# Virtual and Traditional Learning Technique Impact on Dental Education
## 4 Discussion  
To limit the spread of COVID-19, most of the faculties were closed for a certain period. Consequently, the only way to continue the educational process was by virtual teaching which was progressively adopted even in the field of dental education. At the Faculty of Dental Medicine, it was decided that WebEx(r) and Moodle(r) platforms will be used for the didactic activity and the students' evaluation. This study demonstrated that the virtual learning method is comparable to the traditional one in teaching pedodontics, orthodontics, dental rehabilitation, theoretical education. and clinical skills in undergraduate dental courses. The results of this study were like those of other studies in this field, in which online learning can be considered a potential method in medical teaching [15; 16]. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that virtual learning will play an important role in the future development of dental education [17]. Regarding the flexibility of lecture time and duration of the lectures, the students from our study appreciated the virtual learning technique. A recently published similar survey done in an Italian dental school confirmed the results of our study. The online lectures were appreciated for qualities such as: time feasibility, the ability to resume lectures at anytime, the ability to better understand complex concepts, and easy access to shared materials [18]. Regarding lecture interactivity, our study revealed a significant increase in student preference toward the traditional technique, like the findings of a German study where the students expressed it very clearly that they missed the communication between each other and the teaching staff [19]. When it comes to lecture approachability and lecture comprehension, the virtual lecturing technique was preferred with small difference. Similar responses were found in a study in which students were asked to compare the effectiveness of the two methods in terms of knowledge transfer [19]. The results of several studies on online teaching among different faculties of dentistry in different countries during these pandemics have reported positive or negative attitudes [20]. In other studies, dental students believe that online learning can be useful to supplement, but cannot replace, traditional teaching methods [21,22]. Similar results have been reported in other studies with reference to endodontics and radiology courses, in which the average knowledge scores of dental students who received virtual education were higher than those obtained by of students who received traditional learning [23]. The results of the online survey conducted by [PERSON] et al. expresses the perception of the participants in an online conference by emphasizing that most of them consider online lectures a great way to supplement their knowledge [24]. Because dental students require training for their clinical skill development, some alternative solutions for practical application of these skills have been sought, one of which is humanoid robots that simulate a patient. Humanoid robots have a realistic human appearance and can interact with the students through speech and movements [25]. The current study investigated students' preference between the two teaching methods from the perspective of advantages and disadvantages. Human physical presence might facilitate interactivity, as observed in the current survey. This preference was not surprising, as evidence evaluating the interactivity from open online courses revealed a significant decline in participants' interaction with time, hence explaining the tendency of online courses to go for shorter course periods [26]. Our study has several limitations. The first limitation of this study was that the learning methods were evaluated in the students from the higher years of studies.