Tony Mays reports on a recent initiative by the University of the Western Cape School of Public Health (UWC SOPH).
In June 2009, the UWC SOPH launched a WHO-UWC Masters in Public Health with the aim of building a critical mass of leaders to advance sustained development of the workforce in three African countries. The project is currently moving into a second phase funded by WHO which is aimed at deepening institutional capacity through collaboration and which has the following specific aims:
• ensuring key staff members in the partner institutions develop essential competencies in health workforce development;
• strengthening capacity of partner institutions to integrate health workforce development into relevant current and future degree programmes offered by their institutions;
• building capacity for open and distance learning among the partner institutions; and
• documenting and evaluating the outcomes and effectiveness of the project .
In pursuit of the third aim outlined above, the UWC SOPH recently hosted a 4-day workshop on the UWC campus in the new light and airy SOPH building. The workshop was planned and facilitated by Lucy Alexander and Woldekidan Amde (UWC SOPH), Barbara Hutton (independent consultant) and Tony Mays (Saide/OER Africa) and involved participants from Ethiopia, Namibia, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The workshop included sessions on:
• Introduction to distance learning (medium, systems, elements)
• Writing distance learning materials (guidelines and practicals)
• Overview of student support
• A learning theory for a distance learning programme
• Alternate media for delivery and support and design of support mechanisms including OER
• Administration and finance systems in distance learning
• Designing a strategy for materials development and student support
• Planning a distance learning strategy for your own institution.
The workshop was supported by a CD of OER and ODL resources compiled prior to and during the workshop using Dropbox. The UWC SOPH has already posted a number of its distance modules as OER on the UWC’s Freecourseware site  and on Saide’s OER Africa website . For further information about the work of the UWC SOPH, visit www.uwc.ac.za/publichealth or email to lmartin@uwc.ac.za.
Saide and its OER Africa project were proud to be invited to co-plan and co-facilitate the workshop and wish all our new colleagues and friends good luck with the process of expanding access to professional development opportunities for public health workers using OER materials and ODL methods.