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... opportunity for a District Nurse in the Pennines to join a seminar or virtual lecture with an intensive care nurse in Leeds and a School Nurse in London (Donahue, 75). computer based education and role-play. computer based education has an interesting feature in the use of role-play. Students can enter the environment in any character and participate by anticipating the way in which their given character would interact.
In nursing this has particular application. The application of role-play as a learning device is widely used. computer based education would enable students to enter in role with the visual cues that distract from that role hidden. In other words it is, arguably, easier to imagine the other person in role if you cannot see them and confirm that they are not Florence Nightingale or whoever (Ashley, 130).
Additionally the use of directed role-play is used in therapeutic environments that could be transferred into the virtual learning environment. This means that students could commence playing out a scenario and then under direction swap roles to explore the different bases for argument. The support and supervision for students in this environment would be important. The debrief and disengagement would have to be managed carefully to offer the safety that is normal in these simulation activities. The potential for learning in a different way is well worth exploring and could be more easily simulated within computer based education (Donahue, 76). Computer based education and Case Work.
The majority of Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors use case discussion as one approach to learning. computer based education particularly lends itself to this approach as the data base could store and sort previous case discussions. With the use of an appropriate database it will be possible to access previous case discussions and compare experience with that of previous students. The use of simulated case work would easily complement the development of the 'Case Discussion' Area. The development of new approaches to case-based reasoning systems is demonstrated in the work of Donna Mead in Glamorgan (Ashley, 139). This system enables systematic analysis of written material to support the extraction of decision-making patterns in any given scenario.
This system enables the way in which clinical decision making is conducted to be examined and used in supporting decision making and in learning how decisions are made. It would be possible to build new tools and devices into computer based education to integrate systems such as protocol development tools, decision-analysis mechanisms and a database to store and retrieve casework information (Donahue, 78). Computer based education and counseling. Experienced counsellors are familiar with the strength of anonymity in the counselling environment.
Indeed the use of telephone counselling support is recognised as an approach that offers greater privacy for the service user and is the preferred approach for some people. computer based education offers a private environment for each person who participates. The student can choose their identity and manage their contribution in ways that can be more comfortable without the pressure of non-verbal cues (Ashley, 132). Using a virtual learning environment to learn about different approaches to counseling is yet to be explored. The approach is highly relevant to nursing and could be explored within an applied project through computer based education.
Trans-cultural Nursing. computer based education offers an opportunity to link nurses in different cultural environments to support exchange of ideas and an opportunity to question and challenge assumptions and values. The system makes this readily accessible as the entire interaction uses the world-wide Web. There are already plans to link students in USA and UK to share information and exchange ideas (Donahue, 80). Collaboration is essential in nursing by facilitating critical thinking (Gokhale, 1995). In addition a collaborative learning environment is one that promotes peer interaction, evaluation, and teamwork (Whipple 1987).
However, expediting collaboration among students also requires a change in the teacher's role. Thus, the instructor becomes primarily a facilitator structuring learning opportunities, serving as a resource person, encouraging students to work together, contribute special knowledge and insights, and weaving together various discussion threads and course components (Rohfeld & Hiemstra, 1995, p. 91). An important aspect of Internet instruction that also had be addressed was that faculty lose the ability to read student faces and body language. With the absence of these cues, it was difficult to know when to adjust content, teaching styles, and levels of support. It became imperative to make everything as well defined as possible, so there would be little room for misconceptions about what expected. In addition, participants were queried often and given choices for self-directed learning.
By allowing students to explore options, the hope was to maximize the ability of the course to meet the unique needs of each individual. To ensure personal support, each student was called weekly, in addition to synchronous chat sessions. Evaluation should be practiced continuously throughout the design, development, and implementation stages to ensure that things work as anticipated and intended (Moore & Kearney, 1996). Experts in evaluation recommend that more than one technique be used to obtain a complete picture of how well a course is working. Additionally, experts recommend that a neutral individual conduct evaluations -- someone who is not part of the design or development team and has a relatively objective position (Shaeffer & Farr, 1993).
Methods used to evaluate Contemporary Issues in Nursing included using the student tracking and chat room logs available through the WebCT software. The student tracking tool measured each individual student's usage of course components -- who used them, when were they used; how long were they used? The chat room logs were also reviewed for levels of participation, as well as to measure student's level of understanding of concepts. At the end of the course, students completed a survey rating various aspects of the course and suggesting their degree of satisfaction. Their level of satisfaction was so high that nearly all participants said they would like to take an online course again (see Figure 1 below). Though these types of evaluations do not always provide highly scientifically reliable or valid data, the qualitative information was valuable nonetheless (Moore & Kersey, 1996).
In conclusion I would like to note that Practitioners who want flexible access to education can easily drop in and out of the system. The system gives particular support to part-time and distance learners. Builds on previous experience of learning (especially of other learners). Learning in clinical practice is supported by easy access to other people and resources that support evidence based practice (literature, research and Multi-professional databases). Participant may keep in touch, geographically and across time. Given the move to community-based practice, learners can access from any site or even from home.
Sharing, challenging and discussing evidence from a variety of workplaces can support emergent and best practice. The delivery of nursing programs via distance education has great potential. The implementation of this online course showed how online distance education broadens educational opportunities, eliminates long commutes, and enhances computer skills for nursing students. Nevertheless, whether or not the online method is as effective as a traditional nursing classes remains to be seen. A comparison and evaluation of the same course that is offered by the same instructor in both an online and traditional classroom setting should be included in future agendas. In addition, with the tremendous expansion of health information and knowledge, much of the content presented in nursing programs becomes outdated quickly.
Staying current is vital for the nursing professional. This may be accomplished through continuing education and pursuing advanced degrees. Since full-time practitioners have little time and often-inflexible schedules, the demand for continued education is hard for them to meet. References: Berge, Z. L. (1995). Facilitating Computer Conferencing: Recommendations from the Field.
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In Z. Berge and M. Collins Computer mediated Communication and the Online Classroom (Volume: Distance Learning). (Pp. 91 - 104) Cresskill NJ: Hampton Press. Shaeffer, J. M. & Farr, C. W. (1993).
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Collaborative learning: Recognizing it when we see it. Bulletin of the American Association for Higher Education, 40, (2). Crumb, Thomas, (2002). Computers in Nursing, McGraw Hill, 23 - 31.
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