Free #eLearning magazines to follow with interest

This week the Learning Solutions magazine published an article I wrote on MOOCs as a new eLearning frontier. As I was writing the article, I suddenly noticed I had not mentioned my two favorite free and inspiring accessible, online eLearning magazines:

Learning Solutions magazine,
eLearn magazine.

If you have not put them in your RSS feed or if you have not connected to their e-mail newsletter, take a minute to get to know these magazines. They will keep you up to speed on various eLearning topics.

Learning Solutions magazine
This magazine is published by the knowledgeable Bill Brandon. The magazine is linked to the eLearning Guild. The eLearning Guild manages to bring together academics, the corporate world, and all of us interested in eLearning solutions. The magazine is published on a weekly basis and features a wide variety of topics, always keeping the articles brief yet filled with relevant and useful information. Since 2002 the learning solutions magazine published 430 articles.

The eLearn magazine
The eLearn magazine is published by ACM. They feature a variety of topics, including best practice and tips for online learning and research and case studies on eLearning. Their advisory board consists of eLearning experts (Jane Bozarth, Roger Schank, Lisa Gualtieri, Janet Clarey, Clark Quinn... all wonderful people that you can easily exchange ideas with as well) making their articles a good read.

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Help us #save new born babies lives by using #mobile devices for #ultrasound

"Why not save the lives of new borns by making use of mobile devices that can be used for ultra-sound?" with this simple idea my wonderful and inspiring colleagues Vincent De Brouwere and Fabienne Richard started a quest to get a new mobile project up and running.

The project is now before a jury and it would be wonderful if as many people as possible could vote in favor of this proposal, as it will really save lives of new born babies and their mothers.

If we get enough votes, the project will be funded by the Belinda and Bill Gates foundation. Please feel free to support us by voting on the project (here is the link to the voting option), Remark: you must register here first (for free) to be able to vote, it only takes a moment and I think they do it to make sure the voters are 'real' people. You vote by first registering for an account, than signing in and clicking on the 'star' next to the project of your choice. Thanks in advance!

This is what the project is all about:

Title of the project: UltraSound4Africa
Organization:Institute of Tropical Medicine - Antwerp

Organization Location: Antwerp, Belgium

Optimal care during childbirth in rural areas of most low and middle income countries is hampered by 2 major problems: the limited equipment and capacity of health workers for diagnosis, and the quasi-absence of back-up from the hospital, which impacts on their motivation and competence. In order to improve the technical quality of care and the motivation of primary care maternity staff working in rural areas of low-income countries, the Ultrasound4Africa project proposes to develop a two-pronged integrated intervention:

• the provision of low cost smartphone-based ultrasound imaging systems (MobiUS device) that connect rural maternities with specialists. This telemedicine intervention aims at early diagnosis of life threatening obstetric complications, appropriate case management and rapid referral of critical cases to the hospital.
• The development of a network of primary care maternities with their referral hospitals, aiming at providing technical and moral support to health workers working in remote areas.

The pilot test will be implemented in rural maternities of 2 districts in Burkina Faso and Mali where access to Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) remains low despite a national policy of abolition of user fees for EmOC. This intervention is expected to improve utilization of antenatal care and skilled birth attendance by increasing women’s trust in primary care services and to contribute to reducing maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity. Ultrasound4Africa will be implemented by national teams at district level and supported by a multidisciplinary team (clinicians, public health specialists and IT specialists) with an extensive experience in sub-Saharan Africa.

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New open journal #iJim issue is out on #mLearning topics

International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM) has just published its latest issue at --> http://www.i-jim.org. We invite you to have a look at the Table of Contents here and then visit our web site to read articles and items of interest.

