In the educational setting, effective Management Strategies in The Educational Setting: Technology Support In Nursing Education such as leveraging simulation software, virtual reality, and mobile applications for skills development, real-time patient data access, and immersive learning experiences.
Technology Support In Nursing Education: Management Strategies in The Educational Setting
Technology Support of Higher Education
Universities use an impressive array of technology to manage student services, produce grades, secure networks, analyze data, support databases such as the library and student records, not to mention regulate sprinklers and lighting.
This topic focuses primarily on the uses of technology that provide learning management systems, produce content, or connect students and faculty. But it is worth a few paragraphs to discuss other campus uses of technology to introduce faculty who might be new to teaching. Three primary uses will be discussed: enrollment management systems, library services, and learning centers.
Enrollment Management
Students can apply, be admitted, take courses, and apply for graduation using the Web. In between, faculty members can look up student records of courses for advising, search for class lists, and get phone numbers of students, just to name a few of the hundreds of pieces of information available in university student record databases. You will find that there are many more security measures when using these systems than with e-mail or learning management systems.
Library
Libraries provide support to students and faculty in innumerable ways. Library databases—often passwords protected to download articles and other copyrighted information—are vast resources of information. Library technology changes as quickly as clinical and educational technology does. Be sure to plan time to visit your library and attend workshops. Start with a long look through the library website.
Learning Centers
University learning centers provide students with all types of support. Many traditional face-to-face services are now offered online. Be sure to check out the learning center at your college. Key tutoring services, such as writing assistance, are now readily available online. Students can upload their papers to the learning center website, have them reviewed and returned via e-mail.
If your university does not have online assistance with studies skills, such as writing or nursing content, consider using a text from a publisher that provides online help. Many textbook publishers are now bundling online tutoring services with text books.
Common Software Used in Teaching
Faculty typically uses a handful of computer programs routinely. In nursing, the most common software programs are Word and PowerPoint and calendar organizers, such as Outlook that also manage e-mail and contacts.
Electronic Mail
The good news is that e-mail provides us with instant access to people all over the world. The bad news is that e-mail provides us with instant access to people all over the world. As with most technology, it makes sense to take a proactive approach to e-mail. Be proactive yourself and use common methods of communication, such as blogs, threaded discussions, and web pages to answer common questions.
Students will email instructors to get answers to questions without thinking that time management is an issue for faculty, too. Because students have direct access to instructors by using e-mail 24/7, it is important to educate students regarding the proper behavior for seeking help and contacting faculty. Without knowing expectations faculty, students may overwhelm instructors’ ability to answer individual e-mails.
Presentation Software
PowerPoint is the most commonly used presentation software. Some would say the most overused software. Even National Public Radio aired a show criticizing the overuse of PowerPoint in education .There is an emerging body of research about what makes a PowerPoint presentation that students remember. The most important point to remember is PowerPoint is an adjunct to the learning process and should be a support to the presentation of material.
Suggested guidelines for PowerPoint are available on many websites. Ask a staff member in the faculty development department or multimedia services to help you design effective PowerPoint presentations. The rule of the day is less is more, when it comes to PowerPoint content. One website with clear directions is: http://info.wlu.edu. One often underutilized tool in PowerPoint is the use of the pen while presenting the show.
Find the pen by right clicking on the slide when you are in the slide show view. A menu will come up with several options. Select the “pointer options,” then select “pen.” Use the pen to mark slides. These marks are temporary; they will disappear once the slide is advanced. This can be a very helpful option to help call attention to specific parts of a slide.
Referencing and Formatting Software
There are a variety of software programs, both stand alone and add-ins to Word, that help organize references and format papers in APA and other styles. Some templates can be found free at the online Microsoft template gallery, but most are available for purchase. Check out the university bookstore on your campus for information and costs for programs such as Format Ease, Citation, Reference Manager, and Endnotes.
Statistical Software
Many faculty members use statistical software in research and evaluation of their teaching effectiveness. SPSS is the most common statistical software program used on campuses. Version 16.0 is currently available and can analyze just about any type of data used in the social sciences (Boslaugh, 2005).
Faculty and Student Web Pages
Web pages are the most convenient and effective way to deliver online content to campus and distance students. Students do not have to search around in online classes to find material such as grading tools, technical assistance, and course links. Consider starting your use of technology with a simple web page. Templates are readily available.
In a couple of hours you could have a basic web page with your contact information and study guides for a class. One tip—always put your e-mail address in a text box so “bots” or automated tools that collect e-mail addresses off the Web cannot find it easily. This will save you from some spam or unwanted e-mail.
Technological Quicksand—Intellectual Property
Technology has made a lot of tasks much easier. Most of these tasks, like searching library data bases, used to be time-consuming. Now students can search library databases easily from home any time they like. Finding information on the Internet is easy. There are unlimited sources of information at the tips of a computer user’s fingers. But with all of this information, students need to understand how to evaluate information of all kinds for accuracy and relevance.
Such an evaluation is called “information competence” or “information literacy.” The American Library Association. Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. Final Report (Chicago: American Library Association, 1989) defines “information literacy” as a set of abilities requiring individuals to “recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”
Unfiltered information includes the Internet, political action groups, and all types of print and broadcast media. Teaching students to evaluate the accuracy, validity, and reliability of information is crucial to developing effective habits for lifelong learning. Without understanding some basic concepts of information literacy, the amount of information available to students will easily confuse and overwhelm them.
Academic Dishonesty
A second and equally worrisome aspect of using technology in education is the ease of copying information and using it improperly. All forms of academic dishonesty are on the rise, but plagiarism is becoming increasingly commonplace. Two types of plagiarism include paper recycling and the “copy and paste” method of using information on the Internet without including an attribution to the original author or source.
Although technology makes this easier, technology also provides some possible solutions to enhance academic integrity and identify plagiarism. Students react positively to using it when the entire purpose is described to them in advance of using the service. They upload and download their own papers and results and receive additional information on the incidence of plagiarism and how to avoid it. Talking about plagiarism is an excellent introduction to the need for learning formatting techniques, such as those presented by the American Psychological Association (APA).
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