Learning is more meaningful when you are dealing with real problems. Potts, who says his fluid management module has been successful, maintains that computer instruction can provide certain learning advantages, such as repeated practice, near-instantaneous feedback and suggested corrections for students. Fulkerson agrees that computers have the ability to involve students in self-direction. He says it is this kind of interactivity which is crucial to the success of any computer-driven learning tool. In the instances where the student is required to be interactive, that is where technology will be most effective.
Research is one are which has used computers very effectively.
The growing popularity of the Internet has begun to change the way in which information vital to clinical work and education is obtained. Sue Hollander, assistant health sciences librarian and head of information services, conducts a class for second-year students on accessing and searching databases such as Medline or Grateful Med. She says students are becoming more aware of electronic databases and journals, and are gaining a high degree of Internet savvy. They can do in one afternoon what would have taken four to five days to do five years ago. Technological integration is often problematic and always expensive.