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Culturally Sensitive and Congruent Digital Learning Initiative
and especially since the Covid-19 pandemic appeared in our lives. First intro-
duced in by Seth Frank, digital health largely encompassed internet-fo-
cused applications and media to improve medical content, commerce, and
connectivity (Frank, ). The term digital health has expanded to encom-
pass a much broader set of scientific concepts and technologies, including
genomics, artificial intelligence, analytics, wearables, mobile applications,
and telemedicine (Boodoo et al, 17) all of them used not only with patients
but also in the training process of health professionals, either in classrooms,
during simulation or in practice. In addition, digital health technologies are
being applied much more broadly in health professions to include diagno-
sis, treatment, clinical decision support, care management, and care deliv-
ery. In 18, the World Health Organization issued a detailed taxonomy of
Digital Health, articulating dozens of facets of this expanding space (World
Health Orgaanization, 18). The classification of digital health interventions
(DHIs) categorizes the different ways in which digital and mobile technolo-
gies are being used to support health system needs. Historically, the diverse
communities working in digital health – including government stakehold-
ers, technologists, clinicians, implementers, network operators, researchers,
academics, donors – have lacked a mutually understandable language with
which to assess and articulate functionality. A shared and standardized vo-
cabulary was recognized by the World Health Orgaanization as necessary
to identify gaps and duplication, evaluate effectiveness, and facilitate align-
ment across different digital health implementations. Targeted primarily at
public health audiences, this Classification framework aimed to promote an
accessible and bridging language for health program planners to articulate
functionalities of digital health implementations. However, when it comes
to education and in relation with digitalization and digital health, another
term digital learning appears and many people use it interchangeably in the
form of synonim terms such as distance learning, e-learning, online learning,
and virtual learning. E-learning, online learning, and virtual learning all fall into
the umbrella concept of technology-enhanced learning. However, they mean
different things, and all focus on a different aspect of education. In order to
distinguish them, it’s useful to think about where and how the learning pro-
cess happens. The location can be onsite or remote, the communication can
be synchronous or asynchronous, the delivery can be online or offline, and
the device can be digital or analogue. Here is an overview of how distance
learning, e-learning, online learning, and virtual learning differ in terms of lo-
cation, communication, delivery mode, and device according to the major
assumptions of World Health Orgaanization (18):
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