Evaluation of an Online Course on E-Health in Developing Countries: A Mixed-Methods Study

Afroz Sajwani*, Sehrish Sajjad**, Anam Feroz***, Adeel Khoja****, Naureen Akber *****, Saleem Sayani******
* Department of Public Health, City of Toronto, Canada.
**,***** Department of School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
***,****** Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
**** Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Periodicity:November - January'2020
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jnur.9.4.16617

Abstract

The Aga Khan Development Network Digital Health Resource Center has designed a year-long online course on e-Health, which aims to provide basic understanding of e-Health and its implementation in developing countries. The study aimed to (a) determine change in level of knowledge from pre-to-post-test in all modules of the course, (b) determine students' satisfaction level with the course, and (c) explore experiences of students and facilitators regarding the course. A mixed methods design was used. Two-tailed paired student's t-tests was applied to compare knowledge scores in the pre-and-post-test for each module. Proportions were presented for categorical variables. Thematic analysis of qualitative data was done using steps defined by Cresswell. Out of the 11 modules, eight modules showed significant difference; one module showed marginal difference and two modules showed insignificant differences in the mean knowledge scores. Overall, 42% of the respondents agreed and 58% of the respondents strongly agreed that the course was satisfactory with respect to facilitation, administration, content, methodologies, and technology. Following seven major themes emerged from the study: appropriate course layout and design, effective teaching learning strategies and assessments, interaction and engagement, effective course implementation, effectiveness of the content, e-Learning as a modality, and use of technology. The study showed significant change in the level of participants' knowledge and revealed an overall positive evaluation by the participants. Participants expressed that the course provided an excellent opportunity to gain better understanding about e-Health applications, its management, and implementation.

Keywords

Telemedicine, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Asia, Education, Distance, e-Health.

How to Cite this Article?

Sajwani, A., Sajjad, S., Feroz, A., Khoja, A., Akber, N., and Sayani, S. (2020). Evaluation of an Online Course on E-Health in Developing Countries: A Mixed-Methods Study. i-manager's Journal on Nursing, 9(4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.26634/jnur.9.4.16617

References

[1]. Aldosemani, T., Shepherd, C. E., & Bolliger, D. U. (2019). Perceptions of Instructors Teaching in Saudi Blended Learning Environments. TechTrends, 63(3), 341-352.
[4]. Banna, J., Lin, M. F. G., Stewart, M., & Fialkowski, M. K. (2015). Interaction matters: Strategies to promote engaged learning in an online introductory nutrition course. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching/merlot, 11(2), 249-261.
[6]. Brunner, M., McGregor, D., Keep, M., Janssen, A., Spallek, H., Quinn, D., Jones, A., Tseris, E., Yeung, W., Togher, L., Solman, A., & Shaw, T. (2018). An e-Health capabilities framework for graduates and health professionals: Mixed-methods study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20(5), e10229.
[7]. Creswell, J. W, & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design Choosing among Five Approaches, th 4 Ed. SAGE Publications, Inc.
[8]. Dixson, M. D. (2010). Creating effective student engagement in online courses: What do students find engaging? Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10(2), 1-13.
[9]. Downing, S. M., & Haladyna, T. M. (2006). Twelve steps for effective test development. In: Downing SMHT, Handbook of Test Development, (pp. 3-25). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
[13]. Gray, K., Dattakumar, A., Maeder, A., Butler-Henderson, K., & Chenery, H. (2014). Advancing e-Health education for the clinical health professions: Office for Learning and Teaching, Department of Education.
[19]. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage.
[27]. Pavlovic, I., Cukusic, M., & Jadric, M. (2016). Evaluating the Effectiveness of e-Learning Projects in Croatian Companies. In Central European Conference on Information and Intelligent Systems (p. 151). Faculty of Organization and Informatics Varazdin.
[29]. Poirier, T. I., Devraj, R., Blankson, F., & Xin, H. (2016). Interprofessional online global health course. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 80(9), 155.
[30]. Polit, D. F. & Beck, C. T. (2017). Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice, th 10 Ed. Wolters Kluwer Health.
If you have access to this article please login to view the article or kindly login to purchase the article

Purchase Instant Access

Single Article

North Americas,UK,
Middle East,Europe
India Rest of world
USD EUR INR USD-ROW
Pdf 35 35 200 20
Online 35 35 200 15
Pdf & Online 35 35 400 25

Options for accessing this content:
  • If you would like institutional access to this content, please recommend the title to your librarian.
    Library Recommendation Form
  • If you already have i-manager's user account: Login above and proceed to purchase the article.
  • New Users: Please register, then proceed to purchase the article.