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Building a Global Health Education Network for Clinical Care and Research. The Benefits and Challenges of Distance Learning Tools. Lessons Learned from the Hopkins Center for Clinical Global Health Education Robert C. Bollinger, MD, MPH*, Jane McKenzie-White, MAS, Amita Gupta, MD, MHS Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand. Chinese Proverb Expanding the capacity for clinical care and health research is a global priority and a global challenge. In disenfranchised communities facing the largest burden of disease, whether they are in rural Africa or urban United States, there is a great need for more well-trained, competent, and dedicated health care providers. In addi- tion, globalization has necessitated that an understanding of global health issues is a requirement for all health care providers, whether they be community health workers in rural Uganda, private practitioners in Mumbai or Los Angeles, or faculty at Johns Disclosure: See last page of article. Center for Clinical Global Health Education, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Phipps 540, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] KEYWORDS Distance learning mHealth Research Clinical Education Global health Infect Dis Clin N Am 25 (2011) 385–398 doi:10.1016/j.idc.2011.02.006 id.theclinics.com 0891-5520/11/$ – see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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articulo del doctor robert c bollinger Center for Clinical Global Health Education, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns HopkinsUniversity,Infect Dis Clin N Am 25 (2011) 385–398 mailto:[email protected]

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Building a Global HealthEducation Network forClinical Care andResearch. The Benefitsand Challenges ofDistance Learning Tools.Lessons Learned fromthe Hopkins Center forClinical Global HealthEducation

Robert C. Bollinger, MD, MPH*, Jane McKenzie-White, MAS,Amita Gupta, MD, MHS

KEYWORDS

� Distance learning � mHealth � Research � Clinical � Education� Global health

Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.Chinese Proverb

Expanding the capacity for clinical care and health research is a global priority anda global challenge. In disenfranchised communities facing the largest burden ofdisease, whether they are in rural Africa or urban United States, there is a greatneed for more well-trained, competent, and dedicated health care providers. In addi-tion, globalization has necessitated that an understanding of global health issues isa requirement for all health care providers, whether they be community health workersin rural Uganda, private practitioners in Mumbai or Los Angeles, or faculty at Johns

Disclosure: See last page of article.Center for Clinical Global Health Education, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Johns HopkinsUniversity, Phipps 540, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA* Corresponding author.E-mail address: [email protected]

Infect Dis Clin N Am 25 (2011) 385–398doi:10.1016/j.idc.2011.02.006 id.theclinics.com0891-5520/11/$ – see front matter � 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Hopkins Medical School. Resource-limited communities also require a greatercapacity for and ownership of their own health research priorities and programs.Meeting these pressing needs for human capacity building in health care and researchrequires additional resources and innovation. Traditional approaches to clinical andresearch education are important and necessary but not sufficient to achieve the scaleand pace of human capacity building required. Distance learning programs, thatinclude mHealth as well as other information technology (IT) platforms and tools,can provide unique, timely, cost-effective, and valuable opportunities to expandaccess to training, clinical care support and strategic information for clinicians andresearchers, throughout the world.Advances and investments in IT are providing many new tools for delivering and

accessing information, as well as for learning. These tools and new IT infrastructureare rapidly becoming available in developing countries and resource-limited commu-nities around the world, providing new opportunities for clinical and research capacitybuilding initiatives. Effective distance learning programs have been developed, andthey use multiple tools in the IT toolbox to optimize their capacity building andteaching. In addition to providing optimal content to address the learning objectivesof specific training programs, it is also important to strategically choose the optimaltools to deliver and access this content, as well as to recognize the limitations ofdistance learning and to rigorously evaluate the impact of any training program. Thesesteps are essential before major investment of resources and time that are required forthe scale-up and large-scale implementation of distance education programs toexpand global health man power and capacity.The Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Global Health Education (CCGHE) was estab-

lished in 2005 to provide access to high-quality training to health care providers inresource-limited settings. The CCGHE made a strategic decision to develop, use,and evaluate distance learning platforms to achieve its mission. In the initial years ofthis new program, several lessons have been learned that may be helpful to otherprograms considering the use of distance learning programs to expand global healthclinical and research capacity.

