HSPH has been chosen to receive funding for two projects from the University's Presidential Distance Learning Pilot Grant, a one-year distance learning initiative that encourages innovations in reaching new professional, mid-career, and executive education audiences and undergraduate and graduate students. Funds have been made available to schools at Harvard to create or extend existing educational programs to geographically dispersed audiences. Requests up to $80,000 will be accepted. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.
PROGRAM ON HUMANITARIAN POLICY AND CONFLICT RESEARCH
Grant amount: $80,000
Claude Bruderlein
"One of our primary goals is to adapt new technologies to better serve audiences in remote field locations, where political, social, and economic challenges may limit access to classroom-based resources," said Claude Bruderlein, HSPH Lecturer on International Health and director of the program.
HPCR submitted an application to redesign existing training courses in order to provide policymakers and practitioners with sustainable and continual access to information resources on humanitarian protection, conflict management, and peacebuilding.
The distance learning initiative represents a pilot phase in a longer-term project, said Bruderlein. "In the first year, we will be working on a series of distance learning modules on international humanitarian law and policy," he said. "The first step has been a series of consultations with other distance learning enterprises around the University to analyze best practices. We are also studying the success of iCommons, which offers a number of interesting tools, such as course sites, blogging support, and discussion boards."
He added, "As our work proceeds, we hope to participate in the emerging dialogue about distance learning and executive education, and perhaps share our own experience in addressing the information needs of remote, professional audiences. This exchange may be particularly valuable given the multidisciplinary character of conflict management and peacebuilding. The HPCR curriculum will bridge various domains of scholarship and practice, and will promote networking between participants and members of the Harvard community interested in humanitarian policy, conflict management, and peacebuilding."
DISTANCE LEARNING COMPONENT FOR COURSE ON DATA MINING AND PREDICTIONS
Grant amount: $8,510
This grant will help augment the existing course EPI288: Data Mining and Predictions, which has been offered during WinterSession since 2003. The course is co-taught by E. Francis Cook, HSPH Professor of Epidemiology. Data mining involves the automatic search for patterns in huge quantities of data that ease the organization, classification, and clustering of information. The course presents an introduction to the methods of data mining and predictive modeling, with applications to both genetic and clinical data.
Cook explained that he wanted to offer an option for students enrolled in summer-only programs at the School to take the course. "The main motivation for creating the distance-learning component of EPI288 was to increase the elective options for students in summer_only degree programs through off_site enrollment in WinterSession courses offered at HSPH," said Cook.
He added, "A few summer_only students have traveled to Boston to take courses during the WinterSession, but this is difficult for many because of heavy clinical schedules, traveling expenses, and lack of available student housing during this period."
Copyright, 2009, President and Fellows of Harvard College
