15 May - August 2021 | VOICES Bi-Monthly Magazine of the University of Technology, Jamaica The College of Health Sciences (COHS) hosted the 2nd staging of the Health Information Management (HIM) Virtual Conference and Symposium on July 29, 2021, via Zoom. The Conference, themed “Developing Trends in Health Information Management: Navigating the COVID-19 Era” brought together experts in the health, ICT, legal and data management fields to share emerging developments in Health Information Management, and to provide unique perspectives on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conference Chair, Dr. Nola Hill-Berry, Lecturer, COHS, noted that “the current dynamic brings challenges for us as academics, health practitioners, clients, and all other stakeholders,” as well as for policy makers who are required to “identify appropriate and effective means of protecting the integrity of sensitive (health) information.” In this context, she noted that several of the Conference’s presentations would “explore the vulnerable nature of health data and how we navigate this COVID-19 era.” Professor Colin Gyles, Acting President, in his greetings, highlighted that “the deliberations during this Conference will augur well in support of the Ministry of Health and Wellness’s execution of its National Health Information System and E-Health Strategy to improve health care services.” The Acting President also expressed that the Conference outcomes were in alignment with the University’s mission to “positively impact Jamaica, the wider Caribbean and 2nd Health Information Management Virtual Conference and Symposium Dr. Nola Hill-Berry Dr. McLean in her contribution, noted that the pandemic has “brought into sharp focus the imperatives of a wider use of Information Communication Technology (ICT)”, adding that with the strengthening of the education technology infrastructure, as well as training of teachers, the sector will adapt to the new normal. Professor Gyles and Dr. Gow-Morrison spoke of the financial difficulties their institutions faced as a result of COVID-19 and detailed several steps being taken to mitigate these difficulties, including reducing expenditure and pursuing outstanding debts. They also detailed the application of ICT innovations at their respective institutions aimed at the continued quality delivery of education to students. Speaking to research conducted in 2020 on digital student engagement, Dr. McDermott noted that the figures showed significant engagement at the pre-basic, primary and secondary levels in Jamaica, but pointed out, however, that the quality of engagement in teaching and learning continues to be significantly affected by lack of devices and internet connectivity. Concurring with this observation, Ms. Murray noted that students’ inability to access devices and reliable Internet connectivity are among the main challenges they face. The three-day conference featured forty-five presentations, and four workshops in which researchers, practitioners, educators and students from diverse disciplines shared their research, ideas and practical experiences on the emerging challenges and opportunities in education and humanities. Screenshot taken from the virtual conference Cont’d from page 14...4th International Conference on Education and The Humanities
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