WHAT IS DISTANCE LEARNING?

Distance learning involves the strategic use of multiple IT tools to teach and learn.Distance learning programs also typically use IT tools to evaluate the impact of theprograms. The distance learning toolbox includes multiple platforms to interact withand to access and deploy information that may be important for clinicians andresearchers. In some cases, the most effective training content can be text basedor image based. Audio, video, and interactive formats, including simulation platforms,can also be used. Multimedia content and large amounts of data can be shared in veryportable formats, including digital videodiscs, CD-ROMs, CDs, thumb drives. Websites, portals, and local area networks can also store and deploy multimedia content.Availability of reliable fiber or wireless networks can support use of e-mail, webstreaming, videoconferencing, chat rooms, social networks, cell phones, smartdevices, and other interactive platforms to facilitate training. These formats can beused for live group-learning experiences, often referred to as synchronous learningformats. In many cases, asynchronous platforms, including e-mail, online forums,and social networking sites, can be very efficient and effective methods to facilitatefaculty-student interactions and group learning. Many of these tools are well knownand used in developed countries, where distance learning is more widely established.The CCGHE has used multiple tools in this toolbox, as well as developed new tools

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and approaches to optimize our mission to support health care providers in veryremote communities.

PROVIDERS IN RESOURCE-LIMITED SETTINGS USE THE WEB TO LEARN

When the CCGHE was launched, a simple Web site was one of the first distancelearning tools developed and used, in which content specifically relevant to providersin resource-limited settings was made available.1 Initially, these tools were simply text,PDF files, or Web links of key best practices and guidelines from governments andorganizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World HealthOrganization, United Nations AIDS, International AIDS Society. In addition, links tolive and recorded Web casts of weekly Infectious Diseases Grand Rounds from JohnsHopkins were made available. Within a matter of months, the number of visits to thisWeb site quickly increased to more than 500,000 hits per month from more than 100different countries, including many countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Fig. 1).This rapid demonstration of interest and demand for clinical training content weresurprising, given that this demand was generated without any significant public adver-tisement or effort by the CCGHE to announce the launch of its Web site or program. Inaddition to the demonstration that providers from resource-limited communities inAfrica, Asia, and Latin America use the Web to learn, the authors’ early experiencewith the CCGHE Web site demonstrated the power of the Web to rapidly share infor-mation around the world.

DISTANCE LEARNING IS FEASIBLE AND COST-EFFECTIVE FOR RESOURCE-LIMITEDSETTINGS

One of the first CCGHE initiatives to develop a full distance learning course was forhuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) health care providers in Zambia. There areseveral learning management systems (LMSs) available to develop and deploydistance learning courses. From its inception, the CCGHE has made a strategic deci-sion to use less-expensive open-source tools for the training programs, wheneverpossible. Therefore, the first distance learning course used the open-source LMS

Fig. 1. Initial CCGHE Web site activity.

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program called Moodle.2 The HIV clinical care course for Zambia consisted of 21recorded lectures by Hopkins and Zambian experts, which were formatted into 5modules and made available on the Web and CD-ROM, for participants without reli-able Web access. The course was delivered over a 6-week period and includeda weekly live faculty Web chat and online discussion forum. Course learning objectiveswere reenforced through case discussions, as well as questions/answer (Q&A)sessions with the faculty. To the authors’ knowledge, this was the first distancelearning course ever offered in Zambia. Despite great efforts by collaborating organi-zations in Zambia, it was initially very difficult to convince students to participate in thisfirst course. Reasons for this reluctance to participate in a distance learning courseincluded a healthy skepticism about the reliability of Internet access in Zambia thatis required for the low-bandwidth live faculty chats, course registration, and knowl-edge testing. In addition, there was uncertainty about the benefit of participating ina distance learning course related to HIV clinical care, and there was also a concernthat providers in Zambia would not participate in a free training course that doesnot incentivize them with payment for their participation.Despite a challenging initial launch, the course was successfully deployed and

