Social Media and Population Health Virtual Exchange for Senior Nursing Students: An International Collