Engaging Learners with Online Training is a five-part blog series featuring stories from E-learning Institute Fellowship (ELI) alumni. Alumni have different stories to tell about the impact ELI had on their work in public health.
As a Research Associate for the North Carolina Institute for Public Health (NCIPH) Training Website, I provide staff support for public health professionals and other interested persons who need immediate access to short, high quality trainings on a variety of public health topics. Since 2003, the NCIPH Training Website has grown to over 180 online trainings, serving over 100,000 learners from all 50 states and 179 countries.
I learned about ELI through my supervisor, Dr. Rachel Wilfert, who received application information through the Public Health Foundation’s email listserv. I applied, wanting to learn more about the theory and best practices of using e-learning tools and how to best apply those tools to a public health practitioner audience. I was thrilled to receive the acceptance email!
During ELI, I learned about the components essential to quality e-learning: instructional analysis; design practices and tools; 508 compliance; learner assessment; and formative evaluation. Being able to collaborate with peers and expert mentors was invaluable in guiding me through the process of developing an effective and interactive “quick learn” (an online course designed to address one or two learning objectives and take less than 20 minutes to complete) on program evaluation. ELI helped me rethink the curriculum design process not only in applying best practices, but also in focusing on the target audience and how to best collaborate with content experts to ensure the information is presented in a way that is easily understood.
Since my participation in ELI, I have implemented the skills I learned to the NCIPH Training Website. Our trainings now include more user interactions to break-up and reinforce learning content as well as more scenario-based assessments. For future e-learning projects, I plan to continue to incorporate best practices in curriculum design, 508 compliance, learner assessment, and evaluation. The knowledge and skills I’ve gained from ELI are invaluable, and I am excited to build on them throughout my public health career.