Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Cees Th. Smit Sibinga
To manage such regional or national blood supply centres, leadership development is paramount.
Since 2000, WHO has initiated a specific post-academic Masters course focused on management of
Transfusion Medicine (MMTM). This initiative has been materialized through the creation of a special
Academic Institute for International Development of Transfusion Medicine (IDTM) at the University of
Groningen (www.idtm.org). The contents of the post-academic modular Masters course is built up of
three clusters – two theoretical clusters with 9 e-modules or e-books and one combined cluster of a
practical (observation) real time exposure and a theoretical part with 5 face to face tutorial modules.
Following validation of both the electronic architecture (e-Academy and e-library) and the postacademic
level of the e-book contents, the MMTM course became operational by 2006. [4].
2. Methods
Since the post-academic eLearning course became operational in 2006 there have been registered
two dozens of qualified fellows from a variety of developing countries, largely Africa and a few more
advanced countries such as Singapore. Entrance criteria are – academically qualified (completed a
university education, MSc), affinity to and experience in the field of transfusion medicine, formal
support or recommendation from regional or national blood supply organisation, motivation and
leadership capacity and last but not least having paid the MMTM course tuition fee. Once all criteria
including acceptance of a proper post-academic dissertation proposal have been met, fellows are
provided personal electronic instructions how to access. The access codes are personal and not
public and need to be archived during the course to guarantee a continued access over time.
Monitoring and Evaluation - Those who were provided access were followed during the eLearning
period and their progress monitored and evaluated. Specific attention is given to the ease of handling
the e-environment (internet access) and its related e-technicalities (hardware and software).
Fundamental are access to internet, uninterrupted power supply, consistence of use of a computer
(PC or laptop) and computer literacy.
The encountered problems were documented and analysed for commonalities and opportunities for
improvement of the customer or user friendliness of the programme.
3. Results
Most of the fellows come from developing parts of the worlds, predominantly sub-Saharan Africa.
There are distinct differences in country infrastructure and e-environment which contribute to the
access and operational continuity of an eLearning based programme. Although academically qualified
(in-country University diploma’s) a majority is not familiar with e-technology and computer handling
other than some internet exploring and basic office functions like Word and PPT. Besides we
experienced differences in personal attitudes and culture once the eLearning has started [5].
Hardware used is not always guaranteed and in many a situation of second or even more hand
nature. The eLearning programme is not public but highly individualised with an electronic match
between the master system and e-academy in the Netherlands and the personal laptop or PC at
home. Changes in hardware need a renewal of the match to allow continuation of the access.
Accessibility awareness is not really developed [5] and major obstacles encountered over the past
five years are –
Inconsistent internet access due to supplier problems;
Unreliable power supply due to poor and incompetent infrastructure;
Virus contamination of laptops and PCs due to frequent uncontrolled use of memory sticks in
internet café’s and through friends and relatives;
Poor and not maintained firewall conditions;
Mediocre computer literacy, particularly when skills beyond basic office functions are required;
Laptop and PC breakdown due to uncontrolled working conditions and improper working
environments;
In different countries different grades of eLearning environmental and climate conditions were
observed, but these are essentially variations of the same theme. One element needs to be added
based on the observations, and that is the personal discipline of the fellows, caused by a variety of
conditions e.g. limited career perspectives, micro-economical situation (family income) and paucity of
academic interest and motivation.
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