The US government is VERY well integrated in providing a variety of on-line education programs in a multitude of arenas. What is amazing to me is the wealth of information that is available online for government and miliatary employees, as well as for the general public. Actually, in a review of current governmental DL offerings, it seems as though there is a large duplication of services, with numerous websites dedicated to providing government employees and military personnel with e-Learning opportunities.
Government and Military Personnel
The Government Education and Training Network (GETN) "is a network of Federal Government agencies usina a common satellite carrier for interactive television." This network started in 1992 by the Air Force Institute of Technology's Center for Distance Education. It broadcasts approximately 10,000 hours per year with uplinks from various Department of Defense agencies including the Army, Air Force, Air National Guard, Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, and others. In addition, Federal Executive Agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration, US Courts, teh FBI, and the National Park Service utilize this technology to train on a variety of courses in locations all over the world.
The GoLearn.gov Learning Center "wants to be your solution for accessing government-wide mandated training." Through this site, registered users can access programs through: Government Owned Courses, Harvard Business School, Publishing, HRD Compliance and Trainig, Karta, Netg, and Skillsoft. The topics provided under these programs range from improving your memory, time management, IT issues, and even government ethics.
USALearning.gov is still live online but seemingly inactive in spite of it's claim: "In 2005, it was decided that a new strategy should be adopted to transform GoLearn.gov into a portal site to adjust to changes in service delivery. Three additional Service Providers, National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Foreign Service Institute (FSI), and FasTrac, joined the Office of Personnel Management's GoLearn Program as Service Providers under the auspices of the e-Training Initiative, offering e-Learning solutions through USALearning."
From what I can tell, the last time someone updated USALearning was 2006....
Health Education
In any case, there are far more distance learning opportunities for government employees than I had realized. However, my area of interest is in the online health education available to healthcare employees and the public.
The CDC offers numerous online education and training opportunities for healthcare and public health professionals. Many are in a "Read and Answer" format, but some have audio or video components. For the general public, the CDC and National Institutes of Health offer a plethora of health-related information online and some video education. In addition, I was impressed with the list of podcasts until I noticed that the page was last updated in August of 2007. Searching for "video" on the CDC website provides links to many health-related videos, including some recently developed video training from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and some in Spanish. NIH offers their distance learning through Johns Hopkins Office of Continuing Medical Education. Registration is open to anyone, but very few online or video programs are offered.
Overall, the use of distance learning modalities in government-related training and education is impressive, but there seems to be a lack of maintenance on various sites, and a decrease in products since 2006.
I will be exploring additional government sponsored health-related online/distance learning options for healthcare professionals, as well as the public in upcoming days, with some attention on Florida activities.
