From the Information Sciences Alumni Newsletter March 2005 we learn of a project to share e-Learning with our wider Pacific community.
WHO Project Allows Staff to Teach in Pacific Island Countries
Health professionals in various Pacific Island countries, particularly those working in rural and remote areas, have less opportunity than their peers in developed and even some developing countries to keep abreast with both technical and technological advancements in medicine and healthcare. For their continuing education and professional development, distance education using a variety of media is an option that has been supported by World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with the governments of Japan and the Pacific Island countries and some education providers including the University of Otago.
The article continues:
“Phase one of the result is the establishment of a Pacific on-line health network (POLHN – http://www.polhn.com/) involving approximately 10 locations throughout the South Pacific. These comprise a set of networked computers with appropriate software, and each network is connectable to the Internet via a modem.
The University of Otago, Department of Information Science is the first education provider to successfully complete a pilot course (February-June 2004) in Suva, Fiji using the POLHN.
We have been teaching a postgraduate Diploma course in Health Informatics for approximately 7 years using distance teaching / learning techniques, and have recently been working with the Fiji School of Medicine, the Fiji Ministry of Health and others in Fiji, to establish the Course in the South Pacific.
Staff involved with this Health Informatics (http://hein.otago.ac.nz/) project are:
Dr John Gillies
Mr Alec Holt
Dr Bernie Brenner”
Who can study through POLHN?
Anyone. Anywhere.
All the POLHN course are free, but some have limited places.
What can I study through POLHN?
The courses available on POLHN cover a wide range of subject areas:
If that layout looks familiar, you’re right, the POLHN course are delivered using Moodle.
Want more information …
Read about POLHN in:
World Health Organization. Building Foundations for eHealth: Progress of member states: Report of the Global Observatory for eHealth. World Health Organization, Geneva (2006). See the University library holding, or access online.
Contact:
Health Informatics (Healthinfo-admin at infoscience otago ac nz) for more details about their involvement or more information about their eLearning programme.