Last update:
09-Mar-2009

In the past few years the popularity of e-learning as a new educational method has increased considerably, allowing the implementation of new strategies and methods of teaching and learning. The decreased cost of computers and software, the increased use of computers, the spread of use of the internet, the progress of technology in general, time pressures and finally the conviction of teachers and instructors that education with the help of the computer is as effective as other conventional or traditional forms of instruction are the main reasons of this popularity. Education of this type supports the process of learning with the incorporation of images, diagrams, forms, video and sound, designed in multimedia modules, thus enhancing interaction between the teacher and the student. Computer based education constitutes a successful educational tool that involves the students as active participating members in the process of learning. Specially developed and completed training units of educational models of different content could have a much wider use in the continuing education of younger doctors and could be used for brief educational programs of knowledge revision for senior doctors. They could also be included in university pre- and postgraduate programs. This paper, apart from presenting the basic terms that specify the significance of electronic learning, also describes an actual project applying a distance-learning model of education targeted at radiologists and radiation technologists, concerning an instructional package on the physics of magnetic resonance imaging.

Key words: Computer based learning, Continuous education, e-learning, Interactive multimedia, MRI.