Telecommuniciation technologies, including audio and videoconferencing facilities, afford geographically dispersed health professionals the opportunity to connect and collaborate with others. Recognised for enabling tele-consultations and tele-collaborations between teams of health care professionals and their patients, these technologies are also well suited to the delivery of distance learning programs, known as tele-learning. Aim: To determine whether tele-learning delivery methods achieve equivalent learning outcomes when compared with traditional face-to-face education delivery methods. Methods: A systematic literature review was commissioned by the NSW Ministry of Health to identify results relevant to programs applying tele-learning delivery methods in the provision of education to health professionals. Results:The review found few studies that rigorously compared tele-learning with traditional formats. There was some evidence, however, to support the premise that tele-learning models achieve comparable learning outcomes and that participants are generally satisfied with and accepting of this delivery method. Conclusion: The review illustrated that tele-learning technologies not only enable distance learning opportunities, but achieve comparable learning outcomes to traditional face-to-face models. More rigorous evidence is required to strengthen these findings and should be the focus of future tele-learning research.Telecommunications are increasingly being used by the health professions to deliver health care services and to exchange health information across distances. Telehealth, tele-collaborations and tele-consultations are contributing to improvements in the quality, availability and efficiency of health care services to distance locations.1 Telehealth, for example, enables existing forms of interactions between health care providers and recipients to occur at a distance, through the use of telecommunications.2 Similarly, distance learning methods utilising telecommunication technologies are helping to overcome the challenges of engaging in traditional forms of education across distances. Referred to as 'tele-learning', it involves making connections among people and resources, and transferring images and voice data via communication technologies, for learning-related purposes. 3,4 Like telehealth, tele-learning utilises telecommunications to connect participants, helping to alleviate barriers to accessing learning opportunities and enriching distance learning experiences. The relative ease of use and availability of telecommunication technologies means that audioconferencing (teleconferencing) and videoconferencing are well established and frequently used communication mechanisms for staff in the health sector.5 For the purpose of this review, the term 'tele-learning' describes the use of video and/or audio-based technologies for distance learning purposes.Enabling collaborations between geographically distributed health workers makes the use of telecommunications especially relevant to ...

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In 2012, staff in Student Support Services at The University of Sydney piloted an early intervention program to increase first year student engagement and retention. Founded in best-practice, evidence-based research, the Track and Connect program was developed in response to a study into first year undergraduate student attrition by the University's Planning and Information Office, in consultation with Counselling and Psychological Services. Track and Connect provides tailored advice and support to students identified as at risk of withdrawal from a key first-year subject by demographic markers and on-time data. Trained senior peers contact these students and provide information, encouragement and service referrals at key decision points throughout the semester. This report outlines the program's development, implementation and early outcomes, and identifies areas for refinement and expansion.

Purpose -Cancer care is complex and an integrated cancer pathway involves many health professionals in a variety of care settings using many skills. The widely distributed and heterogeneous nature of the cancer workforce raises significant challenges with respect to professional development. Cancer Learning is a government-funded initiative designed to provide access to a wide range of quality online learning resources for all health care professionals involved in the care of cancer patients and their families. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach -A multi-phase project, led by a consortium of national stakeholders in cancer care, informed the design, build, and deployment of Cancer Learning; an online, evidence based, information and learning portal to support professional development of health professionals across the continuum of cancer care in Australia. An action research approach allowed for an iterative process of ongoing dynamic evaluation and improvement of this workforce improvement resource. Findings -The National Government Agency, Cancer Australia's Cancer Learning online hub has been supporting the professional development requirements of cancer care professionals since the site deployment in 2007. Since launch, site usage continues to grow and evaluations have been positive. Time constraints of health professionals continue to be a major barrier to sustained online learning participation. Originality/value -This research recount of the development and implementation of an Australia first national online learning initiative highlights the rigorous approach undertaken for the delivery of a quality evidence-based resource for the professional development of all health professionals involved in the delivery of cancer care.