International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM)* Volume 5, Issue 3 (2011)

*Table of Contents*

*Guest Editorial*

***From the Interdisciplinary Conference of AHLiST 2010 Conference IS/IT Program Chair (Hyo-Joo Han) -- http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1666

*Special Focus Papers*

***Global Telecommunications Security: Effects of Geomagnetic Disturbances (D.J. McManus, H.H. Carr, B.M. Adams) --- http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1667

***A Software Tool to Visualize Verbal Protocols to Enhance Strategic and Metacognitive Abilities in Basic Programming (Carlos A. Arévalo, Estela L. Muñoz, Juan M. Gómez)--- http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1668

***Collaborative Rural Healthcare Network: A Conceptual Model (U. Raja, D.J. McManus, J.M. Hardin, B.C. Haynes) --- http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1669

***Interdisciplinary Approaches at Institutions of Higher Education:

Teaching Information Systems Concepts to Students of Non-Computer Science Programs (Roland Schwald) --- http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1670

***Advances in Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring Systems (Debopam Acharya, Hyo-Joo Han) -- http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1671

*Regular Papers*

***A Short Review on the Trend of Mobile Marketing Studies (Mohammad Ismail, Razli Che Razak) http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1581

***Learning Mobile App Design from User Review Analysis (Elisabeth Platzer, Otto Petrovic) http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1673

*Calls*

***14th International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning -

ICL2011

(Call For Participation) --> http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1693

***Special Issue iJIM "Social Mobile Computing and Services"

(Call For Papers) --> http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1694

***Special Issue iJIM "VANETS"

(Call For Papers) --> http://online-journals.org/i-jim/article/view/1697

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Looking for #online course tutor/developer in Belgium: send your resume and join the #eLearning team

At ITM we are looking for an online course tutor and developer to tutor a course called eSCART and collaboratively built future online courses as well. Feel free to forward this link to anyone you think might be interested or send your resumé and join our team!

The Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerpen, Belgium is looking for an online course tutor/developer to start working at the department of Clinical Sciences, in the Unit Infectious Diseases. Th e Department of Clinical Sciences concentrates on patient-based research, training and services, with emphasis on tropical and infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis in developing countries. Thee Unit Infectious Diseases is organizing di fferent courses some of which are developed as e-learning courses. The latter are organized with experts from the North and the South, including former students from ITM. A position has opened for a course organizer to manage the interactions between all stakeholders.

What will be your assignment? You will...
• be responsible for the guidance of the students during the online courses.
• be responsible for the coordination of the educational tasks of the experts.
• develop Standard Operating Procedure's (SOPs) for the online courses for the purpose of quality assurance.
• actively contribute to the content of the courses.
• design short online modules for continuing medical education.
• organize blended learning with institutions in the South.
• participate in the Community of Practice of the alumni of the ITM.

The profile we are looking for (please rest assured that even if you have some of these qualities, we will consider your resumé in detail)
• You are a medical doctor or you have a master’s degree in a medical field.
• You have high level computer skills and experience with web-based and mobile communication techniques.
• You have excellent communication and teamwork skills.
• You speak and write fluently English and French; knowledge of Dutch is an asset.
• You have experience with training and you are familiar with e-learning tools.
• You have working experience in low resource settings.
• You are willing to live in Belgium.

What do we offer?
• An intellectually stimulating, international and socially committed environment, in which personal initiative can be developed.
• A full-time position for 2 years (renewable), starting date as soon as possible.
• A salary set according to the pay scales of the ITM and the Flemish universities, depending on relevant experience and level of education.
• Reimbursement of public transport costs, bicycle allowance, private pension scheme (after two years) and luncheon vouchers.

Interested?
For further information on this vacancy please contact Dr. Maria Zolfo, (+32.3.247.63.64 or mzolfo@itg.be).
Send your CV together with your motivation letter to vacatures@itg.be and mention 'coming from Inge de Waard' in your letter.
Apply before August 15th, 2011.

Want to have a quick look at eSCART? Take a peek at this presentation which gives an overview on some course components, including the eSCART:

What to take into account when developing courses for low resource areas or developing countries

View more presentations from Inge Ignatia de Waard

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