Teaching and Learning at a Distance with Media Rich Content and Its Needs In Nursing Education

Nursing Education and Teaching and Learning at a Distance with Media Rich Content

Teaching and Learning at a Distance with Media Rich Content In Nursing Education. Effectiveness in Rural Population

Teaching and Learning at a Distance In Nursing Education

    Technological advances in computers and broadband connectivity continue to open new ways for nursing faculty to connect with their students and deliver media rich content at a distance. Increasingly, students want to learn in more flexible programs that maximize their time and other life commitments (Urso & Ouzts, 2011). 

    At the same time, higher education programs are recognizing the need to increase student access to distance accessible programs (Allen & Seaman, 2014). Distance education offers the ability to bring health care practitioners to rural and underserved areas. 

    By educating those who already live in rural areas, there may be a greater likelihood that they will remain and practice in their home towns after completion of their studies (Skillman, Kaplan, Andrilla , Ostergard, & Patterson, 2014). 

    There is a current faculty shortage in nursing schools, and this trend is expected to worsen in the coming years with advancing faculty age and looming retirements (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2014). 

    Distance education programs offer a means to reduce faculty shortage and connect specific student learning interests with faculty expertise, despite the distance between the two (Billings, 2010). 

    Distance education delivery systems that encourage innovation and flexibility have the potential for maximizing use of institutional infrastructure, improving access to credit courses, and providing consistency for learning at multiple locations. Distance education is broadly defined as students receiving instruction in a location other than that of the faculty. 

    This separation of teacher and student could be as close as within the same community or campus or as far away as across states or continents. The options of available delivery systems to implement distant academic courses or continuing education opportunities have become increasingly competitive and are frequently defined by cost, administrator and faculty knowledge, acceptance, and readiness. 

    Additionally, computers, mobile devices and computer-based communication systems continue to have a positive and dramatic effect on teaching and learning, thus becoming invaluable tools for distance instruction. 

Needs of Student Faculty and Organization for Distant Learning In Nursing Education

    Faculty must become proficient and comfortable with the use of technology in their practice and as educators (Gerard, Kazer, Babington, & Quell, 2014; Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, 2011). 

   Distance education delivery systems are undergoing rapid change. In most cases, technologies have merged with others to form a blend of delivery or are being replaced by new and innovative delivery options. Obsolescence of existing media within the next 5 to 10 years will be commonplace, as the changes in technology continue at a very rapid pace. 

    However, the concepts related to leading, planning, using, supporting, administering, and evaluating student learning in distance education environments remain applicable. 

    The virtual classroom, defined for this purpose as the learning environment occurring wherever the student can access information, has become more common as colleges and universities endeavor to offer efficient and effective higher education opportunities to students any place and at any time. 

    Online education is continuing to grow at a rate that is faster than the overall higher education market in general (Allen & Seaman, 2014). Shachar & Neumann (2010) conducted a meta-analysis of 20 years of research comparing traditional and distance learning modalities and concluded that learning at a distance is at least equivalent to traditional face-to-face courses if not superior. 

    A similar landmark meta analysis conducted by the United States Department of Education (2009) found similar results overall, and in addition, data to support that blended methods may produce the best outcomes overall. Blended, or hybrid, approaches use a combination of online and face-to-face formats. 

    Recent trend data from undergraduate students reflect a preference for blended learning environments over traditional or online alone (Dahlstrom et al., 2013). Synchronous video technologies offer a way to deliver blended courses to students at a distance, without requiring the time and expense associated with travel to the host site. 

    The use of blended approaches in higher education has increased and is expected to continue to grow in the coming years (Dahlstrom, 2012; Diaz & Brown, 2010; Fleming, 2013). The technologies available today offer a wide variety of strategies for delivering blended approaches at a distance. 

    Distance learning tends to capitalize on a constructivist, problem solving approach to learning. Distance learning seems to support Piaget's (2001) position that learning is not just inherent or just experiential in nature, but a combination of both. Constructivism encourages learners to build their own understanding of information, and to apply this information in their own environment (Kala, Isaramalai , & Pohthong , 2010). 

   This constructivist approach is also consistent with an active learning and learner centered approach as well ( Keengwe & Kidd, 2010). Although other instructional media are not excluded from this consideration, computers and networked learning have had a huge effect on the learner's ability to construct and manage his or her own learning environment. 

  Distance learning and computer based instruction have created a newfound independence for learners. The variety of options available to support distance instruction continues to increase as technologies improve and the transformation from a teacher-centered focus to a learner-centered focus becomes more prominent (Stanley & Dougherty, 2010). 

    Use of distance learning technologies requires planning and development of materials long before the course begins ( Keengwe & Kidd, 2010). State of the art resources for faculty development of instructional materials must be available. Training and support for faculty to develop and use the new technology must be available. In addition, support for students must be provided in the use of the technology. 

    With adequate resources for development and support, faculty can deliver distance-accessible programs that meet the educational needs of students enrolled in online courses. Online course management software, commonly called learning management systems (LMS), has had an influence on distance learning. LMSs provide an instructional environment that incorporates a support system for course management. 

    This includes course information and content, announcements, communication for synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, and assessment and evaluation of student learning. The LMS used in conjunction with synchronous and asynchronous strategies opens up the realm of possibilities for connecting students with faculty and peers, and providing media-rich content. 

    With the shift toward computer based instruction, the number of courses offered exclusively in the form of face-to-face instruction is decreasing substantially. However, many courses offer a blended, or hybrid, approach with other technologies such as video conferencing, audio conferencing, video streaming, podcasting, and other specialized web based computer applications to offer a blend of synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences. 

    Some technologies use synchronous technologies, or technologies that connect people simultaneously, or at the same time. Other technologies use asynchronous approaches, allowing learners to access materials without the constraints of a specific time or place.