As many of you know, USAID’s Global Health eLearning Center (GHeL) underwent a dramatic redesign in March 2013. The biggest change to the GHeL Center was the look and feel of the courses. Learners now benefit from enhanced platform flexibility in areas of navigation, and page specific glossary terms and references available on every course page in a pop-out sidebar. The course experience itself is more visually attractive and streamlined with wider course pages and prominent navigation buttons.
In addition to the flexibility in course design, learners can now more easily access and share content. For example, the new platform is compatible with all web browsers and mobile friendly.
As part of our investigation into how to improve the GHeL learning experience, we asked learners several questions about how we could improve the likelihood that knowledge obtained from the courses would be used in service delivery. Over 1,700 of you responded to our survey. The majority reported they would like the ability to interact with other students taking a course.
You spoke and we listened!
GHeL’s 116,000 registered users now have the opportunity to benefit from the second part of the redesign: the establishment of the Community Group feature.
The purpose of Community Groups is to provide a public space for eLearners to interact with each other, explore course content together and share experiences related to course topics. You might be wondering if a course topic is relevant to the work you do and want to get the opinions of those who are taking it or have completed it. Perhaps you have found an innovative way of implementing the knowledge gained from a course and want to share it with others.
A community for each of the 10 certificate programs has been created. In the each of the Groups, you can post a question, comment or read what others have posted to enhance your understanding of course material. If you are a course author or program leader and want to facilitate a moderated discussion on a specific GHeL course or topic, the Group functionality allows you to do this.
Join a Group Today!
To join a Group, log-in, then click on the Community tab on the orange bar on the top of the page. You will then have the opportunity to subscribe to one or more of the Groups. After subscribing, you will see a list of Group members and can join a discussion or start a new one.
Take a moment to introduce yourself, your professional experience related to the Group topic, and a question or comment. You might also consider describing what your expectations are regarding the Group and how you hope to contribute. Once you have posted your introduction, complete your profile by clicking on the ‘Learner Home’ link at the top right of the page and then ‘Edit my Profile.’
Check the Groups often to meet other GHeL learners, read their contributions and post your own thoughts or answers to their questions. The Communities are only as good as you make them, so please help make them vibrant and informative.