included the live synchronized chats. The value and feasibility of a distance learningcourse format, even in a setting such as Zambia with very limited Internet connectivity,were evidenced by the great demand for this course and by the successful onlineparticipation of Zambian clinicians. A particularly notable demonstration of feasibilitywas the success of one live online session led by a Hopkins faculty member fromDhaka, Bangladesh, linked to the course participants in Zambia. Within 1 month ofcompletion of the first HIV clinical care course with 83 registered participants, Zam-bian colleagues requested that the course be redeployed, andmore than 281 studentsregistered for the second session of this course. An additional 499 students registeredfor the third session of this course. In addition to demonstrating to the CCGHE and itspartners in Zambia that distance learning is a feasible and valued training format forclinicians in resource-limited settings, this Zambian course demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of a distance learning format.As shown in Fig. 2, the initial cost of recording and developing this course for the

first 83 registered students was $1204 per student. Because recurring costs for thesecond and third sessions of this course were much less, the cost per student wasultimately reduced to $171. Therefore, the per-student cost of conducting a 6-week21-lecture distance learning course, delivered to approximately 900 Zambian clini-cians, by Zambian and US faculty experts was significantly less than that of HIVtraining courses offered in Zambia.3 In addition, the distance learning format permitteda more flexible schedule for students who were able to participate in this coursewithout interrupting their normal work schedule. Although the feedback from thecourse evaluation completed by Zambian participants was extremely positive andsignificant knowledge gains were demonstrated through knowledge test scores, therewas no opportunity to compare the impact of this online course with that of othermore-standard training formats. This early experience highlighted the need forresources and opportunity to properly evaluate any training program, particularlythose using new distance-education technology.

DISTANCE LEARNING IS EMPOWERING AND FACILITATES SOUTH-SOUTH CAPACITYBUILDING

One of the most successful and most sustainable CCGHE programs was initiated in2006 in collaboration with colleagues at the Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia.

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Fig. 2. Cost and scale of online HIV clinical care course in Zambia.

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The format for this program began as live videoconference-supported presentationsand discussions of clinical cases of patients with HIV infection by faculty and studentsfrom the AAU, Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, and University of South Carolina. The initiation ofthis program was also made possible through the support of several other sponsorsand stakeholders, including the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief andthe World Bank Global Development Learning Network (GDLN), who provided accessto their videoconferencing facility in Addis Ababa to launch this program. Again, thiswas the first time that this type of distance learning format had been undertaken inEthiopia, and, not surprisingly, there was considerable early skepticism about its feasi-bility, value, and sustainability. In the early phase of this program, 20 to 30 busy facultywere expected to drive a long distance every other Friday afternoon, from AAU to theCivil Service College in Addis Ababa, the location of the GDLN facility, to participate inthis program. At each session, 2 to 3 clinical cases are presented and discussed bythe participating faculty. These case discussions were recorded and made availablethrough live and archived Web casts, as well as burned on CD-ROMs and shippedto Ethiopia for distribution around the country to providers without reliable Internetor access to the videoconferencing facility.The early case discussions were notable for the US faculty providing much of the

discussion and input. However, within a very short period, the faculty in Ethiopiatook ownership and leadership of this program. Now, 4 years after a skeptical anddifficult start to the program, more than 200 case discussions have been recordedand distributed throughout Ethiopia, and clinicians throughout the world havebenefited by viewing these excellent discussions online. The program was sucha success that the AAU has now built its own state-of-the-art videoconferencingfacility in their medical school auditorium, expanding participation to many morefaculty and students. In addition, 2 more Ethiopian medical schools have built similarfacilities and are now actively participating in these case conferences, which continueto be broadcasted throughout the world. The recent global availability of the infra-structure for videoconferencing is a tremendous opportunity to initiate similar

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programs and is a particularly valuable platform for learning in the context of clinicalcase discussions, clinical consultations, and group learning.4 The success of theCCGHE program in Ethiopia has led directly to the recent initiation of similar videocon-ference clinical education programs in other countries, including India andPalestine.5–7

