The Power of On-line Courses

Once again I am in the middle of my on-line teaching commitment for the UBC Certificate Course in Laboratory Quality Management, and once again, I am loving it.

When I graduated from medical school and residency, I enjoyed working as an Infectious Disease specialist because it created the opportunity for a 1-to-1 relationship with patients.  It was satisfying to provide service and care in a truly direct fashion.  

But as my career progressed and I became more engaged in the laboratory and infection control, I found that my opportunities for impact and decision influencing were on a wider level – groups of patients distributed over wards and institutions.  What I sacrificed in terms of satisfaction with direct patient contact I picked up with system influence.  

With proficiency testing, if the direct patient impact was even further away, the system influence was much broader and covered health authorities and provinces and countries, and I was addressing quality assessment, quality improvement and education all at the same time. And as time marched on the education component grew from critiques to newsletter articles, to international training.  And the level of satisfaction grew even larger. 

But with the Program Office and the Certificate Course, the interaction scale has a whole new dimension to the dynamic.  While there is another layer that separates the laboratorian from patients, and sense of connection is much greater because the amount of interaction with laboratorians is much more intense.  Often we are communicating on a daily basis about Quality and Education and Laboratory improvement with folks taking the course are from across Canada and around the world.  The intensity and intimacy combined with the level of system influence can almost seem overwhelming.  

Over the years it has become very rewarding to attend meetings in many places and have people come up to me and say, “You may not remember, but I participated in your course in 2008 (or whatever) and I want you to know that it opened up a whole new career path for me.  Thank you so much”.  In the first 2 months of this year, I have run into people in 3 meetings with this same story.  And then there are the people who have contacted me through Linked_in.

It is very satisfying to know that so many people are pleased they took the opportunity to learn about laboratory Quality through our course.  I almost feel like Mr. Chips, if you know who that was.  

Recently we have been approached to consider developing a companion course which would cover another whole set of Quality related concepts not covered in the first course.  It is an intriguing idea.  As the whole arena of medical laboratory Quality grows (Thank you Institute of Medicine and To Err is Human.  Thank you ISO 15189) the body of essential knowledge continues to expand.  This is not information that is addressed in medical residency, nor in health administration, nor in the traditional MBA.  Increasingly people want it and institutions need it.  

I don’t know if this is a career path for everybody.  But it is a great path for me.

Running a MOOC - running a muck?

Running a MOOC - running a muck?

I was flipping through a few television channels this morning and happened upon a presentation being given by President Obama to a big crowd. He was talking about college education and how much better it will be when it is when experienced on-line.  I later found out he was talking at the University of Buffalo and talking about his new plan to reduce the costs of colleges in the United States.  I was intrigued since I thought that education in the US, as in Canada, is a States (Provincial) issue, and not really under his domain.  But I will certainly acknowledge that I am not an expert in the US regulatory and legislative pathways.

Afterwards I had the chance to read more about the presentation.  It seems there are a number of components to his new plan.  One is a ranking system which “measures” items like “tuition, graduation rates, debt and earnings of graduates, and the percentage of lower-income students who attend” which to me sounds like the same thing that Maclean’s magazine has done every year in Canada for the 20 (?) years and in the US by American magazines including US News & World Report, and Forbes.  

But the part of the discussion that really caught my attention was the discussion on on-line education.  The President was talking about MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) as the wave of the future.  

Maybe, but I suspect he is on the wrong track.  I agree that the future of more on-line courses is too compelling for near all university courses with the exception of courses where a laboratory or similar experience is required. 

MOOCs, as I understand it, are basically “free” online courses which are composed of a lot of content including text, video, graphics, and voice but little direction or support.  Count me as suspicious.  

Courses that are “free” usually cost a fortune in grants to build and promote, so while they may be “free” to the student, they still cost a bomb to create.  Granting agencies will likely get really bored in a hurry at funding MOOC start-ups with little opportunity to recoup or develop maintenance funding.    And “massive” courses usually means they are pitched to the lowest common denominator, and are provided without any guidance or support.  I suspect that MOOCs will have huge enrollment and minimal follow through.  Interesting, but while time will tell, I suspect that MOOCs will have all the longevity of Myspace.

I don’t run a MOOC (or is that a muck?), and to be technically correct I don’t run a SOOC (small open online course, if there is such a thing) either. To stretch the jargon a bit, I would call our course a STOC (Small Tuitioned Online Course) because in my opinion the educational arena of Quality Management is not a subject that lends itself well to being either Massive or Open.  

Over the last 11-12 years of our course we have learned some valuable insights in adult education for Quality.

1: People don’t learn Quality through reading about Quality.

2: People learn Quality through discussion and debate with like-minded peers.

3: Education in Quality is benefited by the active participation and guidance of experienced knowledgeable faculty. 

4: People who take on courses on their own  without a support structure or some sort of expectation rarely continue courses to their completion.  

Our course combines all the discipline of a real-time in-class university course supplemented with the benefits that on-line can offer.  

On the conventional side we accept applications, but screen for appropriateness.  People have to have at least 5 years of laboratory experience before being taken into the course.  We charge a tuition which includes provision of all books designated as required reading.  Each week has a beginning day on which we start new subject discussions, and an end-day in which all assignments have to be completed and submitted.  And all aspects of participation including contact and contribution to discussion and assignments and quizzes and examinations are evaluated.  

But superimposed on this we provide the benefits of on-line education.  People can participate when they want to, irrespective of time zone, or rush hour or family or job expectations.  Participants don’t have to be in one geographic place, don’t have to worry about parking or coffee restrictions or sharing the classroom with people with colds or influenza or chickenpox.  When you travel, if you have access to the internet you can stay in contact with the course, even in countries with limited internet access.  And perhaps the most important benefit is the opportunity to connect and network with like-interested folks around the world.

We are very comfortable with our small group but would not be unhappy if it increased by a few more.  We tend to have a cut-off in mind to ensure that the number of participants does not override their opportunities to participate fully. 

So we will never be a massive MOOC.  We will leave that to folks interested in learning first year physics or English literature.  But our graduates with certificates will be the best medical laboratory Quality Managers trained anywhere in the world.  

If you want more information on our UBC Certificate Course in Laboratory Quality Management, please contact us through www.POLQM.ca