December
2006
Issue
#2 |
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LMS
LPHA Rollout Training Update:
The
Heartland Centers LMS is going strong in Missouri. In
the past month and a half about 10% of all of our registrants
have registered for and completed an LMS course. Considering
your busy schedules, that is quite an achievement!
We enjoyed
visiting with more local public health agency directors at
trainings held in Poplar Bluff, Kirksville, St. Joseph and
Chillicothe. Our training map is quickly filling in and
we are excited at how the public health workforce is embracing
this opportunity.
We are
winding down our rollout trainings, but still can meet via
phone conference, and send materials out to anyone who has
not been able to attend, or to those who may need a refresher. |
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| We
are looking toward possibly having one more “catch-all” training
in Jefferson City around the time of the upcoming Public Health
Law Conference. Missouri local public health agency
administrators and directors can watch their email and Friday
Facts for more information about this opportunity. |
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LMS
Tips & Tricks
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Creating
an LMS account
If you have not yet created an LMS account, log on
to www.heartlandcenters.com and
click the “register with us” link in the gold-colored,
left menu bar. Fill in the registration form, choosing your
own username and password. After you have filled in the form,
click the “start assessment” button on the home page. Choose one role
to assess, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “start
assessment”. Fill in the assessment form, and
click Save and Exit. Now, you’re registered and eligible
to enroll in any course in the LMS catalog! |
Working together
to achieve an accurate LMS transcript
In order to assure that all of your coursework
on the LMS is represented accurately in your LMS transcript,
we need to enlist your help. Many courses in our system
are provided by other centers across the country. We link
you to these courses, housed in other LMS systems. Unfortunately,
some providers are unable to provide us with your course completion
information. Whenever you finish a course provided by another
center, please remember to forward a copy of your certificate
of completion or forward a “successful completion” email
to the Heartland LMS Coordiantor’s attention at mcfarlcm@slu.edu or
fax to 314-977-8150. Once received, we will promptly
document your completion and move the course to the completed
section of your transcript.
Course Activities
Some courses require you to complete a quiz or
evaluation upon completion of your course. On your “My
Courses” page in the Heartland LMS, look in the far right
column of your current course list to see if there are any
associated activities. If there are, you will see the
name of the quiz or evaluation. Click on the name to
take the quiz. It will be automatically graded, and in
some cases, will move the course to your completed courses
section and enable the certificate immediately!
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Hot
Topics
With ICS training being required,
we would like to highlight a few courses in the LMS on this topic. Check
out the courses listed below that address incident command. You
can find these courses by going to the course catalog on the
LMS and keyword searching part of the course title, or by keyword
searching the course code exactly as you see it here (letter/number
combo in front of title). |
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UMN 002- Incident Management
Systems: The
Public Health Role
UNC 039 – ICS for Public
Health
YNH 001 – Introduction
to Emergency Management
IS100 – Introduction
to Incident Command System (FEMA training)
IS200 – ICS for Single
Resources and Initial Action Incidents (FEMA training)
IS700 – National Incident
Management System (NIMS) (FEMA training)
IS800 – National
Response Plan (FEMA training)
For the FEMA trainings, the LMS links
you to the opening page of each training when you register for and
launch these courses from your LMS account. Don’t forget to
email or fax your completion information to Heartland Centers LMS
coordinator after finishing one of these courses. Find contact
info in “Faces of the LMS” article, or on the “contact
us” link on the LMS. |
County
Spotlight
Each
newsletter, we hope to feature ideas and feedback from
an agency/department administrator. This month,
we are featuring Dennis Diehl and Doug Dodson from the
Jefferson County Health Department. Dennis came to
our pilot LMS rollout training. The pilot training
was rough, at best, since it was our first one ever! However,
Dennis and Doug have done an amazing job of implementing
the LMS in his department. Nearly all of the employees
have been entered into the LMS and have completed their
assessment. Doug Dodson shared with us some advantages
they saw to utilizing the LMS within their department and
cited Dennis’ leadership as key to getting the LMS
off the ground.
One advantage they saw to using
the system was the system-generated transcript. Their employees are required to maintain a written
log of all of their trainings. By using the LMS as the main
transcript, their online LMS activities are automatically tracked
for them, and individuals can enter Non-LMS courses using the “Add
Non-LMS Course” feature in the completed courses section
of the My Courses page. Now, an individual’s current
training log can be downloaded and printed with the click of a
button.
Doug also stated, “Another key point was the systems responsiveness
to our needs, as evidenced by several added courses in Environmental
Health.”
We are excited about Jefferson
County’s progress and hope it
encourages others to take first steps as well. In future issues,
we hope to highlight the experiences and successes of other
agencies or departments. Let us know if you have a useful
tip or implementation story you would like to share. |
Faces
of the LMS
Sometimes, information technology
can seem impersonal. However,
the Heartland LMS requires daily hands-on maintenance,
and our LMS users need support. We wanted you to
know who answers your calls and emails regarding the LMS,
as well as those who create some of the training modules
found in the LMS.
Brenda Buschjost - Health
Program Representative - MDHSS
Phone: 573-526-0451
Fax:573-751-5350
E-mail: Brenda.Buschjost@dhss.mo.gov
Brenda coordinates the logistics for the
LMS Trainings, facilitated by the Heartland Centers, for Local
Public Health Agencies. This
includes scheduling the training dates, locations and facilities;
sending out training announcements; compiling materials for the
training packets; and tracking training attendance. Brenda
also assists Christy McFarland, LMS Coordinator during the LPHA
trainings and she assists Jo Anderson, DHSS Progam Manager with
marketing the system to the LPHAs and course development within
DHSS.
Jo Anderson – Program Coordinator;
MDHSS Center for Local Public Health Services
Phone: 573-751-6170
Fax: 573-751-5350
E-mail: jo.Anderson@dhss.mo.gov
Jo works with DHSS programs, Heartland Centers,
the Missouri Association of Local Public Health Agencies, and
Missouri Institute for Community Health to identify needs for
staff development, and plan improvements and marketing opportunities
for the LMS related to local public health agencies. She
is working with Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
(DHSS) programs that offer required training to local public
health agencies to assist those programs in developing courses
on the LMS.
Christy McFarland – Heartland
Centers LMS Coordinator
Phone: 314-977-8295
Fax: 314-977-8150
E-mail
: mcfarlcm@slu.edu or LMShelp@slu.edu
Christy manages daily maintenance of the
LMS including loading new courses and updating transcripts. She also trains all
new LMS agency administrators and course administrators. She
serves as a liaison to Missouri Department of Health and Senior
Services for issues regarding the LMS.
Susan Prichard – Heartland
Centers Multimedia Specialist
Phone: 314-977-3224
E-mail: prichard@slu.edu
Susan creates online and CD-ROM courses
to be hosted on the LMS. Anything
you request that is from Heartland specifically, and some of the
DHSS courses, have Susan’s fingerprints all over them! She
also supports Christy with LMS maintenance and training. She
serves as a liaison to Missouri Department of Health and Senior
Services for issues regarding course development.
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