By combining an education content management system (the now defunct Web-CT) with a voice over internet protocol system (VOIP) they were able to provide many of the essential elements of a standard PBL tutorial through these two platforms. This pilot used text, video, audio as well as web conferencing with an online expert facilitator to run the tutorial for students that were geographically displaced.
A careful analysis was performed using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative measures to discover whether critical thinking could occur in this setting. The findings suggested a very high usage of critical thinking skills online.
The authors made the point that increasingly, it is difficult for students to gain access to "live patients" and so a heavy focus on PBL methods is important. One limitation was that the authors used kinesiology students rather than medical students for the study owing to their university not currently hosting a medical course. A benefit to this though is that they were naive to the PBL process.
While I had previously thought it impossible to replicate PBL process without "face-to-face" contact, I am reminded now that there is very little that cannot be achieved with the right mix of media and web technologies. I look forward to faster network conenctions allowing rich video conferencing.
Reference:
Schell, R., & Kaufman, D. (2009). Critical Thinking in a Collaborative Online PBL Tutorial. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 41(2), 155-170. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ipacez.nd.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ857829&site=ehost-live&scope=site
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