Having experienced my fair share of ineffective online learning prior to the pandemic, I was keen to find ways to make my own online teaching more effective and engaging.

Where are you currently working and what does your work involve?

I am currently a research fellow in the Medical Sociology and Health Experiences Research Group in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, which I joined in 2021 on a Girdlers’ New Zealand Health Research Council fellowship. Prior to this I worked at the University of Auckland in New Zealand in the Department of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health on projects focused on improving health services and systems for children, young people and their families. As a primarily qualitative researcher, I work alongside clinicians in the intersection between clinical and population health to prioritise participant voices in service improvement and systems change. I also support clinical colleagues new to research to develop their qualitative research skills.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Why did you choose the Developing Online Educational Resources short course?

Having experienced my fair share of ineffective online learning prior to the pandemic, I was keen to find ways to make my own online teaching more effective and engaging – not simply transferring an in-person experience to an online environment. The opportunity to take this course came at the perfect time in my teaching journey.

What has your experience of the module been?

We were fortunate to have really supportive and knowledgeable course tutors who were experts in their fields. The course workload was manageable, with flexibility to undertake parts of the course asynchronously, which was extremely helpful in fitting the course around the work week. I also enjoyed the interaction with colleagues in other parts of the University and beyond. Anyone doing online teaching should strongly consider taking this short course. It was grounded in evidence-based teaching methods and extremely practical, with strategies that could be implemented immediately in current teaching or in preparation of new courses and learning resources.

How will the module contribute to your current work?

Coming from a small corner of the world in the south Pacific, effective online learning can provide so many opportunities for people who would otherwise not have access to such education, especially in healthcare, so it must be thoughtful, well-planned and evidence-based. It is important to me that clinical trainees who are undertaking research for the first time are able to have access to quality training; this short course equipped me with the knowledge and skills required to take the in-person teaching we were already doing and produce online educational resources that could reach more learners.

Find out more about the Developing Online Educational Resources short course here.  The course can also be taken as a module on our Evidence-Based Health Care programmes.