This endeavor was started by Dr. (Prof) Seble Frehywot and Dr. (Prof) Yianna Vovides. It stemmed from three simple visions. The first: that IT, in its various manifestations, can enhance equity for health and education systems, around the globe. The second: that artificial intelligence is propagating and, if embraced, it can be useful within our expertise areas; however, if we, as experts in health and educations systems equity, do not partner with those working on the ai algorithms, the ai solutions implemented in these spaces may be detrimental. The third: that more work/research needs to be done (including artificial intelligence based research) regarding various forms of e-pedagogy and e-andragogy to utilize e-learning as an equity tool for building Low and Middle Income Countries health and education systems .
One way we are leveraging IT to enhance equity in health and education systems is by supporting the development of Communities of Practice (CoP) that emphasize health and education systems. To this end, we have launched the Peoples Webinar series during the Pandemic to utilize IT to address the challenges in health and education systems. Post-pandemic our focus has shifted to enhancing knowledge and skills related to AI Algorithmic Literacy for the global health education workforce. We have launched in 2024 two virtual workshops on:
Start by reading the following:
If you would like to contribute to this effort, please reach out to us by emailing Dr. Seble Frehywot (seblelf@gwu.edu) or Dr. Yianna Vovides (yv11@georgetown.edu).
In this workshop, participants will begin with an activity that defines AI and Generative AI. They will then discuss specific use cases relevant to their profession to better understand how AI is influencing their work.
In this workshop, participants will begin with a brief self-assessment designed as a human-AI dialoguing activity followed by a deep dive into how AI, Generative AI, and AI Algorithms work. The deep dive is speculative. It is designed as a simulation for participants to consider a situation, identify a task, make decisions about the training data to be used, and examine how machines learn. which may detimental.
This section features recent stories that are connected to the work of IT for Health and Education Systems Equity.
The Rockefeller Foundation and United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Center for Innovation and Impact (CII) have partnered, in close coordination with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to develop AI in Global Health: Defining a Collective Path Forward.
Read More (external site)January 2024
The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing new guidance on the ethics and governance of large multi-modal models (LMMs) – a type of fast growing generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology with applications across health care.
Schmitz B. Improving accessibility of scientific research by artificial intelligence—An example for lay abstract generation. DIGITAL HEALTH. 2023;9. doi:10.1177/20552076231186245
Read More (external site)Ejaz H, McGrath H, Wong BL, Guise A, Vercauteren T, Shapey J. Artificial intelligence and medical education: A global mixed-methods study of medical students’ perspectives. DIGITAL HEALTH. 2022;8. doi:10.1177/20552076221089099
Read More (external site)"The George Washington University is co-leading a multi-institutional effort supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will develop new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies designed to promote trust and mitigate risks, while simultaneously empowering and educating the public."
Read More (external site)"Ready or not, chatGPT (the newest version of OpenAI’s impressive AI technologies) is now in your classroom." The author is Ryan Watkins is Professor of Educational Technology Leadership, and Human-Technology Collaboration, at George Washington University in Washington DC.
Read More (external site)The ASCILITE Wavelength Podcast is a community-contributed initiative of the Australasian Society of Computer in Learning in Tertiary Education. Each episode explores contemporary issues and thought leadership in tertiary education in Australasia and internationally
Listen to the Podcast (external site)This resource was shared during the May 24 Peoples Webinar series focusing on Digital Realities: "Join Associate Professor Michael Cowling from CQ University in Australia for a crash course on extended reality and its use in the classroom. "
Read More (external site)"The “One College Student Per Village” programme at the Open University of China (OUC) is one of the laureates of the 2020 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICT in Education. "
Read MoreCurrently, eLearning teaching and delivery methods need to be reimagined to make them accessible, equitable, and enjoyable globally. Currently, that is not the case.
Read the Blog (external site)"A staggering two-thirds of world’s school-aged children – 1.3 billion children aged 3-17 – do not have internet connection in their homes, preventing them from learning vital skills needed to compete in the modern economy, a new UN report has revealed."
Read the Report (UN site)From the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. The report holds that while low- and middle-income countries may have the most to gain from the radical potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform health systems, they may also have the most to lose.
Read the report (external site)Take a look at the recorded webinars from the Peoples Webinar series and Byte-sized Blog posts.
Our Digital Realities 3 Videos Remote AVR: A Safe Knowledge Transfer Solution for Schools, Governments, and Enterprises 33:31 Using technology and holograms in health sciences and medicine: Anatomy, Science, Physiology labs 1:29 Exploring New Frontiers in Healthcare 3:55
In this post, we are compiling a list of resources on our digital realities (AR, VR, XR, MR…). The focus of the resources is on LMICs.
This webinar discussed lessons learned from a novel online course using WhatsApp that teaches leadership and organizing skills to community organizers. WhatsApp, as an e-learning platform, offers the possibility of reimagining social media platforms as a new avenue for advancing civic pedagogy and networking for long-term social movement building. Though additional iterations are required, initial […]
This webinar featured stories from multiple perspectives: faculty (academic staff), professional staff, and student. The panelists shared their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, lessons learned so far, and the questions that still remain unanswered for the future of online education in LMIC. This took place on May 14, 2020. Panelists: Sheila Jagannathan is Lead Learning Specialist […]
The following are the individuals who contributed to the efforts to create a community of practice focused on IT for Health and Education Systems Equity in LMIC.
Email: Seble Frehywot at seblelf@gwu.edu | Yianna Vovides at yv11@georgetown.edu
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