Small Self Learning Converted Course Booklets another Component of Mobile Learning ?

November is ending there should be something new learnt every named time slot as it should be everyday, per weekend, per week, per month and per year!

I did not really focus on what I learnt in the various times slots as above until over one weekend when thinking about the aftermaths of an exhibition I had been to. It started with after fighting the need to check out tent next to me thinking keeping myself busy that it could find them anyway where since  the organisation is in the health world a section world small that you bump into each very often.

But my anxiety gave in and went over this time telling myself- "well what i could learn from their work?"  And yes I did learn something. My current position is that  I am a distance learning officer at a prestigious institute and I am supposed to make innovations there from my years of expertise as a distance learning trainer.  When I hear of a training institute thus it intrigues me learning from them to see what i can bring aboard in my institute and there I was.

When I was given a guest book to sign I said what I wanted- "training", now i think about it, i should have written partnership. I was excited about the training I would be contacted for and then flip it around and propose a possible partnership for online training introduction into the organisation. But then I realised that so much of the training is conducted with a greater percentage of people from the rural areas.

This brings me to the point issue of this blog. With the increasing technology, we focus so much on internet learning, mobile learning but in our chase we forget that the biggest percentage of persons who need the resources are from the rural areas especially in Africa/developing countries where the technology infrastructure is yet to gain the state it needs to host the fast changing technology and catchup with the developed world.

But then with the increasing knowledge shared on the internet, we have an opportunity to convert the freely available material than before into small booklets of self learning from anywhere as an integrated component of mobile learning (which is not just on the use of gadgets but learning from anywhere). This would result into a lifetime continuous learning.  These materials booklets would range from aspects of social media booklets, computer booklets, nursing booklets, accounting booklets, well written in a classroom form for learning.

This is my next drive for the next months to see more self learning booklets up for grabs especially in the health sector!

It would be interesting to hear your opinion and thoughts on this.... if its off the hook of the e/m learning components today! huh
xoxoxox

The Power of Mobile Learning for Kids

Okay- yesterday morning was lazy to wake up for work-
But anyways I was at the road side in time anyways waiting for a fair matatu (our public transport) but carefully watching my surroundings taking in everything- until one matatu just broke-down in-front of me and every passenger was told to go out.

I just took notice of one 6year old kid who was seated on the conductor's lap (a conductor is an assistant to the driver to help collect money from passengers if you have not been in our part of the world). This guy was given responsibility to drop off this kid at the road side to her school but when the car broke down he just damped her there to work on their vehicle thus never took time to take the kid to the next vehicle.

Meanwhile time is running the kid is getting late even me - who is still interested in watching whats next. This baby tries to stop other vehicles but the pool of older and taller people just squeezes her out and she cannot board- and, no one can even notice she stopped the vehicles first. 1- 5 cars go by.

I began noticing her cheeks folding downwards. Thats when what I call the Power of Mobile Learning would work best for children- If she had her cell phone/ ipad with  her- it would be a simple video text or message to Mommy or Daddy "I am just stuck at the road side" then stuff happens quickly. Its now with great amazement that I embrace the introduction of the use of mobile phone use in the American schools. It should be helpful in situations for kids like this one- not only in the classroom environment but anywhere in any situation.

Okay to finish off- Now at this moment, her cheeks were so down and close to tears that I realized why I was so late this morning- God wanted me to be there at this moment to help a mama/papa out there take their baby to school in time.And off  quickly we boarded the next vehicle!

1. Working title: 

Mobile Health Call Center Advertising

2. Type of mLearning field: 

Health

3. Project goal: 

An increased number of health workers accessing the services of The AIDS Treatment and Information Centre (ATIC); IDI’s customer health information and patient management call center.

4. Target audience: 

Health workers in the general area of HIV/AIDS, malaria, Tuberculosis and related infectious diseases.

5. What type of technology and infrastructure can be expected? 

The advertisement of the toll free line for health workers. This will be in all media forms including; newspapers, radio, websites and social media.

Health workers contact ATIC through an established toll free line and surveys done amongst trainees in IDI show fair access to mobile phones amongst the target population which needs to be taken advantage of in the crisis of finding innovative ways of eliminating the AIDs scourge in the country and global village.

6. Possible guarantees for sustainability: 

ATIC has an established toll free line which Voice over internet phone (VOIP) technology and has a stable internet connection and dedicated server for ATIC functioning. The toll free line ensures that the health worker can contact ATIC even when the health worker’s call credit is at zero.

7. Who are ALL the stakeholders that might influence the project? 

Ministry of Health, District health facilities, Private hospitals/NGOs, Media.