Another demonstration of the value of distance learning to support south-southcollaboration is a recent CCGHE course focused on diagnosis, treatment, and preven-tion of tuberculosis. This was an in-depth, comprehensive, 6-week, modular course,with 25 prerecorded lectures and live videoconference-supported activities thatengaged faculty from the United States and South Africa as well as faculty and 235students from India and Pakistan in a vibrant and interactive learning experiencethat resulted in well-documented improvements in knowledge for the students. Thiscourse, supported by the Fogarty International Training Program, deployed the 25lectures and other course materials on CD-ROMs. Students completed online pre-course and postcourse knowledge assessments, as well as course evaluations. Inaddition, 11 live videoconference discussion sessions were scheduled, linking facultyand students at BJ Medical College and National AIDS Research Institute in India,Indus Hospital in Pakistan, and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. To accommo-date participants unable to participate in the videoconferences, an Internet link wasestablished to view the live Web cast, with the ability to ask questions. In addition,an asynchronous Q&A discussion forum was available on the course Web site, inwhich participants post questions at any time for the faculty and fellow participants.Faculty monitored the forum and responded to questions posted within 36 to 72 hours.In addition, links to the recorded videoconference sessions were posted in both low-and high-bandwidth formats and accessible to participants through the Web site. Themedian correct score for the pretests was 66% compared with 86% for the posttest,and 95% of students completing the posttest received a score of more than 70%,which was the cutoff for the certification of competence with the material. Morethan 90% of the respondents to the course evaluation “agreed” or “strongly agreed”that the course objectives and expectations were clearly defined, the course wasorganized in a way that facilitated learning, the lectures were of high quality and ofan appropriate length, the content was applicable to their practice setting, and theywould recommend the course to a colleague and would take a similar course again.

DISTANCE LEARNING AND mHEALTH TOOLS CAN SUPPORT TASK SHIFTING

A critical challenge to improvements in global health is the limited number of trainedphysicians, nurses, and other health professionals. This health man power gap isa well-recognized challenge, and several public and private stakeholders have begunto address this need.8 As illustrated earlier, strategic use of distance learning tools cansupport these efforts to train high-level providers and to expand the capacity of healthinstitutions. However, in most resource-limited settings, low-level health careproviders with limited access to professional training provide much of the healthcare in the communities. Providing access to training and clinical care support tothese community health workers is also often challenged by rural and remote practicesettings as well as by the financial and opportunity costs of traditional trainingprograms that typically require providers to leave their practices and communitiesto receive training. Novel use of distance learning tools, particularly wireless mHealthplatforms, provides opportunities to scale-up health care capacity building initiativesand to address the training needs of community health workers and other providers inremote communities.

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The development of a recent distance learning adult male circumcision course inUganda illustrates how distance learning can support scale-up of high-priority special-ized training. The Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP) is internationally known forits research demonstrating that adult male circumcision can reduce the risk of HIVacquisition.9 This demonstration has led to large-scale programs to expand thetraining of medical personnel in this procedure.10 The RHSP conducts an excellentcircumcision training program for providers from around Africa. However, the impactof this program and other similar programs is limited by the time and expenserequired. To be certified in the RHSP course, a trainee typically travels to Rakai for2 weeks to participate in lectures and demonstrations and to perform an average of20 supervised circumcisions.11 To increase the efficiency, reduce the cost, andincrease the scale of the RHSP circumcision training program, the CCGHE createdthe Adult Male Circumcision Training eLearning Program, which was developed bythe experts involved in the RHSP. This course provides instruction on the requiredsteps to perform the dorsal slit surgery and all the necessary preoperative and post-operative screening and care. Packaged for CD-ROM use, this e-Learning programand its knowledge assessment test can be used as pretraining material and/or asa refresher and reference after hands-on training. The program is organized into 5sections: (1) preoperative considerations, (2) surgical preparations, (3) the dorsal slitsurgical procedure, (4) postoperative care, and (5) management of complications.The program also includes 2 hours of lectures, high-definition video demonstrations,and interactive exercises. The purpose of this e-Learning course is to allow trainees tosuccessfully complete the course before coming to Rakai, where the expectation isthat trainees will be better prepared for hands-on training, and the time required toachieve certification could then be significantly less than the current 2 weeks. Thisupgrade would lead to improved efficiency, increased scale, and reduced cost ofthe current RHSP circumcision training program. This example illustrates that distancelearning tools are not a replacement for hands-on, bedside, or face-to-face training;rather, these tools can be coordinated with more-standard training platforms toincrease the overall capacity of the existing training programs.mHealth programs, taking advantage of the expanding wireless infrastructure, are

