Initiative

ECHO: Education in Connected Health Technologies

SATLE
Curriculum Design, Digital Learning

About this initiative

The primary aim is to create a reusable, evidence-informed digital learning model that strengthens General Education at UCD by developing students’ digital capability, ethical reasoning, data literacy and interdisciplinary understanding of digital health. A secondary aim is to adapt the same learning package for a free short professional certificate course for healthcare professionals through a collaboration between UCD and the Beacon Hospital.

The key deliverables are:

  1. A short online course on wearable technology in healthcare;
  2. A set of reusable multimedia learning resources;
  3. An assessment and learner-support package;
  4. A student pilot;
  5. An evaluation report;
  6. A case study and implementation guide for wider dissemination.

The project will also produce a professional-facing certificate version of the course, adapted from the student-tested materials. For students, the expected outcomes are both academic and transversal. Students will gain a clearer understanding of how wearable technologies are used in healthcare, how such devices generate and transmit health data, and how these data can support clinical decision making, patient monitoring and service innovation. They will also develop a more critical understanding of data quality, privacy, regulation, ethics and interoperability. These outcomes are directly relevant to contemporary digital health practice and to the broader capability agenda underpinning General Education.

The project is also expected to improve students’ digital confidence in engaging with multimedia learning, short-form online instruction and authentic case-based assessment. By situating wearable technologies within real healthcare contexts, the course will support applied learning and strengthen students’ ability to evaluate emerging technologies in a disciplined and responsible way. More broadly, the project will give students structured opportunities to connect disciplinary knowledge with wider societal, technological and sustainability challenges, thereby enhancing their preparedness for work, further study and active participation in a rapidly changing digital environment.

Project Lead Associate Professor Cailbhe Doherty
College UCD College Health and Agricultural Sciences
School UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science

Lead organisations

University College Dublin

Affiliated organisations

Linked open educational resources

Initiative details

Funding programmes SATLE
Themes Curriculum DesignDigital Learning
Status
Active
Award year
2026
End year
2027

Project lead

Cailbhe Doherty

Contributors