8. Deadline or timeline for developing the project: January, 2013- Deadline

-          Contacting media outlets- October

-          Evaluation of messages with focus group (health care workers)- October

-          Data collection- November

-           Developing media messages -December

-          Media outlets delivering messages and for what length of time - December/January

9. A broader description of the project: 

The Infectious Disease Institute (IDI)- idi-makerere.com , an affiliate of the College of Health Sciences of Makerere University, is a regional centre of excellence for prevention, treatment, research and capacity building in HIV/AIDS, TB Malaria and related infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. During the roll out of anti-retroviral therapy in 2004, IDI developed a customer call centre for health workers to call in for help/challenges they faced in the field related to the care and management of HIV/AIDS. Queries range from assistance with the patient/friends (HIV positive persons are called friends at IDI), drug administration to counseling the health workers themselves amidst their confrontations.

The call center was initially most utilised by health workers who came for training at IDI (IDI has a number of training courses) and it was noted that although comprehensive, the training did not entirely encompass their day to day life experiences once back in the field and it was also realized that most health workers faced a number of issues that needed regular in-time assistance from professional clinical experts.

Therefore, the call center would help resolve such issues at the same time help in mobile monitoring. This would be in form of a toll free warm line to maintain connectivity between IDI-ATIC and the health worker, supported by a network of local and international experts in the general area of HIV/AIDS, malaria, Tuberculosis and related infectious diseases.

Although the call center is meant to be utilized by all health care worker cadres in Uganda, uptake and utilization of the call service by the general health care worker population has been slow. While IDI training alumni have utilized the service, knowledge of the call center throughout Uganda is poor.

Yet, the expertise IDI has built in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care over the years of its service needs to be fully utilized through this toll free line. Thus, ATIC can be the bridge between the wealth of knowledge/practice that IDI has to offer and the health worker who supports the everyday Ugandan with their health. 

This can be achieved, through enhancing knowledge about this toll free line by harnessing the power of media advertisement, more health workers can get to know about the services that ATIC has to offer and learn from ATIC through simple sms and phone discussions, putting the health worker in a more knowledgeable position to deliver better quality health care to the ordinary Ugandan, not just in HIV/AIDS but also TB, malaria and other infectious diseases.

Therefore, this funding will help in advertisement of this service in all possible media outlets targeting all health workers in the country for use.

10. Which steps will you take to ensure you will reach your mLearning goal? 

Our steps since its about advertising are simple.  

We shall review the different media opportunities for advertising the programme

-          We shall contact the best outlet about the possibility of our advert and costs involved

-          We shall negotiate the possibilities of 50/50 share costs with the media outlet since the HIV issue involves everyone in addition to the 500 dollars we are lobbying from the MobiMOCC project funding (as our 50 part share)

-          We shall in the meanwhile be drafting our nice simple advert message

-          We may explore more mobile opportunities too.

11. Problems you are not sure about? 

-          If the media outlet will be willing to share costs.

-          If the message will reach all health workers, understanding that messages in newspapers and radio have different market shares

-          Drafting messaging templates that will reach health care workers

-          If rural health workers have phones or power supply

-          Website advertisement challenges

Online/Mobile Learning is finally here!

Oh here I am back again- after about 4 years I finally get people of my same thinking years back interested in my material blog post!

I last checked this blog the year it was created until this year it followed me up when I was checking my internet profile- well to check how well I was doing on the internet ;)p.
I was just  curiously checking how this small seed in  this huge ocean  was trying to survive the bouncing waves not to sink down.

I must say I wasnt doing very great but just fine- thats if you are blessed to have about a minimum of 20 google slides linked to your name ofcourse some have now thousands.
A midst all my curiosities,  I  also found this interesting elearning blog in one of my trail profiles- I was like whoa- who wrote this?
Only to realise it was me! mmmm I know what your thinking :)beans
I did not take it serious but laughed at myself- what were you thinking woman!

But then- my online class recently required a blog post and which better blog was there to use than catching up with my old friend again! I actually had no better way to proceed with my old friend after reuniting- but
Thanks to my online class ( http://mobimooc.wikispaces.com/a+MobiMOOC+hello%21 ) .

What I am I driving at?
Over the years people were tied to the conventional system of doing things including learning. Like some say the internet was already there even in the 80s but was not recognised until the millenuim. Elearning/online learning (an internet based learning)  which is now shifting to Mobile Learning (using of different mobile devices for learning not just desktop computers)  has already been here over the years including the social media/network platform interactions- but people were just reluctant to adopt them. Now that their time is here, its like an economic boom.

At the time I wrote this blog there was not much real interest and I lost gas of working on my blog over the years. But if I had been patient and informed the different persons about the changing future trend- I would be one of the most experienced experts in this evolving field today.

However, the future is now brighter for me- with the changing new technology involving with use of more internet and mobile usage, I am sure I have a lot to tell my new friends in this field.

Now- I dare some of you to go and try out my curiosities too- you might find something interesting even may be a history to fall back to like I did. 

Some closets with skeletons are bad to open but there are closets nice to open as their skins may still be intact...

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