Quispe-Juli CU, Moquillaza-Alcántara VH and Arapa-Apaza K. Massive open online courses on biomedical informatics [version 1; peer review: 2 not approved]. F1000Research 2019, 8:180 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.17693.1)
NOTE: it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in all citations of this article.
This study aimed to identify the characteristics of massive open online courses (MOOCs) related to biomedical informatics offered in several plataforms. We conducted an observational study on specialized MOOCs platforms to find courses related to biomedical informatics, in 2018. Our search identified 67 MOOCs on biomedical informatics. The majority of MOOCs were offered by Coursera (71.6%, 48/67), English was the most common language (95.5%, 64/67). The United States developed the majority of courses (73.1%, 49/67), with the vast majority of MOOCs being offered by universities (94%, 63/67). The majority of MOOCs were in bioinformatics (56.7%, 38/67) and data science (47.7%, 32/67). In conclusion, the MOOCs on biomedical informatics were focused in bioinformatics and data science, and were offered in English by institutions in the developing world.
Keywords
computer-assisted instruction, medical informatics, bioinformatics, education, continuing education
Corresponding author:
Cender Udai Quispe-Juli
Competing interests:
No competing interests were disclosed.
Grant information:
This research was funded with a contribution of Peruvian National Science and Technology Fund (FONDECYT).
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Biomedical informatics (BI) is “the interdisciplinary field that studies and pursues the effective uses of biomedical data, information, and knowledge for scientific inquiry, problem solving and decision making, motivated by efforts to improve human health”1. BI has an important role in healthcare therefore health professionals well-trained in the use of information and communication technology are needed2.
In developing countries, a few of they have developed training programmes in biomedical or health informatics3. These programmes are short courses, Master’s programmes and even sub-specialty programmes3. However, these do not supply the need for health professionals with BI skills. The internet allows health professionals to have easy access to educative sources through platforms such massive open online courses (MOOCs)4.
MOOCs are accessible through the web and open to registration for people all around the world that want to participate in higher education courses; they are recognized for their educational quality and flexibility schedules4,5. MOOCs materials are free of charge, however, in some courses one can pay to get a certificate of completion4,5.
They represent one strategy to reduce costs and enable continuous education in developing countries; especially learners with English language proficiency, computer literacy, and internet access5. This study aimed to identify the characteristics of MOOCs related to biomedical informatics.
Methods
A search of MOOCs was performed in several learning platforms, including Coursera®, EdX®, FutureLearn®, Udacity®, FunMOOC®, UniMOOC®, MiriadaX®, Alison®, Iversity®, Open2Study® and P2PU®, in order to find courses about biomedical informatics. The search was made from 31 October to 27 November, 2018. The following keywords were used: biomedical informatics, telemedicine, telehealth, remote consultation, mobile health, mHealth, eHealth, medicine technology, biomedical technology, IT Health and bioinformatics.
Information was obtained on the platform where the MOOC was hosted, data regarding the institution offering the course, and the original language. The disciplines were categorized into: Bioinformatics, Images, Clinical Informatics, Public Health Informatics and Data science (a course could approach more than one discipline). Likewise, the data of the duration of the course and its cost in dollars were also obtained.
The data obtained were analyzed in STATA version 14. The categorical results were reported by frequencies and percentages, while the numerical results were reported by measures of central tendency and dispersion, after analysis of normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test.
Results
The analyses of the data identified 67 MOOCs offered on biomedical informatics in the world. The majority (71.64%) were offered by Coursera, followed by EdX (13.43%) and FutureLearn (13.43%). The majority of MOOCs were offered from institutes from the United State of America (73.13%). Out of these, the majority were offered by universities. The large majority of these MOOCs, were offered by the University of California San Diego, followed by Johns Hopkins University. Finally the language breakdown of MOOCs related to biomedical informatics shows that the vast majority of MOOCs ( 95.52%) were offered in English (Table 1). The details of each course are shown in the Table 2.
Table 1. Characteristics of massive open online courses about biomedical informatics.
(N =67)
%
Plataform
Coursera
48
71.64
EdX
9
13.43
FutureLearn
9
13.43
Udacity
1
1.49
Country
United States of America
49
73.13
China
3
4.48
United Kingdom
3
4.48
Russia
3
4.48
Denmark
2
2.99
Netherland
2
2.99
Others
5
7.46
University
Yes
63
94.03
No
4
5.97
Institutions
University of California San Diego
14
20.90
Johns Hopkins University
8
11.94
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
6
8.98
Columbia University
3
4.48
Georgia Institute of Technology
3
4.48
University of Illinois
3
4.48
Others
30
44.74
Original lenguaje
English
64
95.52
Ruso
3
4.48
Table 2. Characteristics of each massive open online course on biomedical informatics.
