Another View

• Author: Jamie Bartram
• Position: Director of the Water Institute at UNC. UNC and its partners within the University of North Carolina system have comprehensive experience in water, sanitation, and hygiene, in teaching, and in delivering innovative distance learning programs
• Pages: 51-51

JULY/AUGUST 2011 ❧ Page 51

Copyright © 2011, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. www.eli.org.

Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, July/August 2011

anoTher view

The Millennium Develop-

ment Goals and other

high-prof‌ile initiatives

focusing on safe water, ad-

equate sanitation, and hy-

giene, or WaSH, are increasing the

demand for trained WaSH profes-

sionals around the world. is de-

mand is not easily met by traditional

instructional institutions because of

the limited number of individuals

able to teach the mate-

rial, inadequate access to

educational institutions

in many settings, and the

inability of individual or

institutions to af‌ford the

cost for a course or the

time away from work.

is has created an educa-

tional def‌icit that can be

addressed through distance learning

programs.

Distance learning programs can

be appropriate for a diverse audi-

ence, provide a consistently high

level of teaching across international

boundaries, and can leverage the

varied experiences of participants

to provide a greater opportunity for

lessons. Most importantly, distance

learning can allow established teach-

ing institutions to radically acceler-

ate capacity to deliver high quality

training.

e Water Institute is developing

its distance learning program with

the assistance of Dr. Rohit Ramas-

wamy, a Gillings Visiting Clinical

Associate Professor in the public

health leadership program at the

University of North Carolina. Dr.

Ramaswamy is currently leading

the Global Learning Program’s dis-

tance learning ef‌fort, a non-degree

education program that is intended

to enhance the management skills

of health professionals around the

world by of‌fering practical, facilitat-

ed learning units through distance

education that emphasize the im-

mediate application of learning to

everyday work.

e GLP provides f‌ield staf‌f of

international NGOs, their partners

in implementation, and state or

district level government health of-

f‌icials with management, leadership,

and analytical skills through online

learning units. e learning units

are designed to focus on the applica-

tion of practical concepts and tools

to day-to-day work responsibilities.

Currently there are three learning

units being of‌fered and students

from 11 countries have participated.

In addition to instruc-

tion, the program requires

participants from vari-

ous countries (including

some with poor internet

connectivity) to engage

in facilitated on-line dis-

cussion so that they can

learn from each other’s

practical experience.

Multiple methods of delivering con-

tent and multiple technologies for

communication are used to ensure

that all participants have the ability

to connect and engage. Content is

available online and through CDs.

Communication with and between

participants occurs through email,

blogs, online discussion forums,

SMS texts, web seminars, and online

conferences. Traditional methods of

assessment, such as quizzes and as-

signments, are complimented with

new tools that allow quantif‌ication

of participation in blogs and twit-

ter streams. Participants remain

connected through an on-line com-

munity of practice after they have

completed a learning unit.

e Water Institute is develop-

ing two distance learning programs,

one on the implementation of

water safety plans and another

concerning the development of

drinking water regulation. Building

on the experience gained from the

GLP, these courses are to be made

available to professionals in a vari-

ety of resource settings. e courses

use physical media for primary con-

tent delivery and rely on periodic

interaction with the internet, per-

haps through an internet café or li-

brary, for student assessment activi-

ties, participation in group work,

and participation in seminars. e

courses are designed to accommo-

date asynchronous participation so

as to encourage interaction from

students and teachers from around

the world to broaden the shared

experience and forge international

relationships.

Professionals at many organiza-

tions are naturally pressed for time

and unlikely to welcome another

activity unless it is of perceived

high value. is value is established

by the reputation of the host in-

stitution providing the training,

which could be UNC or one of

its partner universities. Utilities

or government agencies may also

recognize the value of the course by

allocating paid time for taking the

course or through recognition upon

course completion. Courses must

also be designed to not overwhelm

those who already have a full per-

sonal and professional schedule; for

UNC’s program, about f‌ive hours

per week appears to provide the op-

timal learning experience.

e Water Institute sees distance

learning as a key to improving the

lives of millions through improved

water and sanitation. Despite the

highly visible international ef‌fort

in this area, most investment, by

far, in WaSH is by the people and

institutions within each country.

Distance learning can help develop

in-country capacity for WaSH pro-

fessionals to make informed choices

as to how to improve the lives of

their communities at a scale large

enough to address the problem

globally.

Jamie Bartram is Director of the Water In-

stitute at UNC. UNC and its partners within

the University of North Carolina system have

comprehensive experience in water, sanita-

tion, and hygiene, in teaching, and in deliver-

ing innovative distance learning programs.

The Water Institute is housed within the

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health,

which has been an academic leader in water

and sanitation for over 50 years.

Jamie Bartram