Teaching and technology? Yikes!

What is the role that instructional media and technology play in enhancing student learning? Technology can certainly strengthen teaching. A grant provided faculty resources to evaluate an undergraduate Community Health Nursing course and build technology into current teaching. Pedagogical issues addressed within the course were time (eight week terms), depth of clinical experiences, clinical interviews, clinical narratives, and community assessment skills,.

Courses in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum are offered in an eight week format. This particular format is very successful with the adult learner and attracts many registered nurses to the BSN completion program. Though successful, one of the weaknesses of this type of format is the ability to provide meaningful clinical experiences over a shortened time period. This calls for some creative teaching methodologies, as clinical practice is an essential piece of what we do as nurses and an important piece to do well in nursing education.