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Use of Mobile Technologies to Support Disease Surveillance, Education and Knowledge Sharing in the Veterinary Sector
Summary Report
Background
This workshop was proposed as a means of bringing together organisations and individuals with an interest in the use of mobile phones and computers in the veterinary sector. The intention was to explore how these new technologies could be deployed in Kenya to support existing approaches to veterinary education and enhance disease surveillance practices. The event was organised by the Royal Veterinary College with support from Vetaid Kenya, the University of Nairobi Veterinary School, Imperial College and the Institute of Education. The FAO provided funding for the event. Further details can be found in Appendix 1 within the original proposal.
Venue
At relatively short notice the venue for day 1 and 2 of the workshop had to be shifted from the Chiromo Campus to the Kabete Campus. Nevertheless due a lot of local support and the goodwill of the University this change was made smoothly. A large meeting room was kindly made available in the Clinical Centre which proved perfect. Lunch and refreshments were provided by the Vet Lab Golf Club.
Unfortunately the internet data access on campus was poor and this restricted some of the mobile demonstrations. Therefore on Day 3 the workshop was relocated to the iHub in Nairobi which is purpose built for technology events and proved ideal for a smaller group of delegates.
Delegates
In total over 70 vets attended the workshop, most of whom attended on both Day 1 and 2. The last day was a hands on event where numbers were restricted to 20 people. A full delegate list is attached as Appendix 2.
Presentations
The presentations on all 3 days were all high quality Powerpoints delivered through a laptop and projected using a mini projectore. Most of the presentations have been published on the project blog site at http://androidsinafrica.blogspot.com/. In addition a number of videos of working groups were made using a Flip camera by delegates and have since been published on You Tube and linked to the blog.
Key Outputs
A number of clear themes became apparent through discussion during the workshop, working groups and after the event. These included the following:
- There are computers and internet access on campus but numbers are limited
- Some students and vets have their own laptop but this is not true for all
- Everybody had a mobile phone but relatively few had a smart phone yet
- About 5 people in the audience already had purchased a new Android phone
- Many delegates expressed an interest in purchasing the new Huwaei Ideos phone
- The concept of e-learning was well received and many people felt they would benefit from using it
- WikiVet was seen to be a great resource for undergraduate teaching
- Whilst Swahili translation was not needed for vets it might be useful for farmers
- Recording podcasts and videocasts for farmers and CAHWS which can be played on a mobile phone
- Many people did not realise that that Open Education Resources were free
- Everybody appreciated the potential of using a mobile in the field for reference
- There was also a lot of interest in using phones for surveillance
- However there was some debate about who would collect data and where it could be stored securely
- The design of good questionnaires was a problem which needs more help
- Several people expressed the possibility of using EpiCollect for research projects
- Delegates wanted more opportunities to try out the phones in the field
- Further exchange visits were encouraged by the delegates
- Agreed to set up an email discussion list after the event to keep people in touch with each other
Recommendations
It has not been possible to collect any systematic feedback as delegates but individual comments and emails have been appreciative. However, based on the feedback from individuals the following recommendations are made by the organisers:
- A follow up training visit is organised later in the year is required to develop more sophisticated data collection forms. These could be developed with EpiCollect to run on Android phones or other applications depending on the exact requirements and local conditions
- More training in developing quality questionnaires in paper format which can then be adapted for use on mobiles
- Start to develop WikiVet content which is directly relevant to Kenyan audience including short YouTube videos
- Organise an exchange visit of Kenyan staff/students to the UK to learn how to develop e-learning and mobile content for WikiVet
