Abstract

The Internet offers a great opportunity to deliver dental education in new ways. However, to achieve the maximum benefit from this medium, it is necessary to understand its strengths and weaknesses and, above all, not to lose sight of the key principle that in education it is the message and not the messenger (the content and not the medium) that should be given priority. After a brief introduction, this paper considers the principles of designing online programmes. It stresses the need for ensuring that students have easy access to the materials that have been designed and then describes 'learning objects' and virtual learning environments (VLEs). It concludes that with some notable exceptions, dental educators have hardly begun to grasp the benefits of web-based teaching and learning.

1. Professor of Dental Education, Centre for Flexible Learning in Dentistry, King's College Dental Institute, Floor 3, Strand Bridge House, 138-142 Strand, London, WC2 1HH
2. IT Manager, The Dental Institute at Guy's, King's and St Thomas' NHS Hospitals, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RW
3. Professor of Educational Technology, Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA
4. Emerita Professor of IT in Education, Department of Education and Professional Studies, School of Social Science and Public Policy, King's College London/Senior Research Fellow, King's College London Dental Institute, Floor 3, Strand Bridge House, 138-142 Strand, London, WC2 8LD
5. Visiting Professor, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, 256 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC2 1HH/Honorary Professor, University of Kent

Correspondence to: P. A. Reynolds¹ e-mail: P.A.Reynolds@kcl.ac.uk