Whether because of time restraints, distance, or tuition costs, the demand for online courses is at an all time high. And what was once thought of as new is now becoming the norm.  According to a recent study, one in five college students takes at least one course online.

For students, online courses offer flexibility and convenience. However, for professors, it has meant a shift in the way classes and materials are prepared. To help both, the OHI is there to fill in the gaps.

The mission of the Office of Health Informatics is to conduct research on the design, implementation, and evaluation of distance education and technology-mediated instructional applications related to conveying health instruction.  It also develops, administers, and oversees undergraduate and graduate online courses for the Division of Health Education. 

Since it was formed in 2004, the OHI has developed over 14 online courses.  Those courses have served the needs of over 18,500 students, and have yielded almost four million dollars.  That money has been significant in development, instruction, and updating of courseware and has instrumental in supporting endeavors from the office, such as research and new student recruitment.

Amber Icke has been the director of the OHI since the beginning of the fall 2008 semester.  She's in charge of a staff of eight graduate students and two student workers.   And while the office may not be known campus wide, the numbers of students using it is growing.

"We have about 3,300 students take our course each year," Icke says.  "Last fall (2008) we had about 1,800 students, which was a record for the OHI."

The OHI staff has developed Master's level programs in health education, created a series of undergraduate/graduate distance education courses, developed interactive websites related to worksite health promotion and distance education.

One of the unique features of the Office of Health Informatics is that it almost operates on a reverse schedule of the rest of the college community.  "Our busiest times of the year include the breaks between semester, the beginning of the semester, before and after midterms and final exams, and closing out the semester," Icke says.

And the OHI is also expanding its reach with the help of new technologies.  "We will be using Moodle, an open source course management system, with all of the OHI's web based courses," Icke says.

Moodle is designed to help educators create online courses with opportunities for significant interaction from students.  Moodle has over 25 million users in almost 200 countries.

And with an emphasis on health and learning outside the conventional classroom, the future looks bright for the OHI.  "In the future, I would like to see the OHI building more health web-based undergraduate and graduate courses, conducting more research on the implementation and evaluation of distance education programs, and collaborating with other divisions and departments within the college," Icke says.