title: Earnings in e-learning: knowledge, CME credits or both? Hints from analysis of attendance dynamics and users' behaviour.
abstract: Many papers report and convey positive opinion about the use of e-learning in the healthcare sector. The issue is how to exploit at best such a powerful instrument. Starting from data regarding the usage of a CME e-learning course, attendance dynamics and users' behaviour have been inspected with the aim of getting some hints about how to improve the development and the delivery of e-learning courses for CME, and to promote knowledge acquisition at best. The different paths followed by 7811 users have been modeled, from enrolment to conclusion/drop-out, then the behaviour in terms of effort, elapsed time, achieved result have been analyzed. The obtained results point out: good acceptance (retention rate 83%) of a not basic educational model and effectiveness (success rate 79%). At the same time the inspection of behaviour has shown that there is a good margin of possible improvement in terms of knowledge acquisition. Conclusions provide a list of issues to keep in mind during system development, in order to provide CME e-learning meeting both credit and knowledge acquisition goals.
authors.affiliation: Salvatore Maugeri Foundation IRCCS, Pavia, Italy. cristina.mazzoleni@fsm.it
authors.forename: M Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Mazzoleni
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rognoni
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Finozzi
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Landro
authors.forename: Edda
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Capodaglio
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imbriani
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Giorgi
mesh_terms: D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D007558:Italy