Innovative strategies for online delivery of public health courses and programs: Implications for student engagement and retention

Objective: Many online classes have traditionally consisted of little more than videotaped lectures and/or narrated PowerPoint lectures. However, with varied student demographics including dual-listed high school students, undergraduates, and mid-career professionals pursuing degrees in public health, employing a variety of techniques helps to address learning style differences while ensuring attainment of core principles and public health competencies. Methods: This paper summarizes experiences in the online Master of Public Health program and supporting undergraduate programs at the University of West Florida utilizing a mosaic of instructional techniques such as web conferencing, blogs, podcasts, virtual worlds and popular media (NPR audio, PBS, YouTube, CNN video, newspaper websites, and associated archives). In addition, new advising strategies based on social networking sites such as “Facebook” and “MySpace” are discussed. Feedback from faculty and students on best practices are presented, along with related best practice strategies addressing general academic integrity issues in online courses and programs.