USAID LearningLab

This post originally appeared on Lab Notes, the new space on USAID's LearningLab to share timely news, announcements, commentary, and updates. Okey Nwoke attended the Global Health Knowledge Collaborative (GHKC) Share Fair on April 16, and he shares his impressions on the participatory sessions, graphic facilitation, and storytelling.

On Tuesday, April 16th I had the opportunity to attend the Global Health Knowledge Management Share Fair, hosted by the Global Health Knowledge Collaborative (GHKC).  The aim of the Share Fair was to provide participants with an opportunity to share experiences, lessons learned, and acquire new skills and learning about knowledge management tools and techniques.  One of the benefits about attending these types of events is having the opportunity to meet other knowledge management (KM) practitioners who share common challenges within their organizations around knowledge sharing and learning.  Realizing that most organizations face similar challenges around knowledge sharing can spur a sense of comradery in addressing these challenges.  

Global Health Knowledge Management Share Fair: Challenges and Opportunities utilized graphic facilitation by The Value Web to capture the key points of conversations throughout the innovative, participatory one-day event.

Throughout the Share Fair, various methods were used to encourage collaboration and dialogue among participants.  Participatory methods such as World Cafe, Peer-Assists, breakout sessions, and scavenger hunts were used.  One really creative approach that was used to bring attention to key points made throughout the day was graphic facilitation.  Graphic facilitation is essentially using imagery to draw participants towards seeing interconnections and reaching their goal.  It was really impressive to see how this form of facilitation can stir dialogue and spark ideas.  

One big takeaway for me was realizing the importance of story when it comes to knowledge management.  With all the information we are bombarded with, it has become increasingly important for knowledge management professionals to become better storytellers.  Taking segmented bits of data, information, and knowledge and finding interconnections has become essential.  What do you feel are the big challenges when it comes to KM and what are some ways we can address them?       

Earlier this week I attended InterAction’s annual Forum in Arlington, Virginia, to connect with my colleagues in international development, learn what they are doing, and showcase K4Health’s recent accomplishments and offerings in eLearning.

Marie McNamee of InsideNGO brought together and moderated a panel on Harnessing the Power of E-Learning – What is on the Horizon.

As NGO workers, we’ve become adept over the years at training ourselves to meet the challenges of global relief and development work. But we continue to do so predominantly through face-to-face, classroom-based methods. Recent trends in aid - including the need for rapid scaling of operations, greater cost efficiencies, and expanded use of partnerships - are placing tremendous strain on these time-tested approaches to staff development. In order to achieve greater reach, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness, the NGO community is increasingly turning to e-learning and blended learning approaches to help complement existing training methods. This workshop will explore the emerging fields of e-learning and blended learning as illustrations of how technology is shaping the future of humanitarian and development action. Participants will not only learn about current directions in e-learning and blended learning - they will be invited to help shape its future development based on their own experiences and recommendations.

Eric Berg, Executive Director of LINGOs, delivered the first presentation and asked the audience if they had ever been on a conference call and learned something from it. When almost everyone raised their hands, he explained that their experience was a form eLearning.

Disaster Ready Initiative's web-based portal.

George Devendorf, Director of Disaster Ready Initiative, spoke next about his group’s new web-based portal. Devendorf described how they developed eLearning courses and what they hoped to achieve.When it was my turn, I discussed the value of delivering eLearning courses in the context of other types of training. The presentation, Blending Learning: Knowledge Acquisition to Application, was developed by MSH’s Liz Mclean as part of K4Health’s management of USAID’s Global Health eLearning Center and the associated Blended Learning Guide.

The definition of blended learning: a combination of learning media and learning environments that reinforce and accelerate mastery and application to the job.

Blended learning is a combination of learning media and learning environments that reinforce and accelerate mastery and application to the job. Examples of learning media include: face-to-face, online, print, social media and radio. Examples of learning environments include: instructor-led, group-work, peer-to-peer interaction and individual work.

A blended learning approach,  such as the one described in a previous post, can help learners move from knowledge acquisition to knowledge application, as defined in the infographic of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Following on the heels of my recent blog about the Philippines signing into law the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, comes news that the National Assembly of Pakistan unanimously passed in March the Reproductive Healthcare and Rights Act 2013.

Let’s hope that unlike the Philippines Act—now in legal limbo for 120 days while the court looks over some 10 petitions filed against the constitutionality of the law—Pakistan’s bold Private Member Bill will be implemented soon.

At a Basic Health Unit in Punjab Province, Pakistan, 23-year-old Tahira Rashid receives counseling by Dr. Fauzia Amin, a female medical officer.

© 2012 Derek Brown for USAID, Courtesy of Photoshare

 

Introduced by Hon. Dr. Attiya  Inayatullah, MP, the Bill seeks to promote reproductive healthcare and rights in accordance with the national constitution and to fulfill international commitments made by the Government of Pakistan under the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).  (Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979, the U.S. has yet to ratify CEDAW.)   

A major section of the Bill is titled “Promotion of Reproductive Health Care Rights” and says that:

• Men and women are the subject of reproductive health care, their joint involvement in responsible parenting is essential, as also, their need for access to information;
• Male involvement is essential in the attainment of reproductive health care rights; and
• It is important to develop public awareness that maternal deaths are preventable and the suffering of women and children avoidable.

I arrived early to the Global Health and Innovation Conference opening plenary to review my social innovation pitch scheduled for later in the day. As I looked over my notes, I heard others lament the large number of sessions running concurrently. Aside from the keynotes, each time slot had between 11-16 sessions we could choose from, which meant we would miss the vast majority of sessions. By the time the morning speaker, Tina Rosenberg of the New York Times, took the stage I’d read the conference program a few times and narrowed down my choices.

A Tweet by the Vassar Haiti Project about the Global Health & Innovation Conference

A Tweet from GOOD/Corps about the Global Health & Innovation Conference 2013.

Rosenberg discussed how to Harness the Power of Peer Pressure and said that the best messages don’t inform people, but motivate them to change. She challenged us to craft messages with a human touch, and, as I live tweeted, I thought about how our social networks influence the decisions we make. The people around us influence what we think and how we act and, sometimes, what sessions we go to at conferences.As I looked at what others were tweeting about, I realized that I could virtually canvas my peer group at the conference and see what sessions people were talking about. During the 9:15-10:45 time slot when I presented, I missed eight other sessions and 36 presenters. At the next session I visited Twitter to see what was being said about what I’d missed.