Abstract

(41st Biennial Convention) Background: Registered Nurses in Western Samoa have no access to continuing education once they have completed their initial university education and are employed in the villages of Western Samoa. The Pacific Open Learning Health Net (POLHN), sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), provides eLearning opportunities to healthcare professionals throughout the Pacific region. A university collaborative responded to the request for programming with Qualifications for Online Learning a course delivered to Samoan nurses in both a face-to-face and online format. Methods: Development of online courses from face-to-face courses, use of conversion tools supporting excellence in online education, and viewing courses from a learners point of view are all topics key to online course development success. The transitional worksheets used to develop and transform courses will be provided to the presentation attendees. Results: The Samoans found the educational experience to be helpful in developing their own online courses using Moodle. Students were to develop an online course as the course outcome. Overall, participants judged the workshop to be a worthwhile experience as noted by their rating of the course as "Excellent" (82%) or "Good" (23%). Overall, participants realized that although the workshop was challenging, the types of skills they were learning are valuable, especially in an increasingly technical society. The participants appreciated an opportunity to broaden their knowledge. Conclusions: Development of online courses is possible even in a country with limited technology resources. This presentation will provide an overview of the two workshops (face-to-face) and online components of the Qualifications for Online Learning course. Additionally, a discussion on how cultural and socio-economic issues impacts the development and implementation of an online course.

Description

41st Biennial Convention - 29 October-2 November 2011. Theme: People and Knowledge: Connecting for Global Health. Held at the Gaylord Texan Resort & convention Center.

Author Details

Jeanine E. Gangeness, PhD, RN

Sigma Membership

Unknown

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

online, Samoa

Conference Name

41st Biennial Convention

Conference Host

Sigma Theta Tau International

Conference Location

Grapevine, Texas, USA

Conference Year

2011

Rights Holder

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Online Course Development Success: The Samoan Experience

Grapevine, Texas, USA

(41st Biennial Convention) Background: Registered Nurses in Western Samoa have no access to continuing education once they have completed their initial university education and are employed in the villages of Western Samoa. The Pacific Open Learning Health Net (POLHN), sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), provides eLearning opportunities to healthcare professionals throughout the Pacific region. A university collaborative responded to the request for programming with Qualifications for Online Learning a course delivered to Samoan nurses in both a face-to-face and online format. Methods: Development of online courses from face-to-face courses, use of conversion tools supporting excellence in online education, and viewing courses from a learners point of view are all topics key to online course development success. The transitional worksheets used to develop and transform courses will be provided to the presentation attendees. Results: The Samoans found the educational experience to be helpful in developing their own online courses using Moodle. Students were to develop an online course as the course outcome. Overall, participants judged the workshop to be a worthwhile experience as noted by their rating of the course as "Excellent" (82%) or "Good" (23%). Overall, participants realized that although the workshop was challenging, the types of skills they were learning are valuable, especially in an increasingly technical society. The participants appreciated an opportunity to broaden their knowledge. Conclusions: Development of online courses is possible even in a country with limited technology resources. This presentation will provide an overview of the two workshops (face-to-face) and online components of the Qualifications for Online Learning course. Additionally, a discussion on how cultural and socio-economic issues impacts the development and implementation of an online course.