Month: June 2011

Initially, I was unable to work on the Moodle activities from the e-learning toolkit as I couldn’t view the “Turn on editing” button. I later found out that I had been enrolled as a student rather than a teacher. However, with that fixed I foraged onwards and upwards starting with the first activity of adding a “simple” welcome webpage. The experience of setting one up was pretty straightforward and was almost akin to following a cookbook recipe. I have to admit though I didn’t get too creative with the name of the course (using the example of “Canadian Literature in the 20th Century” to the letter). In contrast though, the subsequent activity of adding a discussion forum wasn’t as cookie-cutter in its approach as it asked to create a bulleted list of instructions for an Icebreaker activity. After adding some brief instructions asking students to provide an introduction about themselves, I ended up changing roles from teacher/creator to student as I had to reply to my own message. 🙂 Anyways, all in all it wasn’t a labour intensive process and everything seemed to work well. I’ve now got to get cracking into the “official” Moodle user manual which I briefly skimmed through as it appears to be a hefty read. I’m sure there’s more Moodling in store for me as I’ll have to start (and continue to) develop my Moodle online course site (right after the LMS proposal). 🙂

Anju has several options for developing a resource on diabetes (not limited just to creating a DVD). Considering her scenario, she could try out any number of things including: a) create a diabetes information video and upload it online so that it’s more accessible for her clients, b) videotape her workshop and distribute DVD copies to her clients, c) create an email listserv for her clients so they can discuss what they’ve learned with each other and stay connected (with links to the video archives), d) create resource handouts customized for her clients’ health literacy level and language, e) research the available online resources about diabetes and liaise with staff at the seniors’ home and community centre to teach how to access this information online (for those who may not be proficient with computer use and email). Also, clients can be taught how to utilize online translation services such as Google Translate and Yahoo’s Babel Fish to communicate with each other since they may have difficulty with written English.

For the general content of this resource, she could begin with an introductory overview about what diabetes is, the different types, etc. If she were to go ahead with the DVD option (or uploaded versions of it online) then this could potentially be a multi-volume resource, with the subsequent volumes covering more specific topics (for example, self-care for adult diabetics related to their diet, etc). Also, rather than merely recording her workshops she could try to intersperse her video segments with interviews from clients, healthcare professionals and even chefs demonstrating potential healthy meals that are culturally relevant.

Furthermore, I’d recommend that Anju contact and try to work together with her local neighbourhood agencies including the Port Alberni Diabetes Education Centre located at the West Coast General Hospital: http://www.viha.ca/phc_cdm/phc_cdm_prog/diabetes_education_centres.htm, and the Port Alberni public library branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library: http://www.virl.bc.ca/pages/index_e.aspx?ArticleID=217 as they may already have an array of current print and electronic resources available in various languages that her and her clients could use.

Conducting a preliminary online search for Anju led me to a useful resource compilation from the Vancouver Island Health Authority: http://www.viha.ca/phc_cdm/cdm/diabetes.htm. HealthLink BC offers a dial-a-dietitian service available at: http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/dietitian/ with interpreter services available in over 130 different languages upon request: http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/dietitian/translations.stm. This site also offers translated resources in Chinese and Punjabi at: http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/dietitian/translation_Ch.stm and http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/dietitian/translation_P.stm. Anju could also get in touch with the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) as I noticed that they offer a diabetes information line for the Chinese-speaking community at: http://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/programs-entry/information-line-a-vital-link-for-chinese-speaking-community/. The CDA also provides a list of programs specifically for individuals living in B.C. at: http://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/programs/category/british-columbia/. Providing links to all of these resources to her clients would be a useful way for Anju to ease her workload as she is part-time and also get her clients to stay connected and maintain their health through these available resources.

Also, I noticed that Anju’s scenario accounts for those who attend her workshop, however I think she should also attempt to address those who are unable to come to these f2f sessions. For example, depending on the level of computer proficiency of her target group she can try to organize a virtual workshop (in addition to the f2f ones) via Cisco’s WebEx meeting platforms. Considering Anju is a part-time dietitian she may opt instead to record her training workshops and then post it onto an online resource portal (whether it’s integrated onto the seniors’ home and community centre websites) or she can upload these webcasts to YouTube, on her blog, or create a simple website to store all her video archives for her clients. This could also become a community portal and Anju could stay better connected with her clients as well as the community members could stay connected with each other.

In terms of a timeframe, creating a DVD as Anju originally envisioned would be a matter of recording her live workshops and any additional editing she wanted to do prior to burning it onto a DVD. So, one hour for her workshop and 2-4 hours editing time would total about 5 hours. If she also wanted to do some research online so she could better target this for her ESL/EFL audience then I’d say she might want to take 1-2 weeks researching information online then subsequently designing and preparing her workshop agenda. Overall, conducting some research online, tailoring her workshop so it better meets the needs of her clients and creating a DVD would take 2-3 weeks. Any further work (i.e. creating online workshops, collaborating with local agencies, etc) may take upwards of a month or more and then additional time for ongoing maintenance of online resources, email listservs, etc.