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INTRODUCTION
In 1983, Richard Clark stated that "the best current evidence is that media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition" (Clark, 1983, p. 445). Since that statement many papers have been published to support or refute this point of view. The purpose of this white paper is to explicitly identify and respond to the major points that have been brought up by both sides of the debate in order to identify best practice within the classroom and, possibly, the clinic.
BACKGROUND AND AUDIENCE
As physical therapy educators in entrylevel programs, your time and resources are limited. This article succinctly presents you with the arguments and the facts to help you make intelligent and founded decisions about the use of media within your classroom. With the growing number of options for educational media, it is important to know if the search for the best type of media is worth your time and effort. With the large expense of many types of technology or media, for either the program or the student, it is important to know if the added cost of the selected media will improve the students' learning of the material. Lastly, many of the technological options require a significant time commitment to learn how to use it, to program it properly to work in the best possible manner, for set up or break down of the equipment, and to manage the inevitable technology mishaps. Also of important note is that those of us who are less familiar with technology face a greater burden in its use. This becomes even more important if we are requiring that students or peers who are not as familiar with technology are able to effectively manage the media.
The same considerations must be made in the clinic. The selection of media for patient education or for completion of home exercise programs must be carefully considered. There is face validity to the idea that highest priority in the clinic is often aligned with patient stated preference secondary to an expected increase in adherence to exercise programs or willingness to self-educate about their diagnosis if the therapist is willing to...