ID
Platform
Course name
Institution
Lenguage (Subtitle)
Topic
Bioinformatics
Images
Clinic
Public health
Data Science
1
Coursera
Algorithms for DNA Sequencing
Johns Hopkins University
English (English)
X
X
2
Coursera
Algorithms on Strings
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
3
Coursera
Analysis of Algorithms
Princeton University
English (English)
X
4
Coursera
Basics of Extracellular Vesicles
University of California, Irvine
English (English)
X
5
Coursera
Big Data Science with the BD2K-LINCS Data Coordination and Integration Center
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
English (English)
X
6
Coursera
Big Data, Genes, and Medicine
University of New York
English (English)
X
X
7
Coursera
Bioconductor for Genomic Data Science
Johns Hopkins University
English (English)
X
8
Coursera
Bioinformatic Methods I
University of Toronto
English (English)
X
9
Coursera
Bioinformatic Methods II
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
English (English)
X
10
Coursera
Bioinformatics Capstone: Big Data in Biology
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
X
11
Coursera
Bioinformatics: Introduction and Methods 生物信息学: 导论与方法
Peking University
English (English)
X
X
12
Coursera
Biology Meets Programming: Bioinformatics for Beginners
University of California San Diego
English (English, Portuguese)
X
13
Coursera
Command Line Tools for Genomic Data Science
Johns Hopkins University
English (English)
X
X
14
Coursera
Comparing Genes, Proteins, and Genomes (Bioinformatics III)
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
15
Coursera
Data Science in Stratified Healthcare and Precision Medicine
The University of Edinburgh
English (English)
X
X
X
16
Coursera
Dynamical Modeling Methods for Systems Biology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
English (English)
X
X
17
Coursera
eHealth: More than just an electronic record
The University of Sydney
English (English)
X
18
Coursera
Finding Hidden Messages in DNA (Bioinformatics I)
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
19
Coursera
Finding Mutations in DNA and Proteins (Bioinformatics VI)
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
20
Coursera
Genome Assembly Programming Challenge
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
21
Coursera
Genome Sequencing (Bioinformatics II)
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
X
22
Coursera
Genomic Data Science and Clustering (Bioinformatics V)
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
X
23
Coursera
Genomic Data Science Capstone
Johns Hopkins University
English (English)
X
24
Coursera
Genomic Data Science with Galaxy
Johns Hopkins University
English (English)
X
X
25
Coursera
Genomics: Decoding the Universal Language of Life
University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign
English (English)
X
X
26
Coursera
Health Care IT: Challenges and Opportunities
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
English (English)
X
27
Coursera
Health Informatics on FHIR
Georgia Institute of Technology
English (English)
X
X
28
Coursera
HI-FIVE: Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment (Administrative/IT Perspective)
Columbia University
English (English)
X
29
Coursera
HI-FIVE: Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment (Clinical Perspective)
Columbia University
English (English)
X
30
Coursera
HI-FIVE: Health Informatics For Innovation, Value & Enrichment (Social/Peer Perspective)
Columbia University
English (English)
X
31
Coursera
Integrated Analysis in Systems Biology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
English (English)
X
32
Coursera
Interprofessional Healthcare Informatics
University of Minnesota
English (English)
X
33
Coursera
Introduction to Genomic Technologies
Johns Hopkins University
English (English)
X
34
Coursera
Julia Scientific Programming
University of Cape Town
English (English)
X
35
Coursera
Mathematical Thinking in Computer Science
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
36
Coursera
Metagenomics applied to surveillance of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance
Technical University of Denmark
English (English)
X
37
Coursera
Molecular Evolution (Bioinformatics IV)
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
X
38
Coursera
Network Analysis in Systems Biology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
English (English)
X
39
Coursera
Pattern Discovery in Data Mining
University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign
English (English)
X
40
Coursera
Programa especializado Bioinformatics
University of California San Diego
English (English, Chinese)
X
41
Coursera
Programa especializado Data Mining
University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign
English (English)
X
X
42
