Online Collaborative and Interactive Learning - An Accomplishment - A Legacy

OCIL - Online Collaborative and Interactive Learning

I officially started doing OCIL – Online Collaborative and Interactive Learning - informally when I started creating websites in 1990. This was reinforced by the establishment of egroups (earliest was 2002). However, the first formal and structured OCIL was done in 2010 (OCIL on Admitting Services in the Hospital Setting). [NOTE: The international Coursera courses started in 2012.]

What is an online collaborative and interactive learning (OCIL) program in a hospital setting?

• Learning program being conducted in a hospital

• conducted online, using either the Internet or intranet

• with learning being effected collaboratively with online interaction not only among the learner participants but also with the facilitator

• Online communication and interaction can be done through •emails (particularly group emails, such as the Yahoo egroups or Gmail group emails in the Internet or emails in the intranet of a hospital) •online real-time conference or chatting

• Lot of FREE information technologies in Internet that can be tapped for online collaborative and interactive learning Websites and webpages and blogs Facebook and Twitter

• Learning program in OCIL there must be a formulated and agreed upon learning curriculum or learning plan with specified objectives, contents, learning activities, and evaluation methods.

• The learning program can be on any topics as long as they are relevant to the activities of a hospital. It can be part of the continuing education program for the staff of the hospital or it can arise from a training need assessment of staff.

The OCIL can be applicable in any other setting (outside the hospital).

Facilitating Tools in Online Collaborative and Interactive Learning

Whenever I conduct Online Collaborative and Interactive Learning on any topic, I usually use the following facilitating tools (as of March 15, 2016):

- Facebook Groups
- Googlegroups
- Google Sites
- Cellphones

The FB Group is more for informal communication.

The Googlegroups is more for formal communication.

The cellphones will be used for urgent communication.

The Website is for formal communication and posting of “documented information.”

All the above shall be complementary to each other to achieve effective, efficient and closed-loop communication.

https://www.slideshare.net/rjoson/ocil-nandy-13nov19typo14mar7

Online Collaborative and Interactive Learning Program in a Hospital Setting

ROJoson’s Thoughts, Perceptions, Opinions, and Recommendations

https://rojosonocilonhospitaladministration.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/online-collaborative-and-interactive-learning-program-in-a-hospital-setting-rojosons-recommendations/

Reynaldo O. Joson, MD, MHA, MHPEd, MSc Surg

July 5, 2011; March 7, 2014

What is an online collaborative and interactive learning (OCIL) program in a hospital setting?

As the name or term would suggest, it is a learning program being conducted in a hospital; conducted online, using either the Internet or intranet; and with learning being effected collaboratively with online interaction not only among the learner-participants but also with the facilitator.

The online communication and interaction can be done through emails (particularly group emails, such as the Yahoo egroups or Gmail group emails in the Internet or the emails in the intranet of a hospital) and online real-time conference or chatting.

Currently, there are a lot of FREE information technologies in the Internet that can be tapped for online collaborative and interactive learning. Websites and webpages and blogs can be used. Facebook and Twitter, currently very popular, can also be used.

As to the learning program in OCIL, there must be a formulated and agreed upon learning curriculum or learning plan with specified objectives, contents, learning activities, and evaluation methods. The learning program can be on any topics as long as they are relevant to the activities of a hospital. It can be part of the continuing education program for the staff of the hospital or it can arise from a training need assessment of staff.

What are the rationale, driving forces, and benefits of an OCIL program in a hospital setting?

In all hospitals, there must be a formal education and training program for all the staff for purposes of maintaining and improving quality services.

The education and training program can be conducted either using the face-to-face mode or distance mode or combination of both modes. Currently, most hospitals in the Philippines just use the face-to-face mode in conducting their education and training program. Very few, if not at all, use the distance mode, despite the easy access nowadays to teleconference, telemedicine, Internet, and other information technologies. The OCIL program mentioned above is a kind of distance mode of conducting education and training in a hospital setting.

There are at least four advantages of an OCIL program in a hospital setting. There are the following:

1. In a face-to-face education and training mode, as commonly experienced in the Philippines, there is usually a significant unwanted waiting time for all the participants to arrive for the facilitator to start the learning session. A lot of participants usually do not arrive on time despite the notice and appeal for arriving on time. Also, as commonly experienced in the Philippines, for one reason or another, the learning sessions usually do not end on time. The consequence is an extended time spent for the hospital staff, either as participant or facilitator, in participating in a face-to-face education and training mode because the learning session started late and ended late. The extended time may impinge on the other activities the hospital staff has to do for the day.

In OCIL, unless it is done as a real-time teleconference or chat meeting that requires all participants to be in front of their computers at an agreed time, there is NO unwanted waiting time that will impinge on the other day-to-day activities of the hospital staff as the latter is given flexibility in doing his study, learning, and online interactions during his free time.

1. In a hospital setting, because of the need to man service posts all the time, it is difficult, if not impossible, to have all the staff from the same specialty unit, attend a one-time face-to-face education and training schedule all at the same time. For the education and training program to cover all the staff from the same specialty unit, multiple schedules will have to be set up to accommodate those who cannot attend the initial schedule.

With OCIL, unless it is done as a real-time teleconference or chat meeting that requires all participants to be in front of their computers at an agreed time, unless also there is a limit to the number of participants, because of the flexibility in the time schedule in doing the study, learning, and online interactions, one schedule of learning sessions can be done and can cover all staff from the same specialty unit.

1. The face-to-face learning session usually has a limited time duration, say 2 hours, one day, etc. With OCIL, more time is usually allotted for the learning session, say 3 days to 7 days. Because of time constraint, opportunity for interactions among the learners in the face-to-face mode is usually less than that afforded by the OCIL. With more interactions, there will be more participative and collaborative learning.
2. In the face-to-face learning session, interactions that contribute to collaborative learning are usually not recorded and documented as they are verbally given. In OCIL, the interactions are recorded. Thus, learners, the facilitator included, can always look at the recorded interactions in OCIL anytime for review, refinement, and reinforcement of learning.

Recommendations:

For all the benefits of OCIL mentioned above and other benefits, such as lesser costs and more effective learning, add online collaborative and interactive learning (OCIL) to the usual face-to-face learning mode in the education and training program for all staff of the hospital. In the long-term, target a proportion of more OCIL than face-to-face learning mode.

OCILs that I have formally conducted:

OCIL in Admitting Service (2010)