Online education utilized in the massage profession can add great value to any massage school and instructor. There are now some excellent software programs available to study anatomy and physiology, featuring graphics that more than likely exceed the artistic talents of a massage instructor.

Hands-on massage education will—and should—remain exactly that: hands-on, face-to-face massage class training. However, the rest of massage online education is negotiable. Imagine a massage student who has viewed the information prior to coming to class. This would give students an opportunity to hear new terminology before they come to class. The instructor would then validate this new terminology, which would be the second time the massage students are exposed to new terminology. By the end of class, the massage students now have heard the new terminology more often than if the massage student had learned it for the first time in class that day or night. (Teaching models say students must hear subject matter at least three times to make a connection.)

My favorite example of massage online education is how greatly it may improve a body ergonomics class. There is so much to teach in the subject of body ergonomics. There is first the terminology and then there are the correct poses to be positioned in to distribute proper body weight to perform specific massage techniques. What if the massage instructor could concentrate more on direct body ergonomics when the massage student was in class?

The massage student could potentially study the lesson in advance of the body ergonomics class. This way, massage students would be exposed to the new terminology and definitions, such as archers’ stance, etc. When they then arrive for class, the massage instructor could immediately begin to position the massage student in the proper stances because the student was already aware of the terms and definitions.

By utilizing online education, responsible students can walk into class relatively on the same level to begin implementation of their newly learned terminology. This then allows massage instructors to immediately begin a clinic to give a 3-D lesson of what was learned in the massage online education portion of the class. It really is a win-win for massage students and teachers.