Coursera
Programa especializado Data Structures and Algorithms
University of California San Diego
English (English, Spanish)
X
43
Coursera
Programa especializado Genomic Data Science
Johns Hopkins University
English (English, Russian)
X
X
44
Coursera
Programa especializado Машинное обучение и анализ данных
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Ruso (Russian)
X
45
Coursera
Python for Genomic Data Science
Johns Hopkins University
English (English)
X
46
Coursera
Whole genome sequencing of bacterial genomes - tools and applications
Technical University of Denmark - DTU
English (English)
X
47
Coursera
Введение в биоинформатику (Introduction to Bioinformatics)
Saint Petersburg State University
Russian (Russian)
X
X
48
Coursera
Введение в Биоинформатику: Метагеномика (Introduction to Bioinformatics: Metagenomics)
Saint Petersburg State University
Russian (Russian, English)
X
X
49
EdX
Big Data Analytics in Healthcare
Georgia Institute of Technology
English (English
X
X
50
EdX
Bioinformatics
University of maryland
English (English)
X
51
EdX
Data Analytics in Health – From Basics to Business
KU Leuven University
English (English)
X
X
52
EdX
Demystifying Biomedical Big Data: A User’s Guide
Georgetown University
English English)
X
X
53
EdX
eHealth – Opportunities and Challenges
Karolinska Institutet
English (English)
X
54
EdX
Global Health Informatics to Improve Quality of Care
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
English (English)
X
55
EdX
Introduction to Genomic Data Science
University of California San Diego
English (English)
X
X
56
EdX
Medicine in the Digital Age
Rice University
English (English)
X
57
EdX
Trends in e-Psychology
KU Leuven University
English (English)
X
58
FutureLearn
Bacterial Genomes: From DNA to Protein Function Using Bioinformatics
Wellcome Genome Campus Advanced Courses and Scientific Conferences
English (English)
X
59
FutureLearn
Clinical Bioinformatics: Unlocking Genomics in Healthcare
The University of Manchester
English (English)
X
X
60
FutureLearn
Data Science for Healthcare: Using Real World Evidence
EIT HEALTH
English (English)
X
61
FutureLearn
Digital Health for Cancer Management: Smart Health Technologies in Complex Diseases
Taipei Medical University
English (English, Chinese)
X
62
FutureLearn
eHealth: Combining Psychology, Technology and Health
University of Twente
English (English)
X
63
FutureLearn
Health Data and Analytics
EIT HEALTH
English (English)
X
64
FutureLearn
Protecting Health Data in the Modern Age: Getting to Grips with the GDP
University of Groningen
English (English)
X
65
FutureLearn
Social Media in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges
Taipei Medical University
English (English, Chinese)
X
66
FutureLearn
The Power of Data in Health and Social Care
University of Strathclyde
English (English)
X
67
Udacity
Health Informatics in the Cloud
Georgia Institute of Technology
English (English)
X
X
From the MOOCs, disciplines related to biomedical informatics courses were analyzed. Some courses taught more than one subject at a time. The majority of these MOOCs, 56.72% (n = 38), were in bioinformatics and 47.76% (n = 32) in data science (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Disciplines addressed in MOOCs on biomedical informatics.
The average cost of the courses was $49, which ranged from zero cost (free) to $672. Likewise, the average length of the MOOCs considered for the review was 5 weeks (Min: 2, Max: 36), with an average activity of 3 hours per week (Min: 1, Max: 30).
Discussion
Within the educational platforms, Coursera® offered the majority of courses focused on BI, as showed in a previous study of health and medicine5; authors prefer to upload their content more often in Coursera® because this is the most used platform6.
Regarding the countries, The United States, China, and the United Kingdom develop the majority of courses. There appears to be a correlation between countries that generate more MOOCs and those with higher scientific output7. It’s important to consider that Russia appears among the leading developers of MOOCs; this could be explained by the student exchanges that the Russian educational institutions have been promoting8.
The majority of courses were offered in English, with a few having subtitles in other languages such as in previous studies9. A possible explanation for this might be the vast majority of them were made in an English-speaking country. Another explanation could be the development level of BI in these countries.
Most courses approached both bioinformatics and data science, maybe because both are tools to personalized medicine and this was been a growing field in the last few years10. Therefore it is necessary to develop more courses focused on health informatics.
