Robin Sloan, MA, is a Health Communication Specialist in the Educational Design and Accreditation Branch (EDAB) of the Scientific Education and Professional Development Program Office at the CDC Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services. Jennifer Lee is a Technical Writer-Editor and Emergint contractor at CDC, also with EDAB. They work to ensure best practices are applied in the development of e-learning throughout the public health community.
Continuing education and training are fundamental to public health practice, but traditional classroom training isn’t always possible in times of shrinking budgets. Electronic learning, more popularly known as “e-learning,” provides a practical solution to expensive classroom training by eliminating travel costs, mass printing, and instructor fees. Practical e-learning, however, does not always translate into quality e-learning.
E-learning is broadly defined as instruction delivered through new technologies and computer applications such as websites, mobile devices, or other digital media. Quality e-learning is more than just an animated PowerPoint presentation. Quality e-learning requires active participation from the learner. It must engage the learner with interesting content, clear objectives, intuitive navigation, and exercises that require interactions that assess knowledge.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified components to help you recognize effective e-learning on its
Quality E-learning webpage on the
CDC Learning Connection. These resources help you identify fundamental e-learning components and explain how to use them effectively.
The E-learning Essentials Guide highlights…
- Key e-learning instructional components
- What they are
- Why they are important
- How to use them most effectively
- Instructional resources
- Glossary of frequently used terms
- Information to help you during the design process
Although the guide was designed for the federal setting, e-learning developers, educators, and training decision makers for any audience might find it useful. New e-learning developers can learn how to build courses with all the ingredients for success, and training decision makers will know what to look for in effective e-learning products.
Check the CDC Learning Connection often! Look for updates on the Quality E-learning webpage and let us know what you think. We believe these tools can help you develop e-learning that sticks — for a fraction of the cost of an instructor-led course.
CDC Disclaimers:
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by CDC or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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