This course was phenomenal...The quantity and quality of the information shared and its practical integration into our current pandemic is well worth the time needed to complete this course. My favorite parts included the real people examples contrasting the positive strategies versus the possible blocking comments. Dr. Gurley explains even the most technical terms in a simplified manner and their use in everyday operations. She also has a very pleasant listening voice and a thorough knowledge of the content shared. She has integrated effective adult learning strategies into this course, i.e. chunking material content, examples relevant to everyday life, etc.

The course itself is very simple to follow....Each module is broken into sections and each section provides information and then a brief quiz checking your knowledge on the content you just reviewed. Even the final assessment was a compilation of similar important content covered in each quiz.

I also completed our local county training for Contact Tracing and this course took that initial training even further. Thank you for sharing this opportunity.

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

This is a very great and appropriate course to take in this current pandemic. The presentation was so well articulated in very easy clear language that one can follow and understand. The accompanying test questions and scenarios make one feel ready to be on the field doing the work, yet helping one to know that nothing is set out in straight answers all of the time. I mostly enjoy the later part of the course on the guide to establish rapport. Apart from being informed about the SARS-COV2 infection, I am also challenged to know that it is a continuing learning process as the pandemic is ongoing. Thank you for this timely course. I only wonder why there was no additional emphasis on contact tracing as much as I heard about testing right from the beginning. Probably if the country had more contact tracers as we had lots of testing done, we could probably have avoided the breakdown of our health system, as the Contact tracing could have helped to mitigate against the spread of the infection, hopefully. Again, thank you for the course.

This course has information that is of use to make anyone on Earth cognitive & aware of the COVID-19 it’s history, epidemiology , impact on the human race , how to diminish its ability to exponentially replicate, how to help by becoming a tracer, how to speak to and treat people who have been exposed, and or have the virus at any stage, what technology is available & used in the USA; et. al.. most importantly this course shines illuminated light On a natural God bestowed attribute on how to speak to listen to and have compassion for our fellow human being. I am thankful for having the opportunity to take the course that gave me more information & set my detailed spirit to learn as much as I may continue to learn more and share the existence of this course to all the people I know .

Again , thank you for what you do , I pray the 91 St PSALM FOR YOU & OUR GLOBAL Family at large. Let us Kneel down & PRAY FOR PEACE& LOVE which equals TRUTH

RESPECTFULLY,

Always

MS. CHERYL LOUISE WILLIAMS-MURRAY

Tuesday, JUNE 2, 2020

Excellent class and enlightening class, considering the current state of affairs. In my professional opinion, this is one of the best online learning classes I have experienced. Why? Answer: Dr. Gurley.

Again, in my professional opinion, it is very rare for a professor to have both positive and unique talents, such as Dr. Gurley, where she effortlessly teaches, engages, articulates, and parlays her rich knowledge and wisdom to every individual, enrolled in the, "COVID-19 Contact Tracing", online class.

Dr. Gurley is an epidemiologist and professor, par excellence. Equally important, genuine kudos and genuine respect to not only Dr. Gurley, but her exceptional team from Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, in effecting this top-notch online learning class. Thank you again to Dr. Gurley and her "A-Team" from Johns Hopkins University.

Quid pro quo, my partner and I intend to, wholeheartedly, contribute to society and "make this world a better place", now, more than ever.

Very informative, clearly stated, well organized and interesting. I have only one "comment" - we were often asked "how much time did you spend on this module?" I never really understood what constituted a full module - was it after every single quiz? after a group of quizzes? It didn't seem to happen after every quiz, but I was never sure how many videos I had watched and/or quizzes I had taken between "time checks." But I think I can say that the entire course took me maybe 5-6 hours total time. Also, when I was just about to take the final exam, there was a reference to "different standards" for NY State and NY City, but there was no link to find out the necessary information. (I am in New York State.) It seemed to apply only to the number of times the final test could be taken and/or the frequency of attempting further tries. So I just went ahead and took the test and hoped whatever I did complied with the "rules." Thanks, and I look forward to mov ahead as a contact tracer.

