Future directions of online learning environment design at medical schools: a transition towards a post-pandemic context

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had an extremely large impact on methods of teaching and learning, and the need for online learning has grown enormously during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because most professors and students adjusted their mode of teaching and learning to this new context, online learning seemed to be going well. The problem is that distance learning was abruptly adopted as an alternative method of classroom instruction. To increase the effectiveness of online learning, more consideration is needed to explore future directions of creating learning environments. Therefore, this study suggests seven design guidelines for designing learning environments at medical schools based on a theoretical background and experiences from the pandemic. Constructivism and situated learning theory are introduced as the theoretical background for learning environment design, and the basic principles of learning environment design with the paradigm shift to learner-centered classrooms and experiences using EdTech, including HyFlex learning, flipped learning, learning management systems, and interactive learning tools, were used to develop the design guidelines. Each design guideline is strategically matched with the basic principles: learner-centeredness, real-world tasks and contexts, problem-solving, new roles of professors as facilitators or tutors, collaboration, and new perspectives of evaluation and assessment.