PUBLICATION OUTLINE

Article Topic: Utilizing Digital Resources to Support Healthy Blended Learning

(Health Education)

Introduction/Message to Communicate: Using digital resources to enhance the learning experience is a key method of engaging learners and helping them to retain health content. Digital resources can be a huge asset to the learning experience and can also assist in creating significant learning environments. Many of the digital resources that are used while educating can help to give learners a personalized learning experience where they can use their voice, have choices, and have ownership in learning. There are a variety of digital resources that can assist in physical, mental, and social aspects of health education blended learning. I would like this article to inspire health educators to incorporate the use of digital resources as they assist learners to become a healthier version of themselves. The amazing thing about incorporating digital resources into health and wellness is that many of these tools naturally serve as a means to track progress, which is critical in helping learners to be successful and meet health education goals. The goal is for learners to use these digital resources effectively and use them as a launching pad to make necessary lifestyle changes in their physical, mental, and social health.

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Connection to my Innovation Plan: My innovation plan is an online wellness blended learning initiative for students, faculty, and staff in my district. It has been my experience that having digital resources to go along with online learning really engages learners and helps them to understand the health content presented in a personalized way. There are so many health and wellness apps and digital resources that can have an impact on learners making healthy lifestyle choices that can enhance their lives and cut down on preventable diseases. When learners can find a digital resource that they really connect with and understand, they will continue to put it to use as they continue to grow during their health journey.

How can this information help others: Many people struggle with their physical, mental, and social health. In a classroom setting, when a student’s physical, mental, or social needs aren’t met, it can affect their behavior, their attendance, and their grades. Exposing learners to health and wellness information and digital resources dealing with physical, mental, and social health can have positive benefits for all learners and enhance health education. Having digital resources to back up the health content and motivate learners to live healthier lifestyles can have a positive life long effect on learners.

Where do you plan to submit (considerations):

• American Journal of Health Education

  • American journal of Health education accepts manuscript submissions electronically through its website  http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ajhe .

  • The manuscript must come with a statement that it has not been published anywhere else or that it hasn’t been submitted simultaneously from other publications.

  • Authors are responsible for getting permission if they want to reproduce any figure, table, or extract from the text of another source.

  • All accepted manuscripts, artwork, and photographs become property of SHAPE America.

  • Manuscript should be types in Times New Roman font, size 12, and double spaced (pages should be numbered).

  • Authors should also give a shortened version of the manuscript title suitable for a character head, but not exceeding 50 character spaces.

  • Articles should include an abstract upto 200 words in length using the following headings: Background, Purpose, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Translation of Health Education Practice.

  • Feature articles and commentary require descriptive abstracts up to 200 words without headings.

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• Edutopia

  • Send an email to GUESTBLOG at EDUTOPIA.org with “Guest blog: Proposed Post Title in the subject line.

  • There should be a summary of your blog post and an outline (finished blog posts should be between 750-850 words).

  • There should be links to all multimedia being used.

  • A list of key words used to describe the intended audience for the blog post.

  • 80 word bio about your educational role.

  • 3 to 5 links to other blog post the author has submitted.

  • Full disclosure of any commercial interest in any product or service mentioned.

  • Your twitter handle (if you have one).

  • Submissions to Edutpoia are subject to their terms of use.

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Lessons Learned/Hope to Learn: One lesson that I’ve learned is that modeling the effective use of digital resources to enhance health education or a wellness journey can make it easy for learners to use these digital resources at home or whenever needed. I hope to continue to learn about more digital resources that can enhance healthy learning environments and give students more ownership of their learning. 

Digital Resources To Be Included in the Article: Some of the digital resources that can be used to enhance a healthy blended learning environment:

Youtube: Youtube is a great resource to enhance healthy learning. There are videos about physical, mental, and social health topics. On this digital resources you can find exercise videos as well as content on nutrition, meditation, anxiety, and disease prevention.

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Seesaw:  Seesaw can be used to send healthy information, newsletters, and resources to a learner's family. This is important because the biggest health influence on school aged learners is what they see modeled at home. By using this resource, parents have a chance to take part in the learning and make healthier choices for their homes. Seesaw can also be used to help parents to track their student’s progress.

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Google Documents: Google Documents can be used for the purpose of learner’s collaborating and can also be used as a live tool for tracking student’s progress through content they are learning.

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My Fitness Pal: My fitness pal is a wellness app that allows users to track their calories and macros, set fitness goals for themselves, and to track their movement. It helps them to set a target and reach it by holding them accountable through the data that the user inputs. Learners can also sync their fitbits or any device used to track their movement to assist them in meeting their wellness goals.

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Health Unlocked: Health Unlocked is a social network with communities for anxiety, depression, and other mental issues.

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E portfolio: One of the coping strategies for many people who struggle with mental/emotional issues is for them to journal or keep a diary. By creating an e-portfolio, the learner will be able to keep a digital journal through blogging. This will help them to write down some of the things that are happening in their lives as a means for self reflection or to be shared with a health specialist in that area.

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Closing: The message that I want to communicate through my article is that there are many digital resources that can aid in the journey to overall health and wellness if used effectively. Although they may take a minute to learn to use, they can be very beneficial to any person who may be struggling mentally, physically, and socially. Having the right wellness digital resources, a growth mindset, and putting forth effort can be the catalyst to any learner succeeding and reaching significant health and wellness goals.

References:

Finegan, J. (2021, May 12). 5 Keys to Success In Blended Learning. Edutopia. Retrieved June 11, 2022, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-keys-success-hybrid-learning

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Rodriguez, E. (2021, October 21). Using Technology to Support 10 Executive Functioning Skills. Edutopia. Retrieved June 11, 2022, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-technology-support-10-executive-functioning-skills