Distance Education in
Epidemiology on the
Internet
Distance Education in
Epidemiology on the
InternetThe following presentation presents my approaches to using the Internet for teaching in
epidemiology. It outlines my observations regarding teaching in this format and identifies strengths
and possible needs for offering instruction to students on the Internet.
| Distance education in public health can be thought of from two perspectives; professional education with a focus on degrees in higher education and patient education with a focus on programs directed towards the public, such as health promotion activities. |
| Internet-based teaching is one of several formats in which distance education can take place. Distance education, as an application has existed for a number of years. Correspondence courses represent it’s earliest form. As communication technology has improved, the means for providing distance education has changed. Many current forms are now based on satellite uplinks or video conferencing. |
| Distance education, though, has not gained widespread use because of it’s costs. Many technologies are expensive to utilize. The Internet has renewed previous interest in distance education because it is relatively inexpensive to implement, allows for 2 way communication, has standard means of communication across the world and can be available to many students. |
Internet-based education is quite different
from teaching in the traditional classroom
setting. The teacher and the student(s) are
separated by distance and linked together
through the standard protocols of the Internet.
| The implication of Internet-based instruction is that education can now be viewed as truly global rather than local. Anyone with Internet access can participate. This means persons in developing countries may now have alternatives in education to the common practice of traveling overseas to get an advanced degree. |
| Current approaches to Internet-based
instruction, in general, include the use of e-mail
and/or the World Wide Web. Teaching through
listservers and WWW home pages have been
the most common methods applied. Future use
of the Internet may revolve around programs,
such as net meeting, that allow many persons to
participate together on a common interface. |
In epidemiology, initial efforts in Internet-based instruction have been based on electronic mail formats. PAHO has used e-mail to teach epidemiology in developing countries. Efforts now are focusing on using the WWW to augment other forms of instruction, such as a recent emerging disease seminar at Yale and a new course in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina.
Over the last two years, we have examined the advantages and disadvantages of Internet-based
education in chronic disease epidemiology, as part of a scheduled course at the University of
Pittsburgh. The remainder of this discussion focuses on the experiences learned from these
experiments.
| In 1995, we established a seminar course in non-communicable disease epidemiology via electronic mail.We solicited volunteer participation from students and faculty around the world and ran the seminar in conjunction with an existing class being taught in Pittsburgh. At the start of the seminar, close to 50 persons expressed an interest in participating from overseas. |
| The idea behind the seminar was to demonstrate the manner in which chronic diseases differ between countries and to present a discussion of possible methods by which we could understand how these characteristics differ by country. |
We began the seminar by distributing a paper
on public health and the Internet for discussion
and comments. The next day many of the
participants logged onto their computers to
find over 50 messages. Some did not receive
any messages due to problems with their mail
servers. Thus, we decided to break the
seminar into groups to better manage the flow
of e-mail. Each group had to develop an
international research project to study the
epidemiology of chronic disease.
| In 1996, we explored the feasibility of using the
WWW to augment classroom instruction. A
homepage for the class was established. Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology |
| The homepage contained all the materials for the course including the lecture slides, syllabus, and assignments. All communication in the class, exception for the 2 hours of instruction each week, was through electronic means. All assignments had to be submitted electronically. A class listserver was used for questions and announcements for the course. |
| The main requirement for the course was that
the students write and submit a homepage on a
chronic disease epidemiology topic. We also
had 7 assignments that introduced the students
to the Internet to train them in it’s uses and
applications. |
| At the end of the course, the students were
asked to assess the usefulness of the class
homepage on their learning processes. Most
found it to be quite helpful. |
A number of issues were observed in the two courses of instruction. Distance training in
epidemiology appears feasible, but students first need to understand how to use the Internet.
Regular feedback from the faculty is equally important in maintaining the student’s enthusiasm.
Incentives for students (credit, certification) and faculty (salary) are needed to maintain viability.
Deadlines for the receipt of assignments are necessary to receive materials in a timely fashion. Also,
with html documents, it is possible for the faculty to monitor the student’s progress on assignments
over time and provide relevant feedback.
| The next step lies in discovering the relevance of web-based instruction to students at overseas locations. This year we have developed a course in chronic disease epidemiology that will examine this issue. The URL for the course is shown, http://www.pitt.edu/~epi2170/index.html. We are monitoring how the course applies to 10 students at overseas locations. |
| Instruction for the course is based on the
WWW. Lecture slides and notes are provided
on the web, and a forum for questions and
discussion is available through a class e-mail
listserver. The overseas students will be
required to submit 6 abstracts and one
homepage. |
| What lies in the future for distance education in
public health on the Internet? This area is
moving forward rapidly. Many schools of
public health are developing distance education
programs, some of which may be based on the
Internet. Will these schools meet the needs of
students in developing countries? The answer to
this question is not clear at this time. |
| What seems clear is that students and faculty are available for Internet instruction programs. Programs with accreditation or certification will meet the needs of students more than those designed to provide knowledge alone. Lastly, several security and evaluation issues remain to be resolved. These include the authentication of student participation and the ability to evaluate if the students learn over this mode of instruction. |