I needed to learn more about the narure of the virus and found it very comprehensice and looked to the public health aspect and using the "active listening" and helping peopoe is what atracted me as well as remote jobs whew you can be a support to people in the beginning weren't going to die but needed to quarinatine was the. hardest part for me peronally. Even with my skill and being fully aware got Omicron anyway and now understand Covid even more. I was blessed by Mayor Bloomberg giviing this course to me. It got me to think I can still leatn at my age. Anyone can. Now the remote jobs are hot and cloud securuty and people working from home has become the new norm. One good thing that came from this horrible time. stll more ime to come as well. It was definintly helpfil. A must for clinicians. Thannk you JHU Public health School, Mayor Bloomberg and or course Cousera. All got me thinking, I can do this! Get educated as we need thouusand of cyver trained peoplea and are not prepared.

I found this course to be very well presented and very effective. The role play scenarios were very realistic and well acted out. (were these professional actors?) The female was especially pleasant to listen to in voice, manner and style.

I have a one observation that should be addressed. I entered this in a comment at the end of the particular module but i don't think it was transmitted. In the module titled "Balancing Public Good ....." in the section referring to undocumented workers, the following was suggested as a response. "Telling the undocumented worker that there is a "HIGH RISK OF DEATH". This is an exaggeration in general unless you're referring to specific age group or at-risk population. The term "high risk" is subjective, but I don't think any health professional would agree that a risk of death of up to 5% for the general population is "high risk". This seemed like a scare tactic that should not be used, especially with an undocumented worker.

The course was very well assembled, for any kind of virtual learning commonly available.

The playback speed(s) with closed captioning, combined with on-screen voice-over and phrase highlighting, was extremely useful; they are tools that play the strengths of many kinds of presentation and review.

The scientific information and calculation algorithms (e.g. calculate infectious periods) were excellent; I may be in the minority but I wish these were footnoted were "further reading", since the Pandemic is a dynamic situation.

I very much appreciated the explanation of "human tools" such as types of listening, how to handle difficult situations, and troubleshooting. The framework for communication and repeated emphasis on rapport was long but appropriately long, and I think ultimately many types of people will be able to relate to what was taught and indicated.

Despite my minor criticisms, this remains an excellent, clear tool to introduce and train contact tracers.

THANK YOU!

The information was clear and easily digestable. The visual components made it simple to

see how to properly determine the period person with COVID-19 is contagious and figure out how long a contact should quarantine. The simulated interviews provided a way to think about how to utilize the tools learned, to see how to properly build a rapport with people to ascertain the most accurate and complete information, and to provide the necessarysupport and resources to those who need them as they isolate or quarantine. The portions on communication should be part of grade school cirriculum people would have far better outcomes from conversations if they used the skills and techniques that were covered. Having this knowledge not only makes me feel prepared to embark into the world of contact traing but it also has eased some stress. Being informed is helpful to avoid anxiety due to uncertainty. I'm so grateful to have taken this course. Thank you!

This was such an amazing class! Thank you so much Dr. Emily Gurley for your amazing classes and to he people that were apart of creating this! Dr. Gurley did an amazing job at explaining what COVID-19 was and what to do as a contact tracer with cases and contacts! I learned so much more than what I anticipated and I just want to say that if you're thinking of taking this class DO IT! There is so much that you learn. The material is very easy and understandable, this is coming from someone with a learning disability and got a pretty good score on the final! I felt comfortable and there was no way of getting board in this class! There are lots of visuals, live demos and fun little tests in between each module. Thank you again Dr. Gurley for this amazing learning experience! I really appreciate it! This is important information for what's happening right now so I'm glad that you were able to provide something so fun to learn! TAKE THIS C

I have been extremely interested in helping our society by becoming a contact tracer. About 5 weeks into the COVID health crisis I realize that contact tracing existed and felt that my excellent communication skills, the fact that I speak English as my native language and Spanish as my second language combined with the strong organizational skills that I have would make me an effective contact tracer. This course was set up in a very approachable manner - various modules with good learning check-in points. Emily's tone of voice and knowledge made the student feel that they were part of something bigger than we are and learning from some of the best. Very succinct, very informative, and even if I do not become a contact tracer because our state does not seem to value this as much as other states I feel very informed to help my fellow citizens understand the need for isolation and quarantine, the difference between the two, and more.

