Massage Educators

Comment

Comment by Lisa Mertz on June 10, 2010 at 11:03am

At my community college, we use Blackboard, ePortfolio, Soft Chalk, YouTube, and other online delivery systems as part of our pedagogy, but for Massage Therapy, in compliance with state massage regs, we do not offer online or hybrid courses. Most of us post our Power Points and handouts and so forth on Blackboard for our classes. All the NY school owners and directors have been discussing proposing hybrid courses for the sciences, but we actually have agreed that we do not want to fight for online massage courses, even for massage theory. It remains to be seen how the state massage board will view continuing ed since the regs state 1000 "classroom" hours for the license -- the 36 hrs of continuing ed might not be "classroom" hours.

Comment by Susan G. Salvo on June 10, 2010 at 10:54am

Sandy is right. And with online learning, students can review a lesson multiple times, view related animations, click on an audio glossary to learn how to pronounce key terms, and complete numerous activities that reinforce course objectives.

Currently, college, universities, and many other educational institutions are utilizing online education. It’s just another way of learning. All of my master's level classes have an online component. In fact, all other health care professions are utilizing online education as part of their primary education.

Presently, there is a huge demand for electronic delivery of instruction, which includes online learning. Most articles published on online and distance learning and student achievement agreed with Thomas L. Russell who stated that there is “no significant difference” between face-to-face learning and learning via technology (Meyer, 2003).

We live in a world of constant technologic advancement. Keeping up with the terms and tools available can be a daunting task, especially for us instructors and educators. However, new technologies can afford us unprecedented means to communicate and educate our students. It is essential to develop our methods to match our resources (which Sandy and I have done). Think about it this way: learning to drive isn’t easy, but it will take you places.

I’m excited about all this.

Meyer, K. A. (2003) The Web’s impact on Student Learning: A Review of Recent Research Reveals Three Areas That Can Enlighten Current Online Learning Practices, T.H.E. Journal, 30(10), 14-24.

Comment by Sandy Fritz on June 10, 2010 at 10:44am

This is unfortunate and may change in the future. Online learning is everywhere and while you cannot teach the hands on portion of massage online you can teach the lecture portion and much of the sciences online as well as pathology. Textbooks that offer these courses can be of help for students who struggle with reading comprehension and could be part of homework assignments. The are only about $25-$30 when bought with the textbooks.

Comment by Lisa Mertz on June 10, 2010 at 10:25am

New York State does not allow online education in the schools; even hybrid science courses. I don't know if they'll allow online education for continuing education once the new CE mandate passes the legislature. Their view is that since massage therapy is a hands-on profession, it requires the development of communication skills so they want education to emphasize the interpersonal aspects.

Comment by Sandy Fritz on June 10, 2010 at 8:31am

Blended or hybrid classroom and online education brings the best of both educational delivery systems together. Mosby publishing has responded by creating comprehensive online courses to accompany two major textbooks used in massage education. Essential Sciences for Therapeutic Massage (sandy fritz) and Susan Salvo's pathology text. Each book comes with a delivery platform through the accompanying Evolve site- every thing is there including all course management such as grade book, attendance tracking, discussion boards and more. These courses are very inexpensive, professionally done and require nothing more than providing the course. Online education does not need to be difficult or expensive to implement. .

Comment by Jenny Ray on April 30, 2010 at 12:19pm

yes course numbers are down world wide...my normal gatherings are 12-20 and in the last few months average is 8-10...fear of the economy seems to be the trend...don't feel the home study or distant learning has anything to do with it as these are only supplemental courses and don't impact the same target market...one possibility is that the options/modalities and number of courses are expanding while the number of new practitioners is holding steady...? hope it's just a temporary trend as 'road warrior' is hard work and folks need to be compensated fairly if they plan to continue this work....

Comment by Susan G. Salvo on April 30, 2010 at 9:49am

Barbara,

Do you think that because courses are now offered online, that this might impact enrollment in traditional face-to-face courses?

Most major associations have begun offering online courses (as CEUs).

Comment by Barbara Helynn Heard on April 30, 2010 at 7:49am

Aloha, Have you CE teachers seen a drop in enrollment this year? In the 3 classes I taught in New England last year I had 10-12 students in each class. So far this year in spite of increasing my advertising and creating a strong website I have only 2 or 3 enrolled in each class. However, enrollment in my WA classes is about the same or even better than last year. I'm wondering that the national trend is. thanks. Barbara Helynn Heard www.lomilomi-massage.org.

Comment by Darcy Neibaur on April 28, 2010 at 9:58am

I love potlucks as well. Everyone shares in the food and drink and no raising of the prices works real well for me.

Comment by Barbara Helynn Heard on April 28, 2010 at 8:30am

I include potluck lunches as part of the classes I teach, with the option for people to bring a bag lunch or go out on their own instead. this works very well and helps people relate to each other as full people rather than just soaking up information in class.

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