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Learner Reviews & Feedback for COVID-19 Contact Tracing by Johns Hopkins University

4.9
stars
94,966 ratings

About the Course

The COVID-19 crisis has created an unprecedented need for contact tracing across the country, requiring thousands of people to learn key skills quickly. The job qualifications for contact tracing positions differ throughout the country and the world, with some new positions open to individuals with a high school diploma or equivalent. In this introductory course, students will learn about the science of SARS-CoV-2 , including the infectious period, the clinical presentation of COVID-19, and the evidence for how SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted from person-to-person and why contact tracing can be such an effective public health intervention. Students will learn about how contact tracing is done, including how to build rapport with cases, identify their contacts, and support both cases and their contacts to stop transmission in their communities. The course will also cover several important ethical considerations around contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine. Finally, the course will identify some of the most common barriers to contact tracing efforts -- along with strategies to overcome them....

Top reviews

NN

Apr 12, 2021

presented in easily digestable snippets,really wonderful course,i loved the part about building rapport and communication startegies because i can honestly see them being applied in different aspects.

JR

Jun 11, 2020

Excellent Course ! Very thorough and presented in an interesting delivery of educational information. Thank you to Dr. Emily S. Gurley for this outstanding contribution to keeping our society healthy!

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76 - 100 of 10,000 Reviews for COVID-19 Contact Tracing

By Mark D H

•

May 17, 2020

Outstanding course - The "question types" section was a little confusing at times. It contradicted several things that I was taught during my time working in sales and as a professional sales coach - it's kinda difficult to break away from old habits and some of my previously learned terminologies (i.e. open-ended probing closed-ended probing, attitude checks, support statements, etc.). I also had a question regarding the section that talked about symptoms (e.g. "blueness in lips or chess") how does that look for some people with extremely dark pigmentation? Lastly, and I'm unsure if this is legitimate news, but I'm starting to hear about COVID-19 cases in children. They're showing signs that resemble Kawasaki disease - as a contact tracer, should we refer to a supervisor, the CDC, or some other valid resource to verify before dismissing or omitting information like this...?

By Judith B

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May 16, 2020

Dear Dr. Gurley - This is a very practical course, clearly written with good opportunities for testing/feedback as each section is offered. As a postdoc from and long-term collaborator with Hopkins, I am proud that the Bloomberg School has created this initiative at a time when we need to scale up the nation’s pool of potential tracers. Two recommendations: (1) acknowledgement of the philanthropy that funded Hopkins offering this free of charge; (2) providing contacts for those who completed the course successfully to apply for contact tracing opportunities in their community. Certainly the health departments of all 50 states would benefit from receiving applications from interested participants in the course.

By Danielle K

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May 20, 2020

I am really glad I took the COVID-19 Contract Tracing online course. Thank you, Dr. Emily Gurley and John Hopkins University for making it available. It was easy to digest despite a lot to take in. This is information that can benefit many a lay person to better understand what is being asked of the public and to allay fears while offering solid information. It took me about 5-6 hours, I took many notes to help it all sink in. The practice tests were a wonderful way to keep me engaged and allow me look up things I wanted to know about like 'reflective listening'. Many of us in society can benefit from the 'Effective Communications' section! Thank you again for offering this. with love from Detroit.. Stay safe and healthy everyone!

By Colleen M W

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Oct 22, 2020

Excellent all around!

By Rebecca T

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May 18, 2020

Course was ok, couple of annoying glitches where you just touch your screen and a video starts all over again no matter where you are in a video very annoying! Also promised free course and a FREE certificate but it is trying to charge me for the certificate!

By Lisa K

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May 26, 2020

I loved the content of the course. It was very informative. The pace of the person speaking could have been a bit faster. It also seemed somewhat sexist that "Drew" was the one always making mistakes, while "Amy" was nearly perfect.

