Education and healthcare are basic needs for human development.

Technological innovation has

broadened the access to higher quality healthcare and education without regard to time, distance
or geopolitical boundaries. Distance learning has gained popularity as a means of learning in
recent years due to widely distributed learners, busy schedules, rising travel costs and recently
due to the pandemic. Teleconferencing is also a very useful tool as a distance learning method.
Teleconferencing is a real-time and live interactive programme in which one set of participants
are at one or more locations and the other set of participants are at another. The teleconference
allows for interaction, including audio and/or video, and possibly other modalities, between at
least two sites.
There are four types of teleconferencing based on the nature and content of interactivity and
sophistication of the technology
1. Audio conferencing – is a telephone meeting conducted between multiple separate callers. The
type of telephone used can vary but typically an audio conference includes attendees that use
handheld wired telephones (such as those at a person's business office or home), conference
room speakerphones that can be shared by several people, or individual cellular or mobile
telephones.
2. Audio graphic conferencing - audiographic conference is a combination of two separate
delivery systems - audio conferencing and a personal computer that offers students the ability to
view relevant instructional material on screen. In here the student uses a telephone to hear the
lecture while holding another laptop to view the presentation.
3. Video teleconferencing - Video teleconferencing (VTC) is a technology that facilitates the
communication and interaction of two or more users through a combination of high-quality audio
and video over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This simulates real and face-to-face
communication over sophisticated digital platforms and established telecommunication
networks.
4. Web-based conferencing or webinars Webinars
The advancement of communication technology has improved access to information for many
people around the world. Where a reliable internet connection exists, people with communication
devices can tap into the treasure trove of information available online. Improved access to
information is especially apparent in the education sector.
Webinars – web-based multimedia lessons, seminars, discussions, and demonstrations – offer the
very same advantages online classes do, namely the ability to reach dozens or hundreds of people
all around the world, with additional advantages included as well. Importantly, the benefits of
webinars mean that educational institutions and companies of all sizes never have to compromise
on the quality of their education.
A webinar is a compounded word. We have web meaning the internet and seminars meaning a
gathering of people for the purpose of discussing a stated topic.
Webinars can be conducted through different apps such as facebook, zoom, google hangouts,
skype and many more.
Students have become more and more diverse in their learning situations. The Internet has
become a space for both the young and the old alike to satiate their interests and energies for
learning new things. It has provided them with a platform where they can have rapid interaction
and almost instantaneous knowledge building and developing.
Now that we know the different types of conferencing, we now should know the 3 essential
features of teleconferencing.
1. Students/participants are present at a particular time and in dispersed places.
2. Resource persons are present at the same time at the teaching end or different teaching ends.
3 There are interactions between:
Student – resource persons/AV materials at the teaching end(s)
Student – student at the education centre
Teleconferencing is important in medical education because of several reasons.
1. Continuation of medical education.
Due to the rapid evolution in the medical sciences, lifelong learning is required for everybody
involved in the medical field. CME has become increasingly important for doctors or nurses
during the past decade and with the growing requirement for continuous improvement of quality
in medical practice, it is now virtually mandatory in well-organised systems of medicine. Due to
busy time schedules and high costs of travelling, videoconferencing provides a good option for
medical professionals to save on time and costs to update their knowledge. Busy health
professionals desire access to learning anytime and anywhere, including at home in the middle of
the night.
2. Use of teleconferencing in medical conferences
Interactive live videoconferencing is being used for the transmission of live surgeries from the
operation theatre complex to the conference venue many miles away or even put as a podcast on
the Internet. This helps the audience to learn, interact with operating surgeons sitting many miles
away from the operation theatre.
3. Use of teleconferencing in undergraduate medical education
Medical students can also be offered lecture content covering clinical objectives via interactive
videoconferencing and a study shows that the students learn content focused on clinical learning
objectives as well as using videoconferencing as they do in the traditional classroom setting just
like what we do today due to the pandemic.
Both Webinars and Teleconferencing are used in the deliverance of distance education making
them both have their own advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages of using teleconferencing in medical education
1. Videoconferencing has many advantages that enable distance and, to some extent, time
problems to be overcome. Time required for travel is an important barrier to attendance, and
videoconferencing overcomes this problem and eliminates the associated travelling costs.
2. It allows the best of educational programmes and learning opportunities to be delivered from
anywhere in a country or overseas and delivers them directly to the receiver whilst allowing
simultaneous interactive teaching at many sites. Distance is now not a barrier for good quality
learning and education.
3. Providing a curriculum to students scattered over a broad geographical area is a challenging
problem. Videoconferencing is a potential method of providing educational programmes to
virtually all residency programmes with considerable cost and more effective use of the
resources.
4. Videoconferencing via satellite makes real-time interaction possible between audience and
faculty as well as central production of resource intensive course material which makes it an
appealing educational tool.
5. The videoconferencing sessions can also facilitate collaborated learning even when students
are located far apart.
The disadvantages of teleconferencing
1. The initial cost of the equipment and leasing the lines to transmit conferences may be
prohibitive due to costly internet and computer accessories.
2. If the bandwidth that carries the transmission among sites is not large enough, the students
may observe ghost images when rapid movement occurs in real-time. If the system is not
properly configured, class members may observe an audio echo effect. The result is audio
interference that detracts from the learning environment.
3. Technical problems can lead to the failure or interruption of the teleconferencing sessions.
Sometimes these problems need a long time to be resolved which may lead to cancellation of the
session.

4. Videoconferencing technology can constrain dialogue, and students at distant sites often feel
more disconnected than those on site.
In medical education, teleconferencing is an exciting and valuable method for studying and
teaching. With advancements in Internet technologies, it is now possible to provide the best
learning and teaching tools to a diverse group of students without regard to time or space. Now
and In the future, teleconferencing will play an important role in medical education.
And that concludes the reporting of group 3. Thank you for listening and have a good day.