWS, is not shy to say that he is old school when it comes to how he likes to earn his continuing medical education (CME) credits. Hes always preferred learning in the in-person environment, even as technological advances over the years have provided other options for virtual and mobile learning. Today, at a time when these options are being offered for reasons related to general health-care safety during a global pandemic just as much as they are for their convenience, Aviles is learning to adaptboth as a lifelong learner and an educator himself. Moving forward, I hope that we can return to the live educational events as soon as pos-sible, but the number of webinars and other online learning options have been exploding today to help all healthcare professionals to meet our educational needs and CME require-ments with conferences and meetings being cancelled this year, said Aviles, wound care service line director at Natchitoches (LA) Regional Medical Center. This is creating a pleth-ora of recorded educational opportunities. These opportunities are being hosted by meeting planners, many of them clinicians them-selves, who have decided to either reinvent their previously live-only shows and workshops or to adapt their already existing virtual events into more extensive programs. The result has been not only producing convenient alternatives while social distancing and infection control measures require this reality, but what is also developing in a new-found reliance on old-schoolers and digital natives alike who are now developing a new set of standards and expectations for how they receive their education. Elite CE recently spoke with providers who have both the student and instructor perspec-tive, as well as other industry meeting planners, about how they are adapting to the pivot to online learning and how they think the future of healthcare education is unfolding given recent trends.THE ADJUSTMENT TO VIRTUALMaking that mental shift and accepting that the delivery of education cannot safely happen in person currently, and perhaps taking the mindset that the new school is now in session ISTOCKis the first step to transitioning to the virtual environment, says Jason Bellamy, executive vice www.elitecme.com |2020| EDUCATION GUIDE 5'