Tips for medical educators on how to conduct effective online teaching in times of social distancing

Abstract

During the current coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, with the Singapore government mandating social distancing, all educational activities in medical schools have been affected. Medical students from our three medical schools have been banned from all clinical environments (polyclinics and hospitals). Online teaching and meetings became the norm. Although medical educators are generally good clinicians and educational tutors, many are not used to teaching and learning on an electronic platform due to various barriers such as time constraints, poor technical skills, inadequate infrastructure and a lack of institutional support. In this article, we collate tips from published work in online learning, and we also share our own experiences in conducting online teaching.