By Somesh N

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May 18, 2020

I really liked this course because it helped me understand how contact tracing works and if need arises I will be able to step up to do the job. I just have one trivial thing to add. The tone of the narrator seems a little plain and not exiciting. A little enthusiasm will do the job. As far as the quality of the content and the delivery is concerned I really liked it all including the questionaires. I would Iike to do more courses like this. Also, if they could suggest what further steps could I take to be better equipped to handle such situations that would be helpful.

By Ian D

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May 17, 2020

There are some things I disagree with; while I know it has unfortunately become the standard, accepted way of doing things in government and industry, paraphrasing and reflecting in the ways taught in this course have always irritated the hell out of me when I've been on the receiving end - they sound insincere, formulaic and contrived. Friends and family *never* say, "I understand that you're feeling blah blah blah right now..." - it's fake and it sounds it. Such things are uttered only by representatives of institutions, and for that reason they undermine rapport rather than building it. Or at least they do when *I'm* on the other end of the phone. Saying the case's or contact's name can be good, but not more than two or three times in one conversation. If you do it too often it comes to sound the same way as that fake paraphrasing/reflecting: like a transparent ploy to make you think that this person who doesn't know the first thing about you is in fact a familiar friend.

I may have had some other complaints, but they were minor, and any complaints I did have were more than overshadowed by the pleasure of listening to Dr. Gurley's delightful voice and vocal mannerisms - she sounds whip-smart and adorable, a wildly appealing combination of traits. Be still my heart. =)

Coursera's navigation system does take some getting used to, and I kept thinking of one reviewer who complained that there was no certificate; I suspect he never figured out how the navigation works and thought he'd completed the course when in fact he'd only completed the first section. Be aware that the course takes around five hours to complete and comprises many modules and quizzes along the way, so if you think you've finished it in an hour or so...you haven't.

Overall, a very satisfactory course (and it is kinda cool to have a certificate from Johns Hopkins). Thank you, Dr. Gurley!

By Christine C

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May 29, 2020

Overly long & redundant. Amy's script was patronizing, she spoke in sophomoric "yeah" phrases, & she was not the great example for contact interactions you portrayed her to be. I am appalled that a 6 hour course sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health did not provide professional continuing education credits.

By Nicholas C

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May 17, 2020

This is a very timely and well-thought-out course. My initial intention for taking this course was to understand more of how technology (like Apple and Google's contact tracing) could work for COVID-19. However, after this course, I now see that there is a lot more to contact tracing beyond just using technology. The human aspects to this that are just as, if not more, important than the choice of technology. The sections on the responsibilities of a contact tracer when dealing with sensitive subjects such as illegal immigrants, etc were especially eye-opening. I especially learned a lot from the vignettes showing all the different interactions between the different roles.

By Amelia L

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May 19, 2020

It was well put together. I thought the examples were realistic and it wasn't too easy. I did have trouble with the mechanics of the "provide your feedback" quizzes but went online instead of using my phone to get those submitted without error. I don't want to hurt feelings and I'm sure this is an individual preference, but I could not listen to the instructor's voice. It bothered me because every time she went to the low tones it became scratchy, gurgling or vibrato. Also, I was able to read it more quickly and click on the text when there were visuals I needed to see. I enjoyed taking the course. Thank you.

By Julian M L

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May 19, 2020

Overall, the course was excellent. However, there was one or two answers that might need some clarification. I believe they the options were along the lines of talking with a case for 8 min. The system had the correct answer as this not being a significant scenario of transmission. However, this all depends on if the person conversing was 6 feet away (which it did not specify). If the person was right in front of the case, then it does not matter if the contact was for 8 min or greater than 15 min. The physical distance was too close and would therefore classify as a contact regardless of duration.

By Sharon K

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May 17, 2020

It was very drawn out and most of the information was common sense.

By Michael K

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May 16, 2020

I was under the impression that if I took this course at this time, there would be no charge for a certificate of successful completion of the course. You should check to see if I am correct that I was mislead by notices you gave early on in the material that this would be a no charge certificate.

