Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

About OpenWHO

The OpenWHO App

My account

Courses

Certificates

Other features

Technical difficulties

About OpenWHO

1. What is OpenWHO?

Launched in 2017 by the Learning and Capacity Development Unit in the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, OpenWHO is WHO’s free open-access platform servicing frontline responders, health workers, policymakers and anyone interested in learning about public health. Designed to enhance the global response to health emergencies, OpenWHO offers self-paced multilingual courses adapted from WHO’s scientific and operational guidance. Evidence-based learning resources are presented in low-bandwidth adjusted formats that can easily be adapted, contextualized, and translated.

2. How can one access OpenWHO?

The OpenWHO platform can be accessed in the following ways:

enter image description here

enter image description here

3. Who can access OpenWHO courses?

OpenWHO courses are offered for free to anyone who registers with their email address.

4. Do I have to pay for OpenWHO courses?

No, all OpenWHO courses are free and open to anyone wishing to register.

5. Do courses have any time limit?

No, OpenWHO courses are self-paced, meaning you can take as much time as you need to complete a course.

6. What types of courses does OpenWHO offer?

OpenWHO offers three levels of courses: basic, intermediate and advanced, under four channels:

  • Outbreak: introduces knowledge and tools on specific diseases.
  • Go social!: focuses on cross-cutting interventions such as risk communication.
  • Ready for response: talks about humanitarian response and how best to engage in emergency situations.
  • Preparing for pandemics: brings together courses on various aspects of influenza events.

During emergencies, OpenWHO also produces special knowledge resources packages adapted from existing content.

The OpenWHO App

7. Does OpenWHO offer a mobile app?

OpenWHO has a mobile app, for both iOS and Android devices. To download the app, follow the instructions contained in Question 2 above.

OpenWHO can also be viewed via the internet browser on your mobile device.

8. Can I use the OpenWHO app offline?

Certain content, such as course presentations and videos, can be downloaded and viewed offline on the OpenWHO app.

9. How do I download content to use offline using the mobile app?

To download content from the mobile app for offline use, simply navigate to the video or slide presentation you would like to download. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Under the heading ‘Learning material’, you will be able to see which learning materials are available for offline download.

To download these materials, click on the three dots on the bottom right hand side of the screen. From the pop up menu, select download. A circle will then appear, indicating how far along you are in the downloading process.

enter image description here enter image description here

Once the content has downloaded successfully, it can be accessed by clicking on your ‘Account’ icon at the bottom right hand side of your screen.

enter image description here

Then, click on the title ‘Downloaded Content’. Here you will be able to access your downloaded content as well as delete content which is no longer needed.

enter image description here

10. How can I change my download settings on the mobile app?

To change your download settings on the mobile app, begin by navigating to your Account page, by clicking on your account icon at the bottom right hand side of your screen.

enter image description here

Then, click on the ‘Download’ title. You will be brought to a page where you can adjust the Video Download Quality and select whether the app will preload course content or not.

enter image description here

My Account

11. How do I create an account on OpenWHO?

Please note: The following instructions only apply to those creating an account using a non-WHO, personal email address. If you are creating an account using a WHO staff email address, please navigate to question 15 instead.

Access the platform webpage via the following link: https://openwho.org/. Click on the “Log in” tab at the top right corner of the screen. Click on the “Create new account” option at the bottom of the dropdown tab. This option can also be accessed directly via the following link: https://openwho.org/account/new

enter image description here

Enter your first name, surname, e-mail address and create a password. Then click “Register for OpenWHO”.

You will get the following message:

enter image description here

You will receive an email to confirm your account. Open the email and click on “Confirm email”. If you do not receive this email within a couple of minutes, please check your spam folder and move the email to your primary mailbox.

enter image description here

You will be redirected to the Log in page. On the top navigation bar, you will see the message “Thank you for confirming your e-mail address”. You will have to enter your e-mail and password and click on “Log in”.

enter image description here

You will then be directed to the “My profile” page where you can review your personal information and make changes if necessary.

enter image description here

Before proceeding, you must respond to the question under the section entitled “Required information”. Select a response from the dropdown tab next to the question, then click the checkmark to save your answer.

enter image description here

12. What should I do if I have not received a confirmation email from OpenWHO?

If you have not received a confirmation email within a few minutes of setting up your account, please check your spam folder and move the email to your primary mailbox. This is of particular concern to Gmail and Yahoo users.

If you have checked all of your email folders, but the confirmation email is not in there, please contact us through the help desk (instructions can be found at Question 45) and request the confirmation email to be resent.

13. How do I log in and out of my account?

If you have already created an account, you can log in by entering your email and password into the “Log in with credentials” section of the login drop down tab.

Please note: If you have just finished creating a new account, this step may not be necessary as you will already be logged in to OpenWHO.

enter image description here

When you are ready to log out of your account, click on your unique account avatar at the top right-hand corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear. Click on “Log out”.

enter image description here

14. Can I use my WHO email address to create an OpenWHO account?

Yes, you can use your WHO credentials to access OpenWHO courses. However, if you have issues logging in using your WIMS account, please create an account with your personal email address.

