CCL Home > Research Activities > Funded Research
December 2008
Executive Summary (PDF 318 KB)
Full Report (PDF 3 MB)
Youth are enthusiastic consumers of electronic media and attracted to the Internet. Internet access brings novel opportunities to reach youth with health promotion messages, through a medium that permits customization and the opportunity to network knowledge between individuals or entire classrooms. Two established virtual classroom environments, one on tobacco control and one on HIV/AIDS, provide teachers and students with a means of learning about health and connecting with youth worldwide via a global youth action network. The impact of these programs on student learning and engagement and teacher collaboration was evaluated with two-hundred and thirty-three youth participants and five teachers, using surveys and interviews, with the goal of creating recommendations for health and education programming and policy.
Both TIGXpress HIV/AIDS and the Virtual Classroom for Tobacco Control were found to be strong and attractive methods for student learning. A majority of respondents enjoyed the programs, learned new things and felt that the format and material were preferable to other more traditional methods of learning about HIV and tobacco control. Teachers found the virtual classrooms very easy to use and attractive as a method of engaging their students in the content. Interviews with teachers indicate that the programs offer a clear innovation that married technology with enhancements to face-to-face or more traditional styles of teaching and learning. Most participants reported a high level of eHealth literacy; the highest average rate since this variable was first measured, with more than 50% of participants reporting either agree or strongly agree with all of the eight core items in the eHealth Literacy Scale.
The challenge, however, is an ongoing lack of organizational structures to allow teachers and students to benefit from interactive programs. Citing time pressures and the lack of access to appropriate technology, most schools approached to participate in this study declined the opportunity – in spite of teacher interest and intention to participate. Those who did participate were found to be progressive educators committed to innovation and interested in the expanding potential of new learning resources. There is a need for mechanisms that enable innovations in education, to understand what schools and teachers need in order to integrate these resources and overcome barriers to their use, so that all students have the opportunity to benefit from new tools and technologies.
Youth are enthusiastic consumers of electronic media and attracted to the Internet. Internet access brings novel opportunities to reach youth with health promotion messages, through...
Les jeunes sont de grands consommateurs de médias électroniques et manifestent un grand intérêt pour Internet. L’accès à Internet amène une multitude de nouvelles approches ...