A growing number of nurses take some of their required health care courses online. Many online nursing courses still resemble the traditional, lecture-based classroom format. However, a new Nursing Education Perspectives report suggests that online nursing instructors explore alternative methods of educating their students:

"As the characteristics of nursing students change that is, students are older and have more life experience - the need to emphasize adult learning principles becomes more important. And with the explosion of knowledge demanding effective, Lifelong learning skills, there is a growing need to search for new and creative approaches to education. One approach, though not new, is problem-based learning (PBL). Used initially in medical education, PBL not only supports the principles of adult and student-centered learning, it also matches the characteristics of successful distance learning. Intended to develop effective critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills, PBL fosters independent, self-directed learning skills and builds an internal motivation to learn and question."

Many online schools incorporate some form of experiential learning into their courses. Project based learning seems to be a move in the right direction for online nursing programs.