an increasingly important component of distance learning initiatives. mHealth inter-ventions are particularly valuable for providing training and clinical care support topatients, low-level health workers, and other providers, using and deliveringcommunity-based and home care health services. To expand access to training toproviders in rural African community settings, the CCGHE developed a secure, highlyflexible and adaptable, open-source mHealth application called the electronic MobileOpen-Source Comprehensive Health Application (eMOCHA). This application, whichwas selected as a finalist for the 2010 Vodafone Wireless Innovation Award program,is designed to leverage mobile phones to assist health programs, researchers,providers, and patients to improve communication, education, patient care, anddata collection.eMOCHA synergizes the power of (1) mobile technology, (2) Android-supported

devices, (3) video and audio files, and (4) a server-based application to analyze andGPS (global positioning system) map large amounts of data, implement interactivemultimedia training, and streamline data collection and analyses. eMOCHA runs notonly on all Android devices, smart phones, and tablets but also on regular cell phones,with the capacity to send and receive data through a Web-based interface, using toll-free SMS (short messaging service) (Fig. 3). eMOCHA projects are currently beingdeployed and evaluated in a wide range of health care, public health, and researchprograms in Uganda, Afghanistan, and the United States, with additional projects

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Fig. 3. eMOCHA mHealth application for clinical training and care support. 3G, third gener-ation; EDGE, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution; GPRS, general packet radio service;GSM, global system for mobile communications; IP, internet protocol; PC, personalcomputer.

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under development in Central America, India, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia. Thesediverse projects include community and home-based strategies to optimize HIV coun-seling and testing, HIV treatment adherence, tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment,malaria prevention and treatment, maternal and child health, reduction of intravenousdrug use, management of chronic diseases, and prevention of domestic violence.mHealth platforms, such as eMOCHA, can provide unique opportunities to empowerhealth care providers, even in the most remote locations, with point-of-care strategictraining and clinical care support. The rapid growth and potential of mHealth programsto address global health priorities has led recently to new initiatives to support thedevelopment and evaluation of these innovative tools, including programs supportedby the Gates Foundation Grand Challenges,12 The Rockefeller Foundation,13 themHealth Alliance.14 However, as with most other uses of technology to improvehealth, there are limited data demonstrating that mHealth interventions improve healthoutcomes or clinical practice, particularly in resource-limited settings. The deploy-ment of wireless devices and applications by health programs is rapidly expanding,despite the lack of good public health impact data to support their widespread deploy-ment. The mHealth field seems to be following the “ready, fire, aim” strategy, high-lighting the urgent need for rigorous and well-designed evaluations of these initiatives.

DISTANCE LEARNING EMPOWERS AND FACILITATES SOUTH-NORTH GLOBAL HEALTHCAPACITY BUILDING

In February 2010, a new global health course was offered for all first year Johns Hop-kins medical students, which took advantage of the new distance learning capacity toconnect medical students in Baltimore with students and faculty in Uganda, Ethiopia,Pakistan, and India. The purpose of this course was to introduce basic global healthconcepts to first year medical students. This course shows not only that distancelearning can support unique educational experiences that leverage technology andglobal connectivity but also the power of group learning and “South-North” capacitybuilding. The course was organized into 4 themes, with each day beginning with thepresentation, discussion, and comparison of 2 representative clinical cases of thesame health problem from 2 very different settings (Table 1). The course was verysuccessful and received strong favorable feedback from students at Hopkins andfrom the other 4 partner institutions. The ability to interact with each other through

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Table 1Hopkins medical students global health course live videoconference case discussions

