Social Media Use by Dental Hygiene Educators.

Purpose Social media can be an effective tool in health care education. The purpose of this study was to explore dental hygiene educators' familiarity and use of social media platforms and to examine how social media was implemented in dental hygiene education.Methods A 25-item questionnaire was designed to investigate the use of social media by dental hygiene educators. The instrument included demographic data and items addressing personal, professional, and educational use of twelve common social media sites and the respondents' beliefs about social media using a 4-point Likert scale. The electronic questionnaire was distributed by email to 379 dental hygiene program directors in the United States and Canada. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.Results A total of 120 responses were received. While Facebook was the most utilized site for personal use (78.3%), LinkedIn was the most frequently accessed site for professional use (57.5%), and YouTube for educational use (68.3%). There was strong agreement that the interactive nature of online technologies create better learning environments (84.1%). There was also strong agreement that social media use in the classroom invites student participation (77.5%). More than half of the respondents (64.2%) indicated that social media can be an effective method for content delivery.Conclusion Social media is highly utilized for personal use by dental hygiene educators, but less frequently for engagement purposes in the classroom.

Assessment of learning outcomes of first year dental students using an interactive Nearpod educational platform.

PURPOSE: The impact of COVID-19 required revisions in curricula, especially among professional programs that have traditionally required hands-on learning of content. This study endeavored to assess the level of effectiveness of the online presentation of material both qualitatively and quantitatively in a 5-week module on cariology for first-year dental students. Quantitative analysis of the assessment data was required to determine if an interactive engagement platform increased student outcomes. Quantitative survey and qualitative student comments were analyzed to determine the students' preferences for supplemental learning opportunities and utilization trends. The purpose of this study was to measure the learning outcomes of online course delivery with the use of an interactive education platform. METHODS: The dental class of 2023 received the cariology material in a live, in-person lecture format. The class of 2024 received the same material in a combination of synchronous Zoom lectures and asynchronous interactive presentations utilizing the interactive education platform (Nearpod). The identical midterm examination on cariology was administered to both cohorts at the completion of the 5-week module. RESULTS: Quantitatively, the class of 2024 had a significantly higher mean score than the class of 2023 on the midterm examination, collectively and in both female and male cohorts. Qualitatively, the dental students overwhelmingly expressed support for the ease of use and educational value of the Nearpod platform. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that student performance on the identical exam was improved through the use of synchronous Zoom lectures and asynchronous Nearpod review sessions. The application of technology to enhance remote learning can be effective in supporting student mastery of core concepts in dental education.