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Guevart Edouard, Billot Dominique, Paraiso Noel Moussiliou, Guillemin Francis, Bessaoud Khaled, Briançon Serge. E-Learning and North-South collaboration: the experience of two public health schools in France and Benin. The Pan African Medical Journal. 2009;3:5 Key words: developing countries, distance learning, e-learning, North-South collaboration, partnership, public health Permanent link: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/3/5/full Received: 15/06/2009 - Accepted: 16/07/2009 - Published: 14/10/2009 © Guevart Edouard et al. The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
E-Learning and North-South collaboration: the experience of two public health schools in France and Benin
Guévart Edouard1,2,&, Billot Dominique3, Paraïso Noël Moussiliou2, Guillemin Francis3, Bessaoud Khaled2, Briançon Serge3
1 Service de Coopération et d’Action Culturelle, French Embassy, Cotonou, Bénin; 2 Institut Régional de Santé Publique (IRSP), Ouidah, Bénin; 3Ecole de Santé Publique de Nancy, Faculté de Médecine, Vandoeuvre les Nancy, France
&Corresponding author : Dr Edouard Guévart, Service de Coopération et d’Action Culturelle – French Embassy 01 BP 966 - COTONOU – Bénin, Tel : + 229 95 28 14 89, Fax : + 229 21 300 757
Introduction
Distance learning (e-learning) can facilitate access to training. Yet few public health E-learning experiments have been reported; institutes in developing countries experience difficulties in establishing on-line curricula, while developed countries struggle with adapting existing curricula to realities on the ground. In 2005, two schools of public health, one in France and one in Benin, began collaborating through contact sessions organised for Nancy University distance-learning students. This experience gave rise to a partnership aimed at developing training materials for e-Learning for African students.
The distance-learning public health course at Nancy teaches public health professionals through a module entitled "Health and Development." The module is specifically tailored for professionals from developing countries. To promote student-teacher exchanges, clarify content and supervise dissertations, contact sessions are organized in centres proximate and accessible to African students. The Benin Institute's main feature is residential team learning; distance-learning courses are currently being prepared.
Outcome
The two collaborating institutions have developed a joint distance-learning module geared toward developing countries. The collaboration provides for the development, diffusion, and joint delivery of teaching modules featuring issues that are familiar to African staff, gives the French Institute credibility in assessing research work produced, and enables modules on specific African issues and approaches to be put online.
Lessons learned
While E-learning is a viable educational option for public health professionals, periodic contact can be advantageous. Our analysis showed that the benefit of the collaboration between the two institutions is mutual; the French Institute extends its geographical, cultural and contextual reach and expands its pool of teaching staff. The Benin Institute benefits from the technical partnership and expertise, which allow it to offer distance learning for Africa-specific contexts and applications.
