Public health education beyond borders: Online learning and its integration with traditional classroom teaching

Online learning with the integration of face-to-face teaching has become a popular trend in public health education. Online learning can occur in multiple formats such as Blackboard, video streaming, web-based videoconferencing, synchronous chat tools, blogs, and discussion forums. For instance, public health instructors can assign students to virtual case problems, online simulations of patients, and discussion forums. Online chats with both national and international public health experts can also be conducted in real-time. When combined with traditional classroom instruction, online learning can enhance teaching instruction and promote a collaborative learning environment. Yet, few published studies have investigated the benefits of combining online learning with face-to-face instruction, defined as blended learning.

Our study assessed health educators' perceptions about the strengths and weaknesses of blended learning as well as its role in promoting a collaborative learning environment. During this session, we will discuss the results of our study as well as several models, definitions, benefits and disadvantages of blended learning. We will include different situations/problems relevant to the public health field and how online learning can be used as a supplement to face-to-face instruction in solving these problems. We will also demonstrate examples of online learning approaches and how they can be used to promote collaboration in learning beyond the traditional classroom walls. Finally, we will have participants think about how to build blended learning models, frameworks, courses, and modules that can benefit their own courses and programs.