Massage Therapy Journal Winter 2024

18 • Massage Therapy Journal

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON MTJ: Scan the QR code and take a five-minute survey to help us make Massage Therapy Journal even better and more helpful for you and your practice!

Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com

Willis suggests a possible solution for this issue would be to increase the hands-on hours for those who primarily took online classes. “This adjustment would help ensure that all students, regardless of the learning format, develop the necessary practical skills and confidence needed in the field,” she explains. Additionally, some students may find getting and staying motivated is more difficult with online learning. “Since our program is self-paced, it is very easy to put it on the back burner and forget about it or feel alone,” Mazy says. To try and combat this, Texas Massage Academy has set up a community for its students where they can chat with other students who are going through the same program. The hybrid model also comes with consistent check-ins and discussions, so students are always aware that the school and its resources are there to help.

Despite these challenges, online learning appears to be here to stay. “Technology is going to become even more important,” says Mazy. “For any school to survive in the future, they will have to have some additional tools other than traditional lecture in the classroom.” References 1. Xu Y, Wang L, Li P, Xu H, Liu Z, Ji M, Luo Z. “Exploring the impact of online and offline teaching methods on the cognitive abilities of medical students: a comparative study”. BMC Med Educ. 2023 Aug 8;23(1):557. 2. Zhang Y, Liu J, Liang J, Lang J, Zhang L, Tang M, Chen X, Xie Y, Zhang J, Su L, Wang X. “Online education isn’t the best choice: evidence-based medical education in the post-epidemic era-a cross-sectional study”. BMC Med Educ. 2023 Oct 10;23(1):744.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Tell us: What are the benefits and challenges of hybrid education models? Share your thoughts at communications@ amtamassage.org!

S

amtamassage.org/mtj