An application of computer conferencing in dental education

A computer conference was used as an instructional tool in a dental school course on health education. Second year students (N = 84) were divided into 17 groups to design community education programs. A student from each group participated in the conference to electronically discuss their program with peers. The conference operated for 52 days. The 28 conference topics were displayed 1028 times. There were 279 conferencing uses lasting 8125 min (135.4 h); a mean of 29.1 min/use. Mean responses per students was 25. Mean student terminal time was 7.8 h. Instructor terminal time was 20.8 h; 5.4 h were spent managing the conference. Of the available conferencing funds ($440.00), $218.35 was expended with students using $168.24. Mean dollars spent per student was $9.90. Quantitative evaluation of participation was based on: (a) number of individual responses made compared to mean responses; (b) timely item placement on the conference; and (c) the percentage of responses made in other students' items. Student evaluation of conferencing was positive and acknowledged the value of computer skills.