Online Interprofessional Education: Perceptions of Faculty Facilitators

Abstract

Background and Purpose. Online asynchronous learning can overcome geographical and timetabling barriers to interprofessional education (IPE). Little is known about how best to facilitate IPE in an online teaching environment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate faculty perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to online IPE. Subjects. Eleven faculty online facilitators (OLFs) who were experienced educators and familiar with IPE participated in the study. Methods. OLFs participated in in-depth interviews following facilitation of interactive online courses specifically designed to promote IPE. Transcribed interviews underwent qualitative content analysis. Results. Varied group composition and were barriers for the OLFs. Making explicit links between professional roles, role modeling collaboration, and encouraging reflection were facilitators to online IPE. Discussion. Online IPE is still in its infancy, and there is much to learn about the most effective ways to stimulate IPE. Conclusions. Identification of common barriers and facilitators can assist faculty in developing strategies to promote optimal learning in online IPE. Key Words: E-learning, Online learning, Interprofessional education. INTRODUCTION Scheduling and geographic barriers are a significant impediment to many educators wanting to implement interprofessional education (IPE).1 Use of asynchronous online learning is an appealing solution as it allows karners to access a course at a time and location convenient to their situation. There is an emerging interest in interprofessional online karning; however, the most effective content and processes have yet to be determined.2 The online facilitator (OLF) is an important determinant of student learning. The skills required are not simply transferred from a traditional classroom environment,3 where the interaction is face-to-face. From an IPE perspective, the OLF needs to make collaboration more explicit, encourage students to share their professional perspectives, and role model collaboration. The OLF has to balance the learning related to specific content with interprofessional learning; thus, the skill set required is somewhat different than one who facilitates online learning with a unprofessional group. Identification of challenges and strategies to promote online IPE will assist in the development of effective learning experiences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate faculty perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to online IPE. METHODS This project was part of a larger study evaluating interprofessional online learning.4 Students from 11 different professions volunteered to participate in interactive online learning modules ranging from 3-12 weeks in duration. Modules were developed by interprofessional teams with the intent of being facilitated by a faculty member. Twelve online facilitators who were experienced educators and familiar with IPE were selected for the experience. All OLFs received an orientation to online learning and facilitation. Of the 12 OLFs, 11 participated in an in-depth personal interview following completion of the modules to share their experiences, strategies, and lessons learned. These interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed through conventional qualitative content analyses.5 This consisted of a line-by-line review of the transcripts to identify a key word or phrase that represented the participants' words. Codes similar in focus were then grouped to form themes that emerged from the data. RESULTS The resulting themes with representative quotes are presented. Barriers to IPE The silent student. The most frequently cited barrier to interprofessional learning was limited student participation. As one OLF stated, I think the big barrier is the silence of those that don't participate. In many instances, limited participation was attributed to the fact that the students were not receiving credit for their involvement. …