Technology-enhanced learning in medical education: Experiences from a developing country

The use of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) to support teaching, learning and assessment in medical education is well documented and is often used to augment and enhance existing curricula. Reliance on TEL has also increased because students of today are considered to be digital natives and therefore, learn differently. However, it is observed that the medical faculty often lacks technology and pedagogical skills to incorporate TEL in their teaching. This chapter will focus on the authors' reflections on incorporating TEL in an undergraduate medical education at a private university in a developing country. The Medical College at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan has utilized both asynchronous and synchronous TEL tools to support its undergraduate medical curriculum. While faculty development activities have also been conducted to enable faculty members to learn to use technology in teaching, adoption of TEL has largely remained ad hoc. A recently conducted needs-assessment study is expected to provide a contextual framework for a systematic and program-wide adoption of TEL. Drawing on their experiences, the authors will identify the factors that facilitate and/or hinder the adoption of TEL in a medical college. The discussion will focus on core concerns of student-centered teaching, faculty apprehension, organizational readiness and the need for developing contextually appropriate practices of TEL for undergraduate medical curricula in the settings of developing countries.