Day Theme Clinical Cases Partner Institutes

1 Maternal health High-risk pregnancy in Baltimoreand Addis Ababa

AAU, Black Lion Hospital

2 Child health Pediatric pneumonia in Baltimoreand Kampala

Makerere University, MulagoHospital

3 Emerging diseases MDR-TB in Baltimore and Karachi Indus Hospital

4 Chronic diseases Coronary artery disease inBaltimore and Pune

BJ Medical College, SassoonHospital

Abbreviation: MDR-TB, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

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live videoconferencing enriched the global health learning experience.15 However, theuse of this high-tech distance learning platform also provided many wonderful oppor-tunities to discuss the limitations of technology. The Hopkins students, who wereattentively engaged by their open laptops during the class, were challenged withquestions about why they needed to use their cell phones and laptops during the classfrom the Ethiopian students, who were focused and engaged in the discussion withoutthe help of these devices (Fig. 4). During the discussion of 2 pediatric pneumococcalpneumonia cases, the Ugandan medical students asked the Hopkins studentswhether they were taught to use stethoscopes; the diagnostic workup of the child inBaltimore was described and included a computed tomographic scan of the chest,as well as multiple subspecialty consultations and a 14-day hospital course, whereasthe child from Uganda, with the same diagnosis, the same antibiotic treatment, andthe same successful clinical outcome was diagnosed with an excellent physical exam-ination and a chest radiograph. In the latter case, the child was also discharged homefrom the hospital after 2 inpatient days with a prescription of oral antibiotics. The use ofdistance learning technology to facilitate these discussions of global health issuesironically provided a tremendously valuable opportunity for the Hopkins students tolearn from their colleagues in Ethiopia, Uganda, Pakistan, and India about the limitsof technology as well as the importance of professionalism and a good physicalexamination.

Fig. 4. Hopkins first year medical students global health case discussion with AAU and BlackLion Hospital in Ethiopia.

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DISTANCE LEARNING CAN AND MUST BE EVALUATED

Online learning has been widely used for education in the United States and otherdeveloped country settings, where its effectiveness has been demonstrated.16

Although distance education is also increasingly supporting the training of studentsin resource-limited settings, evaluations of the impact and acceptance of distancelearning platforms in such settings are limited. To better understand the potential valueof distance education to expand health research capacity, the CCGHE undertooka randomized study comparing online with on-site (ie, face to face) delivery of coursesin 2 distinct domains relevant for international health research: Biostatistics andResearch Ethics (Aggarwal R, Gupte N, Kass N, et al. Distance learning to build inter-national health research capacity: a randomized study of online vs on-site training.Submitted for publication). The authors’ hypothesis was that both on-site and onlinecourse formats would lead to similar gains in knowledge for students, for both contentdomains.A total of 58 Indian scientist volunteers were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 arms.

Volunteers in arm 1 attended a 3.5-day on-site course in Biostatistics and completeda 3.5-week online course in Research Ethics. Volunteers in arm 2 attended a 3.5-weekonline course in Biostatistics and 3.5-day on-site course in Research Ethics. For the 2course formats, learning objectives and knowledge tests were identical and coursecontents were similar. The improvement in knowledge was assessed immediatelyand 3 months after course completion and compared with baseline. Baseline charac-teristics were similar in both arms. As shown in Fig. 5, immediate median gains inknowledge scores were similar between the on-site and online platforms for bothBiostatistics and Research Ethics. The increase in knowledge gain was sustained 3months after completion of the courses and remained similar for the on-site and onlineformats.In summary, evaluation of this distance education program in India demonstrated

that online and on-site training formats led to marked and similar improvements ofknowledge in Biostatistics and Research Ethics. This program, combined with logisticand cost advantages of online training, may make online courses particularly useful forexpanding health research capacity in resource-limited settings. The authors’ experi-ence also demonstrates that precourse and postcourse knowledge assessments, aswell as student course evaluations can be easily deployed and monitored, even forlearners in remote areas. In addition to interactive learning tools deployed online, wire-less devices can also be used to both deliver and evaluate training programs. Althoughrandomized study designs are not always feasible or necessary for evaluation ofdistance education programs, rigorous evaluations should be a responsibility andpriority for health programs that use them.

DISTANCE LEARNING LIMITATIONS AND BENEFITS

Distance learning tools are designed to supplement and support capacity buildingprograms and not to replace other more-traditional training platforms. As with anyeducation strategy, distance learning tools have limitations. The optimal use of thesetools requires an understanding of the required infrastructure and technologicalsupport. Structural barriers such as limited fiber networks, bandwidth, and wirelessnetwork architecture, as well as lack of access to computers can be important barriersto the effective use of distance learning technology. In some cases, students lack theexperience and training required to use the technologies. Whereas cell phones areubiquitous and may be optimal tools for many settings, many individuals may be unfa-miliar with computers. These challenges require any capacity building program using

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Fig. 5. Comparison of knowledge gain between online and on-site courses in Biostatisticsand Research Ethics.

