Learning
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The future of hybrid engagement: accelerated action to tackle global threats
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes How can we use the new physics of digital connections to save lives? What is the future of hybrid engagement? The ultimate test of any digital architecture is whether it can deliver results in the real world. In the context of global health, the challenge is bridging the “know-do gap.”…
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Digital propinquity: how to engineer serendipity and build connection in remote teams
We cannot teleport physical proximity, but we can replicate its psychological effects in remote teams. This has everything to do with propinquity. If the physical world provided connection by accident, the digital world requires connection by design. The most critical loss in the shift to remote work is “propinquity,” a fancy word for physical nearness.…
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Why YouTube is obsolete: From linear video content consumption to AI-mediated multimodal knowledge production
Does the educational purpose of video change with AI? The purpose of video in education is undergoing a fundamental transformation in the age of artificial intelligence. This medium, long established in digital learning environments, is changing not just in how we consume it, but in its very role within the learning process. Video has always…
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Online learning completion rates in context: Rethinking success in digital learning networks
The comprehensive analysis of 221 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) by Katy Jordan provides crucial insights for health professionals navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of digital learning. Her study, published in the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, examined completion rates across diverse platforms including Coursera, Open2Study, and others from 78 institutions. …
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What is the pedagogy of Teach to Reach?
In a rural health center in Kenya, a community health worker develops an innovative approach to reaching families who have been hesitant about vaccination. Meanwhile, in a Brazilian city, a nurse has gotten everyone involved – including families and communities – onboard to integrate information about HPV vaccination into cervical cancer screening. These valuable insights might…
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Brevity’s burden: The executive summary trap in global health
It was James Gleick who noted in his book “Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything” the societal shift towards valuing speed over depth: “We have become a quick-reflexed, multitasking, channel-flipping, fast-forwarding species. We don’t completely understand it, and we’re not altogether happy about it.” In global health, there’s a growing tendency to demand ever-shorter…
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Taking the pulse: why and how we change everything in response to learner signals
The ability to analyze and respond to learner behavior as it happens is crucial for educators. In complex learning that takes place in digital spaces, task separation between the design of instruction and its delivery does not make sense. Here is the practical approach we use in The Geneva Learning Foundation’s learning-to-action model to implement…
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Why asking learners what they want is a recipe for confusion
A survey of learners on a large, authoritative global health learning platform has me pondering once again the perils of relying too heavily on learner preferences when designing educational experiences. One survey question intended to ask learners for their preferred learning method. The list of options provided includes a range of items. (Some would make…
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Learn health, but beware of the behaviorist trap
The global health community has long grappled with the challenge of providing effective, scalable training to health workers, particularly in resource-constrained settings. In recent years, digital learning platforms have emerged as a potential solution, promising to deliver accessible, engaging, and impactful training at scale. Imagine a digital platform intended to train health workers at scale.…
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Self-regulated learning: 8 things we know about learning across the lifespan in a complex world
The work by Robert A. Bjork and his colleagues is very helpful to make sense of the limitations of learners’ perceptions. Here are 8 summary points from their paper about self-regulated learning. Reference: Bjork, R.A., Dunlosky, J., Kornell, N., 2013. Self-Regulated Learning: Beliefs, Techniques, and Illusions. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 64, 417–444. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143823
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