Introduction
By way of the COVID-19 pandemic, global health has dictated when, where, and how people work and learn. Educational technologies tools quickly leaned upon for maintaining a sense of normalcy in an otherwise chaotic existence. In the span of only a few months, 50% of in-person training in North America was cancelled while 100% were cancelled in some parts of Europe and Asia (Kshirsagar et al., 2020). Even after front-line workers returned to in-person work, 40% of Canadians remained working from home (Mehdi & Morissette, 2021). Online video conferencing platforms were used to maintain connections between students and employees alike and Zoom saw its worldwide webinar minutes jump from 3 billion to 45 billion in span of 6 months (Dean, 2022).
As responsible as COVID-19 is for ‘revolutionizing’ schools and workplaces and expediting access to remote options (Robinson, 2022), evidence already existed showing the interconnectedness between technology and global health:
“The rapid increase in speed of travel and communication, as well as the economic interdependency of all nations, has led to a new level and speed of global interconnectedness or globalisation, which is a force in shaping the health of populations around the world” (Koplan et al., 2009, p. 1994).
However, the pandemic also highlighted key characteristics for global health: transcending national boarders, global cooperation, and valuing interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teams (Koplan et al., 2009). In these ways, global health is, and will continue to, influence how we use learning technologies.
Transcending National Boarders
Suddenly, the ‘entire world’ (or how it was made to seem) was working and learning online. This reminded all global inhabitants of our interconnectedness, not just by being human but also through the physical internet cables running across ocean floors (Hammel & Yurshansky, 2016). Our shared global health experiences were driving the requirement of new knowledge, as digital upskilling and reskilling emerged as the most pressing learning concerns in workplaces around the world (OECD, 2020).
While the global health situation dictated skill development, skill development in turn supports global health. Skill diversification can improve health outcomes, life expectancy, child vaccination rates, and overall well-being (Raghupathi & Raghupathi, 2020). Building digital skills also promotes lifelong learning, thus increasing skills for employment, continued education, and global citizenship (COVIDEA, 2020).
However, it is important to note that some aspects of technology do not transcend national boarders. Using eLearning sector data, 70% of eLearning activity takes place in North America and Europe (Khan, 2022). Only one-tenth of workers in India can work remotely, compared to 40% of workers in advanced economic countries (Rajadhyaksha, 2021). Similarly, in developing countries, investments in technology often go unused because teachers are not provided with digital training to operate them (Dercon, 2019). In order for learning technologies to integrate more solidly with the skills-lead-to-improved-health-outcomes approach, the approach much be two-fold: provide the hardware, and also promote the “system-wide connections enabled by digital technology” (Dercon, 2019, para. 4).
Global Cooperation
Technology is also connected to global health as we consider the “well-being of both people and planet” (course notes, module 5). As learning technology around the world increased, air quality also increased (Venter et al., 2020). Moving to digital communications instead of international travel once again showed us that major issues transcend borders but that many solutions to current health issues require global cooperation.
Technology was also used to provide ‘telehealth’ options. Virtual connections to hospitals and doctors yielded a 75% satisfaction rate among telehealth patients, and telehealth usage was 38-times higher than pre-pandemic rates (Bestsennyy et al., 2021). As people were forced to use these technologies to learn and communicate about their health, attitudes toward the technology improved, making it far more likely to continue as an option.
Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Teams
In a 2022 Workplace Learning Report, learning and development professionals cited becoming more cross-functional with teams like diversity, equity and inclusion, and people analytics (LinkedIn, 2022). Analytics, particularly, represents the value of interdisciplinary work, and both predictive and advanced analytics can help learning via technologies become more engaging, quantifiable, and transformational (LinkedIn, 2022). The value of using data in educational technologies echoes the importance of data for global health, as witnessed through dedicated COVID-19 pandemic data sites (Ritchie et al., 2020).
Conclusion
When considering the aspects of transcending national borders, fostering global cooperation, and encouraging interdisciplinary teams, there are many parallels between global health and technology. These two realms have been feeding into each other for the duration of the recent pandemic, only for both to emerge even more dependent on each other. It will be impossible to see technology try to extricate itself from the impact it has on global health, and the opposite is also true. Of the many lessons learned during this pandemic, one that will not be soon forgotten is that of the interconnectedness of global health and educational technologies.
References
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