Responding to Global Learning Needs during a Pandemic: An Analysis of the Trends in Platform Use and Incidence of COVID-19

Abstract

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to be a pandemic. As a result, the OpenWHO.org online platform, which serves as WHO’s learning hub for emergencies, was tested for the first time on its core purpose of scaling up trusted public health information in a global emergency. This descriptive study examines and documents the WHO learning response in the early months of the pandemic by comparing epidemiological information and OpenWHO.org use in the countries with the highest COVID-19 cases. Statistical datasets from OpenWHO.org and WHO’s COVID-19 dashboard were overlaid for the period 11 March–22 May 2020. During this period, for most of the 24 countries with the highest COVID-19 cases, platform use showed a corresponding trend. Courses published in the official languages spoken in these countries were well utilized, indicating a need to produce materials in languages spoken by affected communities. Of the countries with the highest number of users on OpenWHO, only half were top users of the platform before the pandemic. The existence of an established online platform for health emergencies assisted WHO in massively and quickly scaling up the dissemination of essential learning materials for COVID-19.

One Year of Pandemic Learning Response: Benefits of Massive Online Delivery of the World Health Organization’s Technical Guidance

“…Offline options increase access even further. 3. Flexibility: self-paced mass web-based learning delivery enables individuals to learn at their own speed, at their preferred time, and in their preferred place.…”

“…Several findings derived from the analysis of the performance of the OpenWHO platform during the pandemic are presented herein, with regards to the global reach of the courses [1], growth in the uptake of OpenWHO's web-based learning resources [2], and trends in platform usage and the incidence of COVID-19 [3].…”

Online Learning for Mass Audiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Key Considerations for Real Time Knowledge Transfer

“…In three articles, digital learning approaches were claimed to be more effective than no intervention in improving knowledge [43,44,48] or at least as effective as traditional learning [48]; yet one systematic review suggested that e-learning may make little or no difference in patient outcomes or health professionals' behaviours, skills or knowledge [49]. Moreover, knowledge level was also examined by two crosssectional studies conducted in Germany, and Italy, one case study in Portugal, and one evaluation of a massive open online course (MOOC) [9,[52][53][54]. Authors reported an improvement of knowledge level [53,54] as well as participants of these interventions reported utilization of the knowledge [31], and skills gained in their professional lives frequently [9].…”

“…Moreover, knowledge level was also examined by two crosssectional studies conducted in Germany, and Italy, one case study in Portugal, and one evaluation of a massive open online course (MOOC) [9,[52][53][54]. Authors reported an improvement of knowledge level [53,54] as well as participants of these interventions reported utilization of the knowledge [31], and skills gained in their professional lives frequently [9]. Previous research on the effectiveness of digital learning for knowledge acquisition in health professionals confirmed that either online or blended learning had a more consistent positive effect than no intervention or traditional learning [17][18][19][20].…”

A Scoping Review of Organizational Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Schools: A Complex Systems Perspective

“…As of 2 March 2021, twenty-six countries still face nation-wide school closures, and many others have partial closures limiting access to educational settings to about 8.3% of all learners. Even in countries where physical access to schools has been reinstated, educational settings face the challenge of providing quality educational services while following public health measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus [2][3][4][5]. The adoption of remote teaching and learning practices in various countries highlighted at least two major challenges for schools: an internal misalignment between previous experiences and available resources, and the need for new online education practices.…”