REFLECTION 2: INITIAL PROOF OF CONCEPT

Reflection 2: Exploration & Enactment Phase (Adapted Integrated learning design framework for online learning by Dabbagh & Banna-Ritland)

My current research and interest in emerging technology was stimulated by a year level clinical feedback meeting where clinical facilitators voiced their experience with their undergraduate nursing students that are unable to connect theory with their clinical practice. Students appear to refrain from carrying their essential clinical module guides and textbooks needed for reference into the clinical environment. Some of the debated reasons were that undergraduate nursing students may find it challenging and sometimes impractical to “cart” clinical module guides and textbooks from a stimulating and acceptable academic class room or library environment into a “restricted” clinical environment with limited availability of space for research within a generally hygienically clean or sterile clinical setting.

The information gained at this meeting indicated that there may be “real” challenges to the effective use of clinical module guides and text books as reference guidelines in a clinic or a community health centre. The need was identified to find innovative ways in which the student can be assisted to bridge this problem as they need to have resource material available at any time or at any give place to do research on conditions or procedures while off campus and in the clinical field.

Thus the reason I am attending the course on Emerging Technologies to improve Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. I came to the face-to-face workshop last week in anticipation to see which technologies have been used by the presenters and which ones will be applicable for me as a “novice emerging technologist”. Oh my, I too experienced an information overload, but the social media networks that I am comfortable with currently are wiki and facebook groups. 

After the session on Wednesday I rushed back to my office to create my first ever online survey (initially I was going to do a paper survey) to determine if our students have internet access off campus, etc. 

This is my survey and at this moment I see many gaps that I will note in future:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?pli=1&formkey=dDlQMlY4VkR2UWtJd0d5VHpXNkJEOHc6MQ#gid=0

Summary of the 8 completed responses:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/gform?key=0AgctRzSDm7J5dDlQMlY4VkR2UWtJd0d5VHpXNkJEOHc&gridId=0#chart

I had my last facilitation session which my lecture group on Thursday, 17 May 2012 and asked them to complete the online survey that I created that was emailed to them. I was amazed and disappointed that only eight responded, but saw that I actually clicked to stop accepting responses at some stage while editing the live survey. 

My summary:

1.    Majority of students have internet access off campus.

2.    It was strange to find that students are not prepared to use their personal mobile devices to access emails off campus, but they are amazingly prepared to use it to access the databases and complete tasks related to their course.

3.    They indicated that the social media networks they use daily are facebook and WhatsApp.

I did the survey to establish if students are prepared to use their mobile devices to access data related to their module while off campus and to see which social media networks they use.

Thus my decision to create a blog and a facebook group, hoping that these will be the appropriate tools for them.

Challenges to applying this approach in my own module:

·         Social media networks are not used in my department.

·         Lecturers have and are using the e-learning/e-teaching platform as an emerging technology.

·         At face value, many of the academic staff are not familiar with the application of emerging technologies to enhance teaching and learning.

To bridge this gap I am proposing a workshop as part of my research to engage my colleagues on the various technologies available and how to use it to enhance teaching and learning. I am looking forward to the input of the experts teaching us currently to assist in this workshop.

Thus far I have created a blog that I will use to evoke some interaction with our students with their module on the health assessment.

Feel free to visit: http://thehealthassessment.blog.com

This is my preliminary piece, an introduction and a few drafts, of my proposed intervention to help our students to integrate their theory and practice while doing the health assessment. Any comment and input will be appreciated.