I found the course to be very informative and an excellent overview/introduction for a person seeking to be employed as a contact tracer, which I plan to do in the near future. As a former medical lab technologist and retired biology teacher, I found it to be a very well constructed course. The course objectives and resources were clearly stated. The lectures were very clear and easily understandable, even for people without a background in health care and/or science. I was able to print all the information to keep for future reference, which will be very helpful in the future. Thank you for providing a great course to help people who want to pursue this extremely important work. I've wanted to do something to help during this pandemic to help people stay healthy and to help in saving lives. This course is the ticket! I will definitely recommend it to people I meet who are interested in doing this important work. Again, Thank You!

Overall, it is a great course! I would like an explanation here for all Contact Tracers, Contact Investigators, and their supervisors based on the Dept. of Health and Human Services as it related to PII, and what forms of information can be used to verify a Contact's identity. There's a big problem with that here. I see a lot of people don't understand it, including myself. In these examples, also, I see sometimes only the DOB is used and other times a DOB and Address were requested/confirmed. We do need solid examples and scenarios in order to properly maintain HIPAA rules and not get into trouble ourselves. We are currently using DOB and Address. If these are not available, we cannot make the call, even though we may also have linkable information along with linked information. It's better to be safe than sorry, but at what cost, if we can also verify by other PII means if some forms of PII are not available? Thank you

This course helps me a lot to learn and more about COVID-19 Contact Tracing. To learn about the history of the coronavirus disease, its causes, how its transmission fast in one person to another, how to trace people who were infected by the disease, how to handle people who were in the same scenario experiencing mild to severe symptoms of the COVID-19 virus, how to handle on investigating cases and how to handle the proper etiquette on dealing people who were infected with the disease. In this short course also, I've learned a lot about it and it's truly a great help not just for myself but also for those hopefuls who are aiming to become a COVID-19 Contact Tracer someday. My sincere thanks to Dr. Emily S. Gurley and to the John Hopkins University for this once in a lifetime opportunity to take this kind of course virtually. I'm really appreciated all of your hard work and effort to share your knowledge with us.

This was a great course! Very informative and precise course content. I enjoyed the videos providing examples of what to do and what not to do. I really feel more educated on COVID-19 and can be a better help to my family, friends and community with the knowledge I have gained. I feel very bad for making a mistake on my test involving asking a case if they have diabetes, because I know they are at very high risk. Normally I would go back and retake the test, but I am trying to allow myself to make a mistake so I chose to submit and accept that I am imperfect. I do appreciate the opportunities to retake the tests though. I really loved the instructor, her inflections, tone and rate of speaking really made it easy to digest the information. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to gain knowledge on COVID-19 and hopefully have the opportunity to slow the spread and maybe even save a life!

Dr Gurley was World Class! Definitely 10 star course versus 5 stars! It truly exemplifies why John Hopkins University's Public Health program is so highly respected and revered! The COVID-19 Contract Tracing Course was excellent! Very insightful, very interesting, well written and lectured! Really appreciated all the clear cut explanations, great examples, scenarios calculating isolation and quarantine times and understanding incubation and infectious periods and actual scenarios played out to demonstrate developing better communication skills. Appreciated being shown World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control and Prevention protocols for COVID-19 and linked to John Hopkins Newsletter on COVID-19 and other resources. A really terrific course and kudos to Dr Gurley for such excellence during such a stressful time and pandemic and all her expertise needed in the real world!

Good morning, everyone, my name is James Alex Joseph Dcruz residing in Kerala, India. I come from a middle-class family and working as a part time job in Kerala, India. i wanted to enroll in this course long time aga but i did not know how to approach as the course price is very high So, I can get a better job for the future. I learned a lot from this course and get as much knowledge as I can. If possible, please approve my request of getting the certificate as my financial aid is very low. I have heard about this course from my friend who suggested that after completing the course i will gain extensive knowledge and this can be plus point in my resume for the future purposes. By giving this opportunity carry out this course would be really helpful for me and my future. Hoping to get a positive reply from you. Can you please considerate to waive the course fees and get my certificate?

