Multimodal Learning in Health Sciences and Medicine: Merging Technologies to Enhance Student Learning and Communication.

Abstract

Advances in consumer-level educational technologies show great promise for enhancing the learning experiences of students in health and medicine. There are particular benefits tousing a combination of various devices and technologies when teaching challenging concepts. These include augmented reality-enabled devices enriched with accompanying 3D printed models, or virtual reality sessions coupled with online quizzes or revision activities. Tablet applications can also be integrated while students engageconcurrently in desktop-based online learning. This mixing and merging of different technologies can allow educators to focus on the strengths of each device, while mitigating limitations arising from a single mode's stand-alone use. This chapter describes a series of options to integrate multiple digital modes when educating healthscience and medical students using technology. It also presents the opportunity for healthprofessional program graduates to be trained in teaching using technology, as their future careers can be enhanced by an ability to educate effectively,or from the skillsdevelopedwhen incorporating innovations such as serious games into a health curriculum. With the dynamic and ever-changing nature of health and medical education, educators can find great benefits when introducing multimodal digital learning into their respective courses.