Blended learning in the 21st century: The need to tailor it to the changing learner self-direction levels during different phases of health professions education and beyond

摘要

“If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” ? John Dewey “Investing in education and providing 21st century skills for students are fundamental components to the nation’s continued prosperity.” ? Craig Barrett The waysin which we learn, and the preferred mode oflearning, have seen many changes over the years, but in recent times, the changes have been more revolutionary than evolutionary. Learning in the restricted confines of the classroom is now getting challenged due to various reasons such as easy and increased online access and usage of online resources by the younger generation and the increasingly popular “work from home culture” trend among IT professionals and IT industry that findsit economical and work–life balance?friendly.Besides these changes, in the field of health professionals, after they qualify, are too busy with practice to spare the time to sit in a classroom fortheir continuing professional development(CPD) creditsthat they are required to accumulate to keep themselves updated with new knowledge generated through research that isinfluencing practice.Added to these reasons, most of us have been forced into online teaching–learning due to COVID?19 pandemic. Gone are the days when students were prohibited from bringing their cellphones into the classroom as it was considered a distraction for the student, and in the process, it also distracted the teacher. Now,students are encouraged by the teacherto bring their own mobile devicesto engage the students in active learning. Realizing the value of this, institutions are gearing up to provide the ITnetwork infrastructure thatsupports and enables online access in the classroom.