Pharmacist perceptions of situated learning in an internet-based continuing education program

Situated learning, in which knowledge is gained in the context of authentic problem situations, can help learners acquire experts' "tricks of the trad e, while mastering program content. A situated learning framework guided th e design of a self-study Internet-based continuing education program on usi ng the Internet as a drug information resource. A written survey and semi-s tructured interviews were used to identify which situated learning componen ts of the program experienced and novice Internet users perceived to be imp ortant to their learning. Pharmacists in both groups valued the contributio n to their learning of course elements representing nine of the 10 key situ ated learning components. The least valued component was collaborative lear ning through a bulletin board. Overall, a situated learning framework appea rs to be relevant to the design of distance-delivered, independent-study co ntinuing pharmacy education programs. An issue still to be addressed is whe ther collaborative learning through a bulletin board can make a valuable co ntribution to learning in an independent study course.