Challenges of teaching live and distance audiences simultaneously.

crux of the first 2 years of medical school. Whereas technological innovations can accommodate multiple locations, they exacerbate 4 interrelated challenges: classroom attendance, learner-centered education, videoconference teaching, and faculty development. Classroom attendance for lectures is not required. Because audio and video recordings are available online, many students elect to attend lectures online only, where they can jump to any part of the recording, rewind, and control the speed. However, online lectures may be less engaging. In addition to lower attendance rates, engaging students is now more difficult for faculty because of higher student numbers and the challenges of simultaneous live and videoconference teaching. Many faculty now choose a more traditional style of lecture instead of a more engaging learnercentered strategy supported by educational and cognitive science literature.1-4 Teaching a large lecture hall full of students is an art, as is teaching distant audiences. Distance education requires mastering new skills, including the following5: