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Year: 2009Adobe Acrobat Reader
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LHNCBC-2009-020
Extending a Blended Education Programme to Native American High School Students in Alaska
Locatis C, Gaines C, Liu W, Gill MJ
Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine, April 2009; Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 8-13
This article describes the expansion of a blended learning programme sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) that combines synchronous distance learning with face-to-face instruction. Background information about the programme is briefly discussed and challenges to expanding the programme are presented. The expansion was not merely a matter of adding a school. It involved close coordination between the NLM, existing participants and those at the candidate school. The challenges included identifying a candidate school, establishing contact and determining interest, assessing and testing connectivity, developing a calendar and schedule, and identifying faculty. Since NLM is on the east coast of North America, the current school on the west coast, and the candidate school was in Alaska, all of these challenges were compounded by enormous distances and differences in time. Nevertheless, all were resolved successfully.