KNUST E-Learning Centre Collaborates with Medical and Dental Council for Health Promotion
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology's (KNUST) E-Learning Centre has held a meeting with the Medical and Dental Council under the Mastercard Foundation Africa Higher Education Health Collaborative Project.
This strategic collaboration aims to explore how the E-Learning Centre's state-of-the-art facilities can support health employment and promotion through enhanced teaching and learning.
The meeting commenced with a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Professor Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson.
This visit set the stage for a productive dialogue on leveraging e-learning technologies to improve health education and services.
Exploring E-Learning Capabilities
The delegation then visited the Instructional Design Unit of the E-Learning Centre. Professor Eric Appau Asante, the Director of the E-Learning Centre, delivered an insightful presentation outlining the Centre’s capabilities.
He emphasized the Centre’s role in video production, live class support, and more. "We are poised to use technology to support anything related to teaching, learning, assessment, knowledge creation, and community outreach," said Professor Asante.
"Our facilities break down the traditional barriers of brick-and-mortar learning, allowing us to deploy physical or traditional content online effectively."
Units Supporting Health Education
Professor Asante elaborated on the four main units within the E-Learning Centre: the Instructional Design Unit, the System Support Unit, the Service Support Unit, and the Proctor and Assessment Unit. Each unit plays a crucial role in transforming in-person content into structured, objective-driven online courses.
"The Instructional Design Unit ensures that multimedia resources are developed to fit seamlessly into the online space," Professor Asante explained. "This makes it easy for people to access data, even when internet connectivity is unstable."
The Centre's podcast studio also garnered attention.
It serves as a platform for discussing topical educational matters, with recent series addressing heart attack prevention. "Our podcasts have a global reach and can be tailored to local languages, making them an effective tool for health education," Professor Asante added.
Promoting Health Through E-Learning
The discussions highlighted how the E-Learning Centre could support the Medical and Dental Council’s initiatives.
The Centre's learning management system (LMS) offers a dashboard that allows regulators to monitor training activities, including participant engagement and challenges encountered during training sessions. "We envision using our LMS to provide a comprehensive overview of training progress," Professor Asante noted.
"This will help regulators pull data effortlessly for analysis, enhancing the overall training experience."
The Centre's virtual reality studios were also spotlighted as a critical resource. These studios enable hands-on learning experiences in a simulated environment, allowing medical students to practice procedures before performing them in real-life scenarios.
Strengthening Health Education Dr. Divine Ndonbi Banyubala, Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, emphasized the importance of decentralizing medical education. "Through this collaboration, we aim to ensure that standards of instruction are consistent across various locations," he said.
"This approach will be particularly beneficial for training in remote areas where access to quality health education is limited." Dr. Alex Peasah-Koduah, Deputy Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, praised the E-Learning Centre's initiatives.
"The work being done here is impressive. Clarification on some points would be helpful, but overall, the presentation was excellent," he remarked.
Future Prospects The meeting concluded with a commitment to further collaboration. Dr. Banyubala highlighted the potential of using video content and podcasts to educate the public on critical health issues.
"Properly packaged content can transform public awareness and understanding," he said. Professor Asante added that the Centre's facilities could support other mental health initiatives. "We can create tailored training programs and release them in collaboration with partners to address specific needs," he suggested.
Attendees and Impact Present at the meeting were Adelaide Ashie, Administrator with the Medical and Dental Council; Eva Boakye Yiadom, Project Manager at the Mastercard Africa Higher Education Health Collaborative; Dr. Emmanuel Okaidza Afful, Director of the KNUST University Information Technology Services (UITS); and Professor Wilberforce Owusu-Ansah, Pillar Lead for Health Entrepreneurship under the Africa Higher Education Health Collaborative. This collaboration marks a significant step towards integrating technology into health education and promotion.
By leveraging the advanced facilities at the KNUST E-Learning Centre, the Medical and Dental Council aims to enhance the quality and reach of health education across Ghana and beyond.
Published: 3rd July, 2024 Source: KNUST E-Learning Centre