Michael Kelly

phone 443-578-8368

By Paula M

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May 20, 2020

The course was very well organized with resources for different learning styles. There were clear visual notes on the slides, as well as the script below the video/slides. The resources available, such as the glossary, helped to bring clarity to the topics. Dr. Emily Gurley paced the course well for all types of learners. Her presentation style fit well for the online approach to learning. The quizzes kept students on track with our learning trajectory. I only had one difficulty - the discussion area was not functioning. I had only a couple of questions, but would have appreciated being able to discuss these. It really did not hamper my learning and overall it was a very positive learning experience.

By Renee A

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May 29, 2021

This class was awesome! I learned so... much and the Professor is excellent , clear and decisive very insightful.I appreciate taking this class her helping me have a greater understanding of Covid-19.

By Garalynn H

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May 22, 2020

This course contains a wealth of information including many lists, definitions, and steps. It would be so nice if the course could remain available for review after passing the course, but that doesn't seem to be the case. It might even be nice if a manual or hardcopy booklet could be available.

The videos were wonderful and the actors were great.

I think the course still needs to be fine-tuned, and might benefit by being sent over to the English Department for editing of spelling, formatting, and punctuation marks. Clarity is very important in written presentations, especially from higher schools of learning.

The course did not indicate what value, if any, is placed on getting the certificate if one wants to pursue a job in contact tracing or how to go about getting such a job.

I certainly learned a lot and am thankful that such course.

By Henry S

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May 22, 2020

The course so far is quite easy, the information is well laid out. However I feel like this course is 2 or 3 weeks behind where we are in understanding COVID-19. For example there's no mention of the fact that the CDC now says that 35% of infected people are asymptomatic. There's no mention of Remdesivir which is now being used to treat critically ill and there's also no mention of the fact that non critically ill people often have symptoms COVID-19 for much longer than 10 days. (I can vouch for this myself from my own personal experience.) It would be great to see a schedule for updating the course as our understanding seems to change almost daily.

By Anne M A

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May 18, 2020

This course was clear, concise, and navigation was fluid. A concern noted was that the scenarios/skits did not incorporate some problems that could be encountered during a contact tracer call, such as, what to do if the person was very angry and yelled or was mean to the tracer. The skits assumed everyone would answer their phone, and did not address what to do if the tracer encountered an answering machine or voicemail. I learned a lot in this course.

By Donald G B

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May 15, 2020

This course was helpful, and I would recommend it to others.

The production was well done; the instruction was effective.

The use of the plural pronoun in the singular context (to avoid gender bias) was not always uniformly used, leading to some errors, I believe.

There were minor errors in some of the latter half of the course.

I believe that some of the answers on the tests were incorrect; others were debatable, in my opinion.

Thank you.

By Christopher S

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May 21, 2020

The instructor was redundant, spoke too slowly, and used both uptalk and vocal fry. Moreover, there were several times when information she shared did not match the content of quizzes and even the final "assessment," and several of the videos were dauntingly slow and unnecessary. I did not need the terribly-acted videos to learn important information about COVID-19.

By Angie P

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May 23, 2020

I was required to take this course. First of all, this course needs to be directed toward licensed health care professionals, social workers and therapists. I am none of the above. It is absolutely out of my scope of practice to be considered a Contact Tracer. If someone is a case or contact they need DIRECT contact with health care providers.... not a middle man. Those of us who are not health care professionals have no business talking to people about symptoms and any illness they may have. PLUS..... you lost my respect when alleged sick patient Annette said something like "yes, I saw in the news how bad this is" You must be kidding me. You just helped to confirm this is media driven. This is just my honest review and opinion.

By Arletys A G

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Jun 12, 2020

It was a good course but when I finished I did not reseived my certificate

By Ethan S

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May 28, 2020

It sounds like a leftist professor wants big government!

By SRUTHI P N

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Jun 4, 2020

i am not getting my certificate ..