Introducing New Learning Technologies into the Occupational Therapy Curriculum: Evaluation of a Hypermedia Teaching Package

There is a growing acceptance that information technology has a place in the occupational therapy curriculum. This has led to an increasing focus on the role of new learning technologies, such as hypermedia, in occupational therapy education. This paper describes a new hypermedia-based application called ‘Computer Applications in Therapy’ and reports the results of two case studies designed to assess its educational value and the potential influence that prior information technology experience might have on its use. A discussion of the results focuses on the three themes of self-directed learning, orientation and navigation, and skills and experience, and leads to three main conclusions. There is a need to explore the relationship between learning styles and use of learning technologies; develop and evaluate user-friendly interfaces and resource bases that have a strong sense of narrative; and cater for novices and experts.