1. Using Streaming Videos and Blogs in Web-Enhanced Pharmacology
Suzanne H. Carpenter, Ph.D., RN, CNE
Baton Rouge, LA
BACKGROUND
MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED TO GET STARTED
WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING
“There is just too much material to learn in Pharmacology” cried the first semester nursing student. How many times have nursing instructors tried to find ways to be facilitators of student learning in the important subject of Pharmacology in Nursing?
Two tools are helping me to do what Benner, Sutphen, Leonard & Day (2010) call using “practice experiences as organizing principles for the class” (p. 98). The tools are (a) streaming videos and (b) blogs.
Instead of coming back to class after an exam, streaming video presentations of drug content are downloaded into the blackboard shell so that students may view these streams as often as they like! Stories from clinical experiences are shared in the videos. Concepts can be clarified by logging on to the Course BLOGS as well as the course discussion board.
Students have access to both SMALL GROUP BLOGS where they can discuss concepts in small groups of five students, as well as COURSE BLOGS where the entire class can see summaries posted by groups and where all students in the course can share ideas about a case study or some discussion questions.
Real life patient situations can be presented on the blog and students can blog with each other and with the instructor to discuss solutions as a way of doing what Benner et al. (2010) call “developing students’ clinical imagination” (p. 143).
First you will need a positive attitude! Decide that you will have fun trying some new web-based strategies!
Once you have made up your mind to have some fun, you will need access to a digital camera, a tripod, a computer, a web-based course management system, and a little bit of patience.
Student Comments from both Formative and Summative Evaluation
“ I learned more about how to use online resources in this class than in all three years I have been in college. Thanks!”
“ I loved the streaming videos. Being able to watch them more than once really helped me learn the drugs.”
“ This is my first time using discussion board and I am so glad to see it is so easy. I can see all the videos also. Thanks for all of these tools!”
“ Loving the blogs!”
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PURPOSE
WHAT I LEARNED
The purpose of this ongoing project is to use innovative web-based strategies as a way to enhance student learning and increase student retention.
An additional purpose includes providing an encouraging atmosphere in a web-based environment so that after the students meet one day per week for pharmacology in a face to face format, they will have additional asynchronous web-based resources to enhance learning. This course is a hybrid type with some of the learning strategies provided face to face, and some of the strategies available in an asynchronous web-based format.
Retention in the course improved from 55% to 82% after these web-based strategies were used. These web-based strategies were not implemented in isolation. Face to face innovative strategies were also offered as extra sessions for students who were interested. Students are more engaged in the learning process!
Participation in the blogs improved when I provided quick, encouraging feedback especially during the first two weeks of a new class. They became more confident.
Instructions for accessing the blogs and streaming videos must be simple.
I am noticing that the use of streaming videos and blogging in my class have begun to stimulate the development of my students’ clinical imagination. They are better prepared for class, and they are challenging me with thoughtful questions.
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REFERENCES
Benner, P., Sutphen, M. Leonard, V. & Day, L. (2010). Educating nurses: A call for radical transformation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Billings, D. (2007). Optimizing distance education in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education,
46(6),
Halstead, J. A. & Billings, D. M. (2009). Teaching and learning in online learning
communities. In D.M. Billings & J. A. Halstead (Eds). Teaching in Nursing: A Guide for
Faculty (3rd ed.) (pp ). St. Louis: Saunders.44(8),