Enduring Print Material Pieces

An Enduring Material is a non-live continuing medical education (CME) activity that endures, or lasts, over time. These include print, audio, video and Internet materials, such as monographs, podcasts, CD- ROMs, DVDs, archived webinars, as well as other web-based activities. When using an Enduring Material, the learning experience for the participant does not have a specific time or location, in contrast with the learning at a live CME activity that takes place at one time and in one place. The participant determines where and when to complete the activity.

Enduring print material pieces include all written material, excluding non-print resources, which convey planned educational course information. Examples of printed resources include, but are not limited to: textbooks, workbooks, reference books, magazines, newspaper, journals.

Advantages of Print Materials

• Extremely portable
  Print materials can be used in any location.
• High comfort level
  Most students are very comfortable using print materials to learn.
• Cost effective
  Print materials can be created and duplicated with little expense.
• Readily available
  Many distance learning courses can take advantage of existing textbooks, thus saving the time and expense of creating custom materials.

Disadvantages of Print Materials

• No interactions
  Print materials do not generally provide built-in interactions. Additional technologies, such as e-mail, must be supplemented.
• No audio/visual elements
  Print materials are static and are not appropriate for teaching languages and visual concepts.
• Time delay
  It may take days or weeks for printed matter to travel between student and teacher.