A select cut

A select cut of a dozen guiding principles for learning about computer technology in nursing education*

1. The professor does not know all the answers…
2. Collaboration, community, and teamwork are the backbone of online learning…
3. Students are encouraged, urged, and expected to act upon their own learning needs…
4. Online learning requires active participation, involvement, and effort. It is hard work.
5. Give and share resources, computer skills, and resources.
6. Take new risks, boldly go where no nurse has gone before…
7. No wimps. No whiners. There is too much to learn, and too little time.Learning about computer technology is incompatible with cowardice, whining, and complaining.
8. Try to find reliable, current web based resources.
9. Aim for a paperless course. Go green- use your screen.
10. Be creative, use critical thinking skills (after all, you ARE a nurse) Form educated opinions and be ready to defend them in a scholarly way.
11. Make it fun. Learning is easier that way. (See page 2 of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, 1979).
12. The professor does not know all of the answers…
    *(with apologies to Barbara Carty’s Nursing Informatics)
    Please take some time to learn even more.
    Find out about some of the historical roots guiding technology in nursing education
    http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/WhitePapers/whitepaper.htm
    http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=129663
    Learn the lingo
    https://www.ncsbn.org/836.htm
    Read some research
    http://cade.athabascau.ca/vol15.1/gillis.html
    Take a tutorial
    http://e-articles.info/e/a/title/Guiding-Principles-Underlying-the-Design-of-a-Blended-Curriculum/
    
    

Some thoughts to chew on

Don’t Panic
I’ve been thinking for a long time about web-based nursing education, and while preparing for a class about the use of technology in nursing education I’ve been “chewing over” some great advice offered in Douglas Adams’s 1979 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It should be recommended reading to all nursing students who are anxious about computers because on page 2 of this book, in big, bold, reassuring letters Adams has placed the words “DON’T PANIC”. That way, when learning about Microsoft Office Suite http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/default.aspx students could refer to Adams, (page 2). Or when trudging through tutorials about: Creating a Power Point Presentation http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RC011298761033
They can also consult Adams (page 2) for the necessary assistance. This also applies to another task that future nurse educators might encounter, namely, creating a grade book using excel. http://www.internet4classrooms.com/excel_grade.htm
In this instance multiple referencing to Adams’ book, and page 2 in particular might be helpful.