Nursing Education and Pod Casting, Streaming Videos and Wiki as Collaborative Learning Source
Podcast as a Tool In Dissemination of Nursing Knowledge, Wiki as Online Source In Nursing Education, Streaming Videos as Source of Learning In Nursing Education.
Podcast as a Tool In Dissemination of Nursing Knowledge
Podcasts are compressed audio files distributed over the Internet. The term is a portmanteau of “Pod” from iPod and “cast” from broadcast. Podcasting makes it easy to distribute audio files such as lectures or panel discussions to students. As a compressed file (usually in the mp3 format), an audio file can be transmitted quickly and takes up little space even for recordings several hours in length.
In contrast, music files on a CD would use hundreds of times more drive space to store on a computer or smartphone. Students can listen to podcasts on their computers, smartphones, or tablets. Faculty can use podcasts to either prepare students in advance of class or to replace classroom lectures or discussion, which is part of the flipped classroom strategy discussed earlier (Greenfield, 2011; Johnston, Massa, & Burne, 2013; Kidd, 2014).
Podcasts can also help keep students up to date when circumstances such as illness or weather interfere with class attendance. Many students use podcast recordings of lectures they attended to review the content and their notes, which has been shown to improve learning (Abate, 2013; Beard & Morote , 2010).
Faculty can also use podcasts to create special presentations such as a case study of a patient, a “walk-through” of a complex task such as a physical examination, an interview with client or clinician, or discussion of an exemplar paper (Marrocco, Kazer, & Neal-Boylan, 2014).
There are several ways to make a podcast recording. To create a manageable file size for distribution, the audio file needs to be recorded in the mp3 format, which can be used by every portable audio device, smartphone, and desktop computer using either built-in software or freely distributed software.
Most laptops have a microphone and recording capability. Although the laptop method requires no extra equipment, the sound quality can be low because of ambient noise. An alternative recording method is to use a dedicated mp3 recorder. These devices are the size of a deck of cards and record audio onto a removable memory card.
Regardless of the method used to record, it is best to use a good-quality microphone held near the mouth while speaking. This reduces ambient noise and creates a clearer recording. Distribution of podcasts can be public or private.
Podcasts for public use require proper formatting and publicly accessible server space. Complex formatting is not required if the files are being distributed only for local use. The simplest distribution method is to use the document-posting feature of an LMS.
Wiki as Online Source In Nursing Education
A wiki is an online space where users can enter, edit, or review a document (Honey & Doherty, 2014). It is designed to facilitate collaboration and reach a group consensus; sometimes the process is called “crowd sourcing,” referring to the wisdom of the crowd rather than relying on an individual contributor.
Wikipedia, the most well-known wiki, is a vast encyclopedia that is continuously updated by its users; New information is added as it arises and incorrect or outdated information is deleted. Wikipedia may be the best known wiki, but its use in nursing education may be limited.
Wikipedia entries may be edited by almost anyone so there is a risk that entries may include incorrect information (Kardon-Edgren et al., 2009). An intriguing way to use wikis in class is to use an online wiki service to create a private wiki; many LMSs have wiki software embedded in their system.
Students can be given topics to post to the wiki. For example, in a section on nursing history small groups of students each could be assigned to write about a nursing historical figure. Each member of the group would then contribute and edit the wiki. Students could evaluate the quality of information, sources used, and future needs.
The wiki can be an ongoing project that is periodically updated and refined. Another use is to have students develop a wiki for other students in their nursing program. Wikis on studying for a nursing exam, buying books, selecting mobile hardware, succeeding at a particular clinical agency, or buying uniforms are possible topics.
The process of creating and editing a wiki helps both the student who edits the wiki as well as the student who reads it. Creating a wiki entry requires critical thinking, organization of ideas, and application of the principles of good writing. Wikis can also be used to “crowd-source” a care plan.
Have the class all contribute to a plan of care or a case study. Assign small groups of students with different areas of expertise to contribute to the care plan. Students then critique and edit the areas they did not work on. Faculty can then require students to identify resources they used to support their postings.
There are myriad other possible uses for wikis in nursing, such as community assessments, literature reviews, debates on ethical issues, FAQs for a clinical agency, or study guides for exams. Wiki projects can help students connect with each other, learn to critique the work of others, and learn how to justify an opinion or clinical decision.
Streaming Videos as Source of Learning In Nursing Education
Showing movies and videos has long been part of nursing education but the introduction of streaming videos simplifies their use. Videos can convey psychomotor skills, emotional situations, and patient care situations better than any other media (Edmonds, 2013). Streaming videos help engage students and encourage critical thinking (June, Yaacob, & Kheng, 2014).
Videos are particularly useful for addressing learning objectives in the affective domain (May et al., 2013). A video of a patient relating an experience with a disease can help students learn empathy for others. In the psychomotor domain, watching the steps of a procedure enhances learning of those steps.
In the cognitive domain, unique presentations of concepts such as those presented by the Khan Academy designed specifically for nursing students can also aid learning (http://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/NCLEX-RN). Streaming videos can be embedded within a presentation. Embedding videos eliminates disruption of a presentation that can occur by switching to a video player.
Videos can be embedded either as a link or played as a file stored on the local computer. Playing from a link is easier and requires no storage space, but it does require an active link to the Internet.
A stored video has to be downloaded and saved in a format usable by the local computer, which may cause playback problems if the presentation is done on a computer different from the computer that produced the presentation.
Streaming videos can be found on common video sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, but are also available commercially from nursing care video providers. Hard media such as DVD or Blu-Ray disks require production costs, shipping, and storage; streaming videos avoid these problems.
A potential difficulty with streaming videos is that the loss of Internet access prevents the video from playing. Some streaming videos can be downloaded and saved to a USB memory stick for situations where the Internet is not available or is not of high enough speed for streaming.