Session 2 - Learning Resources & Technology

Bula Vinaka All,

I just wanted to share with you my experience with online teaching using a new simulation platform that was introduced to us during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2021-2022.

In my teaching field, I am a convener for the Environmental Health students who are enrolled in the bachelor and postgraduate programs, and as part of the programs, students are required to participate in lab sessions for practicals. 

During this lockdown, we were introduced to Labster - a virtual simulation platform where students are given virtual scenarios on environmental-related projects and are allowed to participate (as per instructions given in the platform) to identify, determine, assess, and evaluate certain risks and even to participate on quizzes online through this platform. This was altogether exciting and challenging considering the infancy of the platform and also the geographical, technological, and network issues that students face to be able to access the platform online.

The experience learned and gained from this would be the realization that such tools and educational learning platforms play an important role in the delivery of education and also in ensuring that communication and participation of students are maintained irrespective of whether the delivery is through live participation or on student-paced.

Ever since the beginning of this course, ED403, I have been very excited to learn more about the use of learning technologies and integrate them into the delivery of my course content. Learning resources and technology are transforming education, making it more accessible, engaging, and effective than ever before. By providing a wide range of tools and platforms, such as online courses, interactive simulations, and collaborative tools, educators can cater to diverse learning styles and preferences. This flexibility fosters a more inclusive learning environment and enhances communication and collaboration among students and teachers.

As part of my learning through this session, I was able to enroll in an online course on Open Educational Resources by the Commonwealth of Learning and this has actually broadened my understanding of the use of OER and even its licenses and different conditions.

As a learning activity for this session, we are required to identify five (5) OER materials that we can use or apply in our learning and teaching activities, and from these five (5), I identified two (2) applicable OERs that would be the best materials that can be used for my teaching class, EVH 511 Foundations of Environmental Health.

1. Video Lecture on 'An Introduction to Global Health - Climate Change and Health'

The lecture explains dramatic changes brought about by climate unpredictability and change that are currently posing a threat to our planet and human systems. These include alterations in the dynamics of the environment and people that influence health. Therefore, it is believed that the largest threat to human health in the twenty-first century is climate change. The effects on health might be direct, usually linked to extreme weather events; indirect, linked to environmental damage and modifications brought on by climate change; or including social disturbance, war, and relocation. Several instances of how changes in the social and environmental determinants of health can have either positive or negative effects on health are given in this presentation. These effects include infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, and mental health, which are particularly significant in vulnerable urban and rural environments and among vulnerable community groups exposed to fluctuations in precipitation and temperature.

This video lecture would be a good OER that can be used in my class on EVH 511 on Foundations of Environmental Health where it discusses how human activities contribute to climate change and then result in health impacts that can arise from such changes. This course mainly introduces the students to anthropogenic activities in general to meet the needs and wants for survival but at the same time, considers their impacts on the environment and in turn, affect human health.

If this will be used as a resource material in my class, it could serve as a learning and teaching resource for students to listen to and learn about how climate change (caused by human activities) affects human health.

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC-BY-NC-ND)

Source: OER Commons – Environmental Health Collection (https://oercommons.org/curated-collections/724)   

 2.     Textbook: Environmental Biology by Mathew R. Fisher

This book was published by Open Oregon in 2018 through the Open Textbook Library and is an open textbook that covers the most salient environmental issues, from a biological perspective. The Open Textbook Library is a repository where schools, faculty, and students can find free Open Educational Resource (OER) textbooks. The text is designed for an introductory-level college science course. Topics include the fundamentals of ecology, biodiversity, pollution, climate change, food production, and human population growth." The book is organized into 11 chapters.

This book would be a very useful resource for my EVH511 students, who are in Year 1, studying Foundations of Environmental Health where students can refer to the book when learning about the current pressing environmental issues. The book will also help the students to grasp the scientific foundation of environmental topics so they can better understand the world around them and their impact upon it.

License: Creative Commons - Attribution (CC-BY) 3.0

Source: Environmental Health Sciences Libguide – Benedict College (https://benedict.libguides.com/c.php?g=1107292 )

Bibliography

1. Peter Furu. (2017). An Introduction to Global Health - Climate Change and Health. University of Copenhagen.
2. Fisher Openstax, M. R., Doršner, K., Geddes, A., Theis, T., & Tomkin, J. (2017). Environmental Biology. https://libraries.etsu.edu/research/guides/environmentalhealth