15. How can I create an OpenWHO account using my WHO email address?

To create an account using a WHO email address, click on the ‘Log in’ button at the top right hand corner of the OpenWHO home page. Click on the button which reads ‘WHO Identity (WIMS)’. enter image description here

You will then be taken to a separate page, which allows you to choose the type of WHO credentials you have.

Once you have done this, enter your WHO email address and password to create your account.

enter image description here

16. I forgot my password, what can I do?

To reset your password, navigate to the log in drop down menu by clicking on the “Log in” button at the top right-hand side of the screen. Click on the link "Forgot your password?".

A new page will open asking for your email address. Type it in and then click on "Request password reset." Further instructions will be sent to you by email.

enter image description here

17. I have already created my profile, but I cannot enrol in any courses. Why not?

If you have created your profile but receive the following error message when you try to enrol in a course "To help us improve your learning experience, please fill out the required fields before proceeding on to your courses" this indicates that you have not yet filled in all of the information required to finalise your profile.

You should return to your profile and select answers to the four questions under "Required Information".

enter image description here

Courses

18. How do I see what courses are available on OpenWHO?

All OpenWHO’s available courses can be accessed here: https://openwho.org/courses

You can also access them by clicking on “Courses” in the top navigation bar.

enter image description here

If you click on “All courses”, you can filter the courses by “Channel”, “Language”, “Proficiency level” and “Keyword”.

enter image description here

After you click ‘filter’ the courses by Language, you can select your preferred language.

enter image description here

Courses are also placed under dedicated channels, according to specific topics:

enter image description here

You can also find specific learning resources under the new page “Serving Countries”. These resources are intended to support country's response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and other health threats, and are also available in the country’s official language(s). New countries and resources are being added regularly. enter image description here

enter image description here

19. How do I enrol in a course?

Once you have created an account on OpenWHO and are logged in, you can choose the course you want to take from the list of available courses on OpenWHO.

enter image description here

To enrol in the course, click on the button which reads "Enroll me for this course." enter image description here

Once enrolled, you can start the course immediately or come back later.

20. How do I un-enrol from a course?

To un-enrol in a course, navigate to the ‘Course details’ tab on the course navigation toolbar. Click on the button which reads “Un-enrol”. enter image description here

21. How are courses structured?

Many courses consist of a combination of downloadable video lectures and presentation slides, as well as self-assessments to test your knowledge. Discussion forums are also available for users to share insight with experts in the field.

A knowledge resource package for the use of health emergency response usually consists of presentations in the format of PDFs, accompanied with audio recordings in the language spoken by the local communities.

22. What languages are courses offered in?

OpenWHO hosts courses in multiple languages, including many of the UN official languages and the local languages of communities affected by particular outbreaks.

To determine the language of a particular course, navigate to the ‘Course details’ page. On the bottom right hand side of the course header image, the course language is displayed following the title “Language”.

enter image description here

23. How can I search for courses in a particular language?

To search for courses in your chosen language, begin by navigating to https://openwho.org/courses. Either select your chosen language from the drop-down menu at the top of the screen, under the heading ‘Language’… enter image description here

To view the list of the language versions of a course available, navigate to the landing page of one language version of the course. At the top of the Course Information section, you will be able to access the other language versions of that course available.

enter image description here

24. I have enrolled in a course, what should I do now?

Once you have enrolled in a course, you can begin the course by clicking the ‘Enter course’ button which is located at the bottom right hand side of the course header image.

enter image description here

Once you have entered the course, you can navigate through the course learning items using the learning item navigation toolbar located at the left hand side of your screen. When navigating within a single module, you can use the ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ buttons to go between learning items. However, to navigate from one course module to the next, you must use the learning item navigation toolbar located on the left hand side of your screen to move on to the following module.

enter image description here

25. I have enrolled in a course but I cannot find it anymore.

After you’ve enrolled in a course, you can access it again by navigating to your dashboard. To navigate to your dashboard, click on your avatar icon located at the top right hand corner of your screen. From the drop down menu, select ‘Dashboard’. enter image description here

From here, you will be able to see a list of all the course you have enrolled in, under the title ‘My current courses’.

enter image description here

26. Where can I find the course presentations?

Once you have entered a course, the course presentations can be found under the course learning items which appear on the left hand side of the screen.

enter image description here

27. How do I download course videos or presentations slides?

To download a course video, presentation slides, transcript or audio begin by navigating to your chosen course video or presentation slides. Scroll down to the bottom of the page in order to see which elements of the video are available for download. Click on the ‘Download’ button on the right hand side of the video elements which you would like to download.

enter image description here

28. What does the light bulb icon mean?

The lightbulb icon which appears at the top of the screen, under the course navigation toolbar, indicates a quiz, survey or pre-test. enter image description here

29. How do I navigate from one module to the next?

Once inside a course, in order to navigate between modules, use the learning item navigation toolbar on the left hand side of your screen.

enter image description here

30. What should I do if I cannot play the video?

If you find that you are unable to play course videos, it may be because:

  • Vimeo is not accessible from your location
  • Your browser settings or flash player/java settings are preventing videos from playing.

