michael power wrote:
>
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> -- from "michael power" <[log in to unmask]>
>
> i am writing to ask for advice about a project i would like to try and get
> funding for and which subscribers to HELINA-L should be well placed to
> assess
>
> it seems to me that health informaticians should be leading the way in
> using technology such as the internet and WWW for education and training in
> their own field, yet as far as i know i am the only person who has done
> this, although I am aware of plans several others have to exploit the
> internet and WWW in HI education
>
> my hypothesis is that a set of educational materials on health informatics
> that was available on the WWW could be used as a resource by teachers
> giving residential courses and by students for distance learning
>
> i do not think that any one institution has the resources to develop such a
> set of material on its own - hence it would need to be developed in a
> cooperative fashion
>
> it will also need cooperative work to resolve the problems of copyright,
> loss of ownership, possible loss of academic recognition for work done, and
> the opportunities for educational institutions to add value to a common
> resource
>
> The European Union has a programs called INCO-DC and INCO-COPERNICUS which
> fund "concerted actions" and other activities. A concerted action is a
> project in which partners from a number of countries meet and work
> together on a common problem. It requires each participant to be actively
> involved in their own country on the problem and to make more than a
> symbolic contribution to the concerted action.
>
> Translating this Eurospeak into English and applying it to my idea it would
> mean that :
>
>    - we would have to find at least 3 European partners (probably not
> difficult)
>
>    - we would have to find at least 3 partners from Africa and 3 from the
> C&EEC (Central and Eastern European
> Countries) and the NIS (New Independent States)
>
>    - each participant would have to be involved in the teaching of health
> informatics
>
>    - each year of the project each participant would have to contribute the
> equivalent of at least one lecture on an appropriate topic
>
> Project structure:
>    - The project would run over 3 years and participants would meet six
> monthly at different venues
>
>    -   Meetings would be long enough for significant progress to be made
>  (4 or 5 days) and participants would be strongly discouraged from arriving
>  late or leaving early
>
>    - Meetings would be planned to promote health informatics activities in
> partners' countries - for example, could be scheduled immediately prior to
> MIE so that participants could also offer tutorials etc at that meeting
>
> Deliverables would include:
>     - a set of HI lecture notes published on the WWW (probably in >1
> language)
>
>     - workshops and published proceedings from the workshops on the
> technical issues involved in preparing and using educational material on
> the internet and WWW
>
>     - workshops and published proceedings from the workshops on the social
> and legal issues involved in preparing and using educational material on
> the internet and WWW
>
>    - regular progress and evaluation reports
>
> I have no doubt that a project like this is a Good Idea - the problem is,
> not all Good Ideas work!
>
> To put together a funding proposal is a lot of work ( deadline is early
> September) and I do not want to waste my time if this project can't get off
> the ground for lack of support
>
> Besides the the open ended question : "Any comments or suggestions?",  I
> have a couple of direct questions to ask:
>
> 1. Would we be able to find at least 2 other people in Africa from at least
> 2 non-South African countries who would be interested and who would meet
> the criteria?
>
> 2. If the answer is Yes, would you please give me names and contact details
> of such people
>
> 3. In any case, could you give me names and contact details of other people
> I should send this preliminary enquiry to, or, even better, send it to them
> yourself!
>
> There are 2 other EU funded projects (IT-EDUCTRA and NIGHTINGALE) in this
> sort of area - I know little about them other than that they exist. We
> would obviously need to ensure that this idea is complementary to the work
> they are doing and does not undermine their efforts - i am trying to learn
> more about IT-EDUCTRA and NIGHTINGALE
>
> If it looks as if there is sufficient support for this idea in Africa I
> shall start looking for partners in Europe - we would need at least 3 and I
> don't think it would be difficult to find them
>
> regards
>
> michael
>
> ps - the regional rules seem quite strict but we might be able to make a
> case for 1 or 2people in other parts of the world