Nursing Education and Audience Response Systems for Connected Classroom, E-books Implementation
Audience Response Systems for Connected Classroom In Nursing Education, E-books Implementation In Nursing Education.
Audience Response Systems In Nursing Education For Connected Classroom
ARSs, often called student response systems, or classroom response systems, or clickers in reference to the old nickname for remote controls, have a radio-frequency receiver connected to the presenter’s computer USB port. Each member of the audience has a radio transmitter that has an individual identifier. When faculty ask a question, each audience member can press his or her answer on the remote system.
The receiver gathers the responses, passes them on to the preinstalled software on the presenter’s computer, and the results are then displayed. ARSs can be used to poll for opinions, pose multiple-choice questions, administer a graded quiz, or take attendance. ARSs have been shown to increase student engagement (Klein & Kientz, 2013; Revell & McCurry, 2010).
Other studies have shown high student satisfaction (Berry, 2009; Lee & Dapremont, 2012; Russell, McWilliams, Chasen, & Farley, 2011). Additionally, not linking answers to individual students may reduce anxiety about selecting a “wrong” answer to an instructor’s question. An anonymous ARS eliminates the need for students to raise their hand and possibly give a wrong answer.
Once students respond, the ARS software can show the class how other students answered without embarrassing any student. On the other hand, linking the ARS response to a grade increases the stakes for a student, which also increases engagement. Another method of collecting anonymous responses is available through text messaging.
Messaging services software is available for free or low cost that provides a number for students to text their responses. The group’s answers are then displayed in a web page that can be projected for the class. A big advantage of this method is that most students have a messaging phone, and therefore do not need to buy a separate transmitter.
Another advantage of this method is that students can respond by typing their response as words. Their responses can then create a “word cloud” graphic of responses showing the frequency of submitted words with relative sizes. A disadvantage of this method is that it can be more cumbersome to enter long numeric strings required for responses with this method.
Obtaining student responses can also be accomplished without electronic technology. A low-cost method to gather audience responses is to create paper responses with colors or numbers that students hold up with their answers to a teacher’s question. The teacher then counts the number of each response and reports the results to the class.
This method only works for simple multiple choice or true–false questions, but has the advantage of having students respond before seeing how others answered. It also quickly lets the instructor see who has or has not responded and where additional teaching might be needed. This low-tech method can be effective and requires no electricity, transmitters, or Internet connection. See Box 19-4 for suggestions on using ARSs.
e-books Implementation In Nursing Education
Applications such as Amazon’s Kindle app, Apple’s iBooks, and Barnes & Noble’s Nook bring electronic books to tablets (and to smartphones, although they are harder to read on the smaller screen). Several publishers of nursing textbooks have begun to offer their printed textbooks in electronic form.
When requiring the purchase of electronic books, faculty should be aware that reading books on a tablet requires more battery power than dedicated e-book readers such as the Kindle or Nook . Books can be purchased directly on the tablet and downloaded immediately. Documents in .pdf or .doc format can also be displayed without additional software.
Faculty can create documents and distribute them to students via an LMS or sent by e-mail to each student. E-books offer many advantages and disadvantages over traditional paper textbooks (Abell & Garrett-Wright, 2014). Electronic books can be read on a dedicated device that is similar to a tablet computer but has limited functions beyond displaying text. Dedicated devices are called e-book readers.
Examples include the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, or Sony Reader. The biggest advantages of an e-book reader over a multifunction tablet computer are low power consumption, highly legible screens, lighter weight, and lower cost. A fully charged e-book reader can be used for weeks between charges compared with hours for a tablet computer.
This is because e -books use an e-ink display that is a black and white, non-glare, paper like display. It can be more pleasant to read from an e-ink display because there is no glare from a shiny screen or white light used to light up a tablet computer. This also means that photos are rendered in pixelated shades of gray. The reduced power consumption is also a function of much slower computer processors.
An e-book reader does not need the graphics capabilities and processing power of a tablet, which saves battery life. This simpler technology means that e-book readers sell for anywhere from $50 to $600 less than a tablet computer. For the highly cost-sensitive instructor or student, this low cost makes e-books attractive, but there are tradeoffs over using a tablet computer.
The benefits of e-books can also be a hindrance to use in education (Glackin, Rodenhiser, & Herzog, 2014). The limited screen display and slow processor severely limits graphics capability. E-books with an e-ink display cannot display a color photograph or diagram, nor display any kind of video.
Most e-book devices have a small screen that can make navigating a large textbook cumbersome, particularly when combined with the slower processor and limited navigation features of e-book devices. The limitations of e-book devices make them less desirable for nursing education.
There may be settings in the community where the light weight and long battery life may be beneficial, but generally nursing educators will find more versatility with mobile computers such as smartphones and tablets. Faculty should continue to monitor the e-book device market for improvements in the technology. Larger screens, color, and faster processors may create a viable alternative to the paper version of a textbook.