Future of Public Health Training: Inside MCD's eLearning Success
January 15, 2025
It's crucial to maintain your skills in the dynamic field of public and global health. A popular and accessible way of doing so is through online learning or ‘eLearning.’
In 2024, MCD’s eLearning Program produced 36 hours of self-paced content for more than seven clients in the U.S., including programs within the Massachusetts Department of Health, Virginia Department of Public Health, and Georgia Department of Health, as well as The Sickle Cell Disease Foundation, Children's Oral Health Network, and OUT Maine.
This included 38 self-paced English modules and 17 Spanish modules.
Since 2000, the eLearning industry has grown 900% and is expected to increase in value to more than $545 billion by 2030. As astonishing as this growth is, it’s not at all surprising. ELearning can reduce the time needed to learn a subject by 40% to 60% and can increase employee retention to as much as 50%.
MCD’s eLearning Program started in 2014 and now has more than 20,000 users from all 50 U.S. states and 33 countries. Our self-paced modules come in a variety of languages on topics ranging from Alzheimer’s to COVID-19, noncommunicable diseases, and more.
Though the idea of eLearning seems simple, the work to create these modules takes careful consideration and time, as well as passionate individuals who make them come to life.
Meet MCD’s eLearning Program Team
MCD is at the forefront of public and global health eLearning program development.
Hannah Huggins
Hannah Huggins is the eLearning Program manager at MCD. She holds a degree in public health and is working toward a master’s in learning design and technology with a certificate in eLearning at George Mason University.
“I started feeling increasingly pulled to eLearning, and I transitioned to a full-time role on the eLearning Program team,” Hannah said. “I appreciated the challenge of translating complex public health topics into engaging, accessible online training.”
Shiqi Tao
With an educational background in teaching, Shiqi Tao has worked as a project coordinator at MCD for two years and has a master’s degree in instructional design. Learn more about Tao in this article about her and International Women's Day.
Lu Osae
Lu Osae is also a project coordinator and has been at MCD for one year. Her background is in local and state public health practice and program management. She “fell in love with the education and training side of the profession” after being assigned a few eLearning projects.
How are eLearning modules made?
The team follows the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE) model when creating modules, which provides a structured framework for developing eLearning content from scratch to finish.
Kalie Hess, left, associate director, and Becca Matusovich, right, executive director, of the Children’s Oral Health Network (COHN) of Maine
“The public often isn’t aware that eLearning development is an iterative process. It’s not a one-time effort; instead, it involves multiple stages of design, development, testing, feedback, and refinement to ensure the final product meets the learning objectives effectively,” Tao explained.
One example is when the eLearning Team partnered with the Children’s Oral Health Network (COHN) of Maine in making COHN’s Oral Health Navigation Learning Series available to a broader audience through an online platform; the platform provides flexible, accessible training for individuals seeking to increase their oral health literacy, explore careers in the oral health field, or assist others in navigating the complex oral health system.
“What sets MCD apart is their combination of public health and technical expertise,” Kalie Hess, associate director of COHN, said. “This dual perspective enabled them to create an effective and accessible training program, even with the complexity of the subject matter. Their insights into scaling and sustaining the training have also been invaluable as we work to ensure its long-term availability.”
Standing Apart from the Rest
MCD is at the forefront of public and global health eLearning program development.
One example is when COVID-19 ramped up in the U.S. in 2020, and MCD was able to help prepare public health workers. The team developed training modules about COVID-19, the pandemic, and the vaccine for community health workers (CHWs) in multiple languages right as the pandemic took off in the U.S.
“We were arguably the only ones providing this critical virtual content to this audience,” Hannah said. “I'm proud that our team was able to support CHWs in doing their jobs effectively, which, in turn, positively impacted communities across the nation.”
Being able to tailor training programs for specific audiences is a necessity when producing modules, both in making the material relevant and helpful for them.
For CHWs, the team leverages expertise from other MCD teams who work with CHWs as well as externally where the team gathers feedback from actual CHWs, such as through beta testing.
“Our leadership roots from experience — many of us have led public health projects at local, state, national, and international levels,” Lu said. “We understand the context behind the eLearning projects we take on far more than the average instructional designer. Combined with the eLearning and instructional design expertise on our team, this makes MCD the ‘best of both worlds’ for health-related eLearning.”
Future of eLearning
The team hopes to increase their reach by working with new partners nationwide to deliver education to the public health and health care workforces.
Outside of MCD, the future of eLearning is influenced by the rise of AI tools, including immersive, scenario-based learning that provides learners with real-life examples or simulations for a more engaging and practical learning experience.
“Not only do we have expertise and knowledge in both learning design and public health, but we also have a passion for MCD's mission to improve the health and well-being for all, so we care a lot about making trainings that are impactful and effective,” Hannah said.
Learn more about MCD's eLearning Program
Questions about what MCD’s eLearning Team can do for you? Email: elearning@mcd.org