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Photo in tablet © Jones and Bar tlet t Publishers. Cour tesy of MIEMSS. CONTINUING EDUCATION T he Continuing Education Coor- dinating Board for Emergency Medical Services (CECBEMS) was founded in 1992 under the vision and guidance of Janet Head, then president of the National Asso- ciation of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT). Janet recognized that not all EMS con- tinuing education (CE) was of a level or quality she would expect for practicing EMS providers. Thus she sought support from the leadership of other EMS leadership organi- zations such as the National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE), National Regis- try of EMTs (NREMT), American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP). Together these organizations provided representation to the CECBEMS Board of Directors. Their collective goal became to raise the bar of EMS CE by setting stan- dards and requirements and providing an accreditation service for EMS-based CE. Among continuing education provid- ers, a broad spectrum of CE delivery and educational methodology exists. Some CE providers (CEP)—i.e., services that offer CE activities to EMS providers (EMSP)— offer CE in the form of live lectures EMSP can sign up for and attend. Others provide distributed learning (DL) in the form of written-word-only documents tied to short post-tests. Some providers administer CE through online written-word activities, PowerPoint activities, short videos and video-based case studies. While CECBEMS' goal is to standardize EMS CE, consumers are free to pick and choose which format they would like to use for CE hours. Unfortunately, the culture of "faster and easier" permeates EMS CE to a degree, and the EMS industry as a whole will need to reject this philosophy as we look forward to creating a more professional profession. Evolving Educational Technologies In recent months, the CECBEMS Board of Directors has witnessed a technological evolution of DL activities available to EMSP. Some truly innovative DL designs have led to a shift in consumer/marketplace loyalty toward the innovation and away from the more traditional education formats. Clearly, this new generation of EMS providers has greater access to technology that provides instant information at their fingertips, and they are not as interested in traditional education. Instead, they yearn for innovation, for "flash" and activities they can accomplish on the go without being tethered to a teacher or a classroom. 1 Accredited providers and CECBEMS accreditation applicants must commit sig- nificant resources to the production and delivery of the activities listed in their cata- logs. High-quality CE activities are not inex- pensive to produce regardless of the type of presentation. As [continuing education expert Chuck] Karayan stated, the quality of the presentation must meet or exceed the investment the student makes to view and participate in the activity. 2 It is in this light that the CECBEMS Board of Directors would like to highlight best-practice models Best Practices in CE How technology is changing the way we deliver continuing education By the CECBEMS Board of Directors 28 JUNE 2015 | EMSWORLD.com INNOVATION IS DRIVING EVOLUTION IN CONTINUING EDUCATION.