If you are unable to play course videos, you can download the course presentations, audio and transcripts instead in order to complete the course.

31. The video is buffering a lot, what should I do?

If you find that the course video is buffering too much or not loading promptly, try downloading the video instead to watch offline. For instructions on how to download course videos, navigate to Question 27.

enter image description here

32. The video has stopped playing, what should I do?

If you find that the video has stopped playing, try using a different browser. This is particularly true for Internet Explorer.

Certificates

For detailed information about OpenWHO certificates, click here.

33. Does OpenWHO offer certificates?

OpenWHO offers certificates of completion for certain courses. This information is available on the course specific landing page, under ‘Course details’. Click on ‘Course details’, check the information under the subtitle ‘Course Requirements’ or scroll to the bottom of the page, and read the information under the subtitle ‘Certificate’. enter image description here enter image description here

34. What types of certificates does OpenWHO offer?

OpenWHO offers two types of certificates: Certificates of achievement and certificate of participation. To find out which certificate, if any, is offered by your course, navigate to the 'Course details' tab on the course navigation toolbar.

35. What is the difference between a certificate of achievement and a certificate of participation?

Some courses on OpenWHO offer a certificate of achievement rather than a certificate of participation. To be eligible for a certificate of achievement, a course participant must score at least 80% on all course assessments. Other courses only offer a certificate of participation, which requires course participants to complete at least 80% of the course material.

36. How can I download my certificate?

If your course offers a certificate, you can download the certificate once you have successfully completed the course. Some courses only offer certificates to participants who have scored 80% and over on all assessments, or offer a certificate of participation to participants who have completed at least 80% of the course material.

Make sure that you have met the course requirements in order to download your certificate; you can check the specific course requirements under the ‘Course details’ tab of the course navigation toolbar.

enter image description here enter image description here

Once you have met the course requirements to download a certificate, you can download the certificate under the Certificates tab on the course navigation toolbar and then click on the "Download" button. If the button is not activated, this means that you have not yet met the requirements to be eligible for the certificate.

enter image description here

37. What if I cannot download my certificate?

If you find that you are unable to download your certificate, it may be either:

  1. You have failed to meet the course requirements necessary to be eligible to download a certificate; for example, you have not scored 80% and over on all assessments or you have not yet completed at least 80% of the course material.

As mentioned in response to the previous question, some courses only offer certificates to participants who have scored 80% and over on all assessments, or offer a confirmation of participation to participants who have completed at least 80% of the course material.

Make sure that you have met the specific course requirements in order to download your certificate. You can double-check the specific course requirements under the ‘Course details’ tab of the course navigation toolbar, and compare this to your individual progress, which can be found under the ‘Progress’ tab of the course navigation toolbar.

For example, in the screenshot below, the user would not be able to download the certificate for this course, as their progress indicates that they are yet to take the final course assessment.

enter image description here

enter image description here

In order to become eligible for a certificate, you can retake the course assessments and return to the course material as needed.

  1. Your course does not offer a certificate. As mentioned above, not all OpenWHO courses offer a certificate upon completion of a course. Double-check that your course does offer a certificate, by navigating to the specific course requirements located under the ‘Course details’ tab of the course navigation toolbar.

enter image description here

38. How can I check my score?

You can check your score for a course assessment by navigating to the ‘Progress tab’ on the course navigation toolbar. Under the ‘Progress’ tab, you will be able to check your score for each course assessment.

enter image description here

39. I would like to change my name on my certificate, how can I do so?

If you’d like to change the name which appears on your certificate, you must first edit the name associated with your OpenWHO account. You can do this by first clicking on your avatar icon in the top right hand corner of your screen. From the drop down menu, select ‘Profile.’

enter image description here

To change your name, click on your name which appears under the title ‘Name’. Type in the new name you would like to use, and click the blue check on the right hand side of the text box to submit your answer.

enter image description here

40. Share your achievements on LinkedIn

After successfully completing a course, OpenWHO users can now share their certificate of achievements certification with a verification link which will confirm the authenticity of the certificate.

enter image description here

Other features

41. Experience Points

For detailed information about OpenWHO Experience Points, please click here.

42. Additional pages (More information)

Under the “More information” tab at the bottom of the page, you will find the following features:

  • News: Discover the latest courses launched, coming events and information of interest.
  • Publications: Explore research findings from the OpenWHO learning platform that have been featured in scientific publications.
  • Awards: Read about the recognition received by the OpenWHO team.
  • Newsletter: Browse our monthly newsletter to find the latest platform updates and analysis.
  • Stories from the field: Learn how OpenWHO learning resources are being deployed in countries to support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other health threats. This series is produced by WHO country offices, partners and volunteers, with new articles added regularly.

enter image description here

Technical difficulties

43. I have read through the FAQ but still cannot find a solution to my problem, what should I do?

In case of technical difficulties for which answers cannot be found in this FAQ, please send us a message through the help desk explaining the problem in as much detail as possible. If the problem relates to a particular course, be sure to mention the specific course name and module. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

enter image description here enter image description here

This page was last changed at Tue, 12 Sep 2023 12:45:08 +0000.