Week 8 - Educational Technologies

In this final blog, I have chosen three technologies shared by classmates that I feel are beneficial to adult teaching and learning. Examples of how nurse educators can apply these technologies are included. 

URL: http://lectora.com/corporate-training-software/

Lectora is an authoring software program that allows educators to create lessons or entire courses for elearning. Shared by N. Herbert (2013, March 14), Lectora publishing allows educators to create class modules that present course content in a visually interesting way. In addition, formative assessment points can be imbedded in presentations to evaluate student comprehension of material.

I chose Lectora because it offers educators an easy and creative way to convert existing material, or develop new presentations, for elearning platforms. Instructors who already have PowerPoint presentations can quickly upload the file and transform the presentation into a more engaging, interactive learning tool. If starting from scratch, Lectora has a variety of templates to help educators get started.

In nursing education, Lectora can be used to develop and publish interactive presentations students can download to their mobile devices. Lectora has the flexibility to be added to an existing course management system such as Blackboard, or downloaded to a smartphone or tablet for convenient use by students. The "Question Creator" can be used to imbed interactive quizzes using drag and drop or hot spot type questions, which are more engaging for student users. Quizzes can be used for practice, as well as for points, and educators can track student use.  Although there is a cost associated with the full use of Lectora, a free 30-day trail is available, and there are tutorials and significant support to get educators started. 

The second educational tool beneficial to adult teaching and learning is Sheppard Software a free, online game site that helps students learn through gaming. Shared by D. McMillon (2013, April 2), Sheppard Software offers a plethora of educational games.

URL: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/

Although geared to children, there are adult learning games already developed on the site for easy reference. For example, when teaching nursing students about stroke or heart disease, I can access and incorporate games like, "Stroke 101" or "Arrhythmia 101." The arrhythmia game is linked to a medical training and simulation site that offers a comprehensive interactive method of learning abnormal heart rhythms.

I chose Sheppard Software since it offers learning games in a free, open access forum. Students can access the site and learn through gaming, and educators can incorporate games into class lessons, or provide struggling students with links to specific games that may improve their learning through repetition. 

Besides using Sheppard Software to provide students with a fun way to learn about strokes or heart rhythms, math games on the site could be used as a review for nursing students having difficulty with drug calculations. A fraction tutorial is an entertaining and less intimidating method for nursing students to review fractions.

A final technology useful to nurse educators and nursing students is LinkedIn, shared by C. Hesher (2013, March 22).

URL: http://www.linkedin.com/

I chose LinkedIn because it is a professional social networking site that helps users showcase their expertise and build professional networks with like-minded individuals, while allowing the possibility to expand to other groups.  Students beginning a career in nursing can start using the resources available on LindedIn to create a portfolio, stay in touch with classmates, or ask questions of subject experts.

LinkedIn could be incorporated into nursing education by first, having students register on the site, and upload their resumes, and second, to search for and join a group of experts in a nursing field of interest. For example, if the student were interested in critical care or emergency room nursing, the student would join a group with this specific interest. As students approach graduation, they can begin their job search via LindedIn. Additionally, since 64% of LindedIn members are outside the United States, joining provides an excellent venue for networking globally with international nurses.

LindedIn's professional networking format is a great starting point for nursing students and new nurses to begin building career opportunities.

References:

Herbert, N. (2013, March 14). Lectora - Not the lecture you expected. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://nh67.blogspot.com/2013/03/lectora-not-lecture-you-expected.html

Hersher, C. (2013, March 22). Week 3 - Social networking technologies. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://carolynhesher.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/week-3-social-networking-technologies/

McMillon, D. (2013, April 2). HIM (Health information management) educational technologies. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://himedutech.blogspot.com/