This study has some limitations, such as such as only English language courses being included, and the incomplete coverage of all MOOC platforms. However, the platforms studied are those that have the most health or medicine courses5. This is the first study that has assessed MOOCs in the area of BI. In addition, the data shows a list with all the names, languages and prices of the courses.
The recommendation of this study is to diversify the BI courses into other disciplines. We suggest further studies in this area that focus on evaluating the quality of MOOCs.
Conclusion
The majority of MOOCs on Biomedical informatics were focused in bioinformatics and data science, they were offered in English by institutions in the developing world.
This research was funded with a contribution of Peruvian National Science and Technology Fund (FONDECYT).
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Faculty Opinions recommended
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This research was funded with a contribution of Peruvian National Science and Technology Fund (FONDECYT).
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Quispe-Juli CU, Moquillaza-Alcántara VH and Arapa-Apaza K. Massive open online courses on biomedical informatics [version 1; peer review: 2 not approved] F1000Research 2019, 8:180 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.17693.1)
NOTE: it is important to ensure the information in square brackets after the title is included in all citations of this article.
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ApprovedThe paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested
Approved with reservations
A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit.
Not approvedFundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions
This study aimed to identify the characteristics of MOOCs related to biomedical informatics and it was an interesting read. However, there are some serious issues in the presentation of this work. I find some of the sentences difficult to parse.
... Continue reading
This study aimed to identify the characteristics of MOOCs related to biomedical informatics and it was an interesting read. However, there are some serious issues in the presentation of this work. I find some of the sentences difficult to parse. For example, Introduction - second sentence, Introduction - second paragraph, first sentence. Overall, I think a professional proof reading would improve the article's readability considerably.
This study has searched for MOOCs using many well-known MOOC platforms. It would have improved the search had the search included MOOC aggregation service for searching.
In the Results section it is claimed that "67 MOOCs offered on biomedical informatics in the world" - I think this needs to account for the methodology and scale back to what the search was - selected platforms.
It is a little confusing to hear about the "average cost of courses" given that the searches were on MOOCs and whether these were fees to access the course materials or for certification.
The authors need to acknowledge that major non-English MOOC platforms such as Edraak and XuetangX were not consulted in this search when making statements about course languages.
"However, the platforms studied are those that have the most health or medicine courses5" - can this statement be substantiated?
"This is the first study that has assessed MOOCs in the area of BI" - can this be substantiated?
I find the conclusion "The majority of MOOCs on Biomedical informatics were focused in bioinformatics and data science, they were offered in English by institutions in the developing world" not supported by the evidence and misleading.
Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?
Partly
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?
Partly
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?
Partly
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?
I cannot comment. A qualified statistician is required.
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?
Partly
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?
No
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to state that I do not consider it to be of an acceptable scientific standard, for reasons outlined above.
The authors have developed a manuscript examining the use of biomedical informatics in current MOOC implementations. This contribution could be very useful for those looking to examine MOOC implementations in this subject domain.
There are a few
... Continue reading
The authors have developed a manuscript examining the use of biomedical informatics in current MOOC implementations. This contribution could be very useful for those looking to examine MOOC implementations in this subject domain.
There are a few areas I believe the authors could further develop to improve the work:
1. While the manuscript introduces the subject matter, there is not background for why the course of investigation is merited. There is most likely a clear rationale for this investigation, the authors could improve the manuscript to provide it.
2. Methodologically the authors have not provided details on data extraction methods nor how their keywords were classified and harmonised among the various MOOC platforms. Additionally, to be medical literature, it would have been useful to use a systematic search method applied with this context as this would be more familiar to readers.
3. The authors examine cost, number of implementations and further classifications. In their own right, these are big areas and the authors would do well to consider analysis and comparison of factors of economic impact, learning design, etc - the current discussion and analysis is only approaching these areas at a superficial interpretive level.
I recommend the authors address the rationale, strengthen the methodological approach and pick particular areas of analysis to strengthen the richness of this manuscript.
Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?
Partly
Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?
No
Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?
Partly
If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?
Yes
Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?
Partly
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?
Partly
Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Reviewer Expertise: Digital health; eLearning
I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to state that I do not consider it to be of an acceptable scientific standard, for reasons outlined above.
Alongside their report, reviewers assign a status to the article:
Approved - the paper is scientifically sound in its current form and only minor, if any, improvements are suggested
Approved with reservations -
A number of small changes, sometimes more significant revisions are required to address specific details and improve the papers academic merit.
Not approved - fundamental flaws in the paper seriously undermine the findings and conclusions
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