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distance learning platforms to have a clear understanding of which tools work opti-mally in their own settings. In many settings, distance learning may provide accessto basic information, but high-level training, particularly clinical or laboratory skills, stillrequires hands-on training, and face-to-face mentorship or group interactions. Inaddition, effective health care delivery requires that providers and patients develop

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trust and familiarity with each other. It would be a mistake for technology to replace orinterfere with the human-to-human interactions that are so important for students toexperience and learn.Despite these important limitations, when carefully designed and implemented,

distance learning tools provide a unique opportunity to expand access to trainingand clinical care support for resource-limited providers and communities (Box 1).The flexibility of these tools can prioritize important local competencies and traininggaps. The CCGHE experience suggests that distance learning tools can rapidly delivernew information and adapt to changing local needs. They are feasible to implement,even in very remote communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In general, thelower cost of deployment increases the accessibility and scalability of trainingprograms, making distance learning more cost-effective and sustainable forresource-constrained communities. Distance learning is also a “green” technologythat limits the need for travel for both learners and trainers. In contrast to live work-shops or face-to-face lectures, distance learning also allows capturing the very bestavailable training, as well as for more consistent delivery of the highest-quality trainingcontent to many different settings. Interactive distance learning platforms also allowfor content delivery to adapt to the understanding and experience of learners, leadingto broad utility for students with diverse literacy, experience, and prior education. Inaddition, as opposed to more traditional education strategies that “push” the contentto learners, distance education is a “pull” platform that requires learners to access anduse the content. Therefore, distance learners are active learners and only use anddemand content that is valuable to them. This provides additional incentive to educa-tion programs that use distance learning technology to optimize their content.Distance learning can, therefore, empower local providers and, perhaps, limit “brain

drain.” The flexibility and convenience of distance learning tools allow providers toaccess training and clinical care support at their point of care, own homes, or localcommunities. Typically, they can also more easily control the timing of their training.In summary, distance learning programs empower the learner and limit the need forproviders to leave their communities to access high-quality training.The future scale and acceptability of distance learning tools to support global health

education will ultimately depend on the clear demonstration of impact and value.There is a great need for rigorous evaluation and monitoring of distance learningprograms. As with any training program, distance education programs must lead toimproved clinical practice and improved health for the communities and patients.Although technology and innovation lead to greater opportunities for distance

Box 1

Benefits of distance learning programs

� Flexible and feasible for most resource-limited settings

� Can prioritize local needs

� Lower cost for deployment, scalability, and sustainability

� Lower opportunity costs for learners

� “Green” technology

� Active empowered learners

� Consistent delivery of highest-quality content

� Adaptable to diverse learner experience, education, and literacy

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learning, in communities around the world, there is also an opportunity and responsi-bility to properly evaluate and monitor these programs.

DISCLOSURES

Dr Bollinger’s research and education programs have been supported by grants fromthe National Institutes of Health, the US Centers for Disease Control, the Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).Ms McKenzie-White’s education programs are supported by grants from the NationalInstitutes of Health. Dr Gupta’s research and education programs are supported bygrants from the National Institutes of Health and the Gilead Foundation. The educationprograms of the Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Global Health Education have beensupported by BASF; BraytonWilbur Foundation; The Indira Foundation; John and AmyWeinberg Foundation; Lazard Freres & Co LLC; Otto Haas Charitable Trust; Schering-Plough; Wilbur-Ellis Company Foundation; Northwater Foundation; HB FullerCompany Foundation; Nova Chemicals; Auxillium Pharmaceuticals Inc; Black Enter-prise Magazine; Dow Chemical Company Foundation; GlaxoSmithKline; Nalco Foun-dation; The VF Foundation; the William Penn Foundation; Astellas Pharma; BoehringerIngelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc; Pfizer, Inc; Gilead Sciences, Inc; and TibotecTherapeutics.

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