ICT-enabled teaching and learning modalities followed in pharmacy education during COVID-19 in India

Abstract

The transformation from conventional to online teaching and learning created an unprecedented learning environment and many challenges for the trainers and learners during COVID-19 in India. In this context, many synchronous and asynchronous online teaching tools were used to continue the pharmacy educational process and to develop and update the instructional strategies with suitable online tools & interactive methodologies. Indian Ministry of Education (MoE) initiated massive online open courses platforms which were utilized to understand the fundamentals of pharmacyrelated subjects. Introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences learning was provided to students through online simulation activities, video reflection, case, and problem-based online discussions, and objective structured clinical and practical examination. Virtual conferencing applications and digital education platforms of MoE were majorly used to conduct the pharmacy education during the crisis and investments in digitization become mandatory in pharmacy education and COVID-19 fast-forwarded its process. Information and communication technology enabled continuity of pharmacy education during the pandemic and improved the student-teacher contact hours, self-paced, collaborative, and contextual learning environment in India.