This COVID-19 Contact Tracing is my first ever Coursera course that I finished. I am sincerely thankful to JHU for partnering with Coursera and offer this online course with a certificate of completion that is for free. I learned a lot from this course. Dr Emily Gurley's narration is pleasing to the ears, and her pacing is just right for me to be able to catch up with her discussion. The examples she gave were simple-enough that even a non-medical or a non-science major could understand. Overall, this COVID-19 Contact Tracing course is very timely, especially these days of a pandemic where contact tracers are in demand. I believe that offering this course online for free is one of the many ways that John Hopkins University and Coursera are helping the entire world during the COVID-19 pandemic. I genuinely highly recommend this online course for everyone. Great job, JHU and Coursera!

I was nervous about taking this course at first. But as I kept on taking the lessons, I started feeling confident and seemed like I am able to understand and learn the basics explained in brief and detail by Dr. Emily Gurley. As the course progressed, so did my confidence and ability to understand various situations that may emerge while handling a case or contact. I came to learn about how to identify common symptoms and emergency symptoms related to COVID-19. Further I learnt about the diagnosis of the disease and its transmission to others. And later in the chapter on how to stop the spread and learnt about infectious period, incubation and quarantine. Rest of the course was in detail about each module related to dealing with Case or Contact. I would like to thank Dr. Emily for making this detailed course and keeping everything compiled in such a way, it is easy to understand.

Excellent Structure

Walks you through systematically

Excellent Technology

Quizzes "quizzes your attention, during the course material

Keeps you on track

Gives you to make note of what you missed and needs to re-read for health departments

Gave me something to do at this 5am 2020 fall morning

Instructs you on how to "properly" ask certain questions- and "why" you are being asked these

The entire course was interesting, educational, helps you to educate others on what all information

should be shared and what demands on certain material facts -to provide to health workers

It is like a first semester College Class

Thanks to Johns Hopkins University for this opportunity to help train others of conditions of this horrible disease

Thanks to our front line workers, trainers, preparers, information to our communities

Thanks for the educational tools to stay abreast for our vital partners

Thanks!

First I applaud Coursea for providing an educational platform for thousands to position themselves for success during an active global pandemic. I found the Contact Tracing course as and added value, a skill that I can utilize to help educate my Family and Community, on the grave importance of proper mask usage and the importance of social distancing to protect the population from ingesting possible infectious droplets emitted from the respiratory track which can travel up to four (4) feet. This knowledge will help to empower the population to taking personal ownership in helping prevent the spread,, thus flatten the Curve of the SAR-CoV-2 virus. Further we are learning that the medical field are constantly updating information designed to protect the public health by identifying Infectious persons and ant they may have come into contact!! I'm Ready to Help!!! :D

This course was the absolute best online class I have ever taken !

The subject matter was very well organized and presented, the interim quizzes were good to keep focus on key points and the final assessment was very fair. The test questions were well worded and not "trick" questions, just designed to create stumbling blocks.

To maintain my professional licensing as an architect, I am required to take many online CEU classes. For many of them, even though the subject matter is very interesting, the materials are often not well presented and the final assessments are often laid with "trick" questions or questions with unnecessary levels of detail, not truly applicable as a measure of our understanding of the subject matter. Thank you for offering this class, the subject matter is very topical and I found the class a very good way to better understand our challenges.

This COVID-19 Contact Tracing course was well designed, organized and developed with good instructional techniques. The course presenter, Dr. Emily Gurley, is obviously quite expert and experienced, and enthusiastic about contact tracing for public health. It is a great public service to make this course available for free.

My only complaint about the course is Dr. Gurley's voice. It is not well modulated, and tends to jump up and down in pitch. Also, she slips into a pitch that is too low for her vocal cords, resulting in vocal fry. This is distracting to someone like me who really listens. I didn't want to miss the comments Dr. Gurley made about the slides, as she added good insights, or I would have turned the sound down and just read the slides. A few sessions with a voice coach would fix the problem, or you could have a professional do a voice over.

It's impressive how quickly this team was able to put together such a high quality course. The modules of the course are logically segmented and most take only 30-60 minutes to complete (if you choose to listen to the narration). If you choose to read the text that accompanies the videos, you may finish each module more quickly. The course narration was clear and well annunciated. As someone who has taken courses in a foreign language, it seems that it would be easy for someone who speaks English as a second language to understand. I found only one question in one of the quizzes that was unclear (it identified a closed question as an open question). And the only technical problem I had was that I was only able to submit the first module feedback "quiz" on my phone. Once I contacted coursera, they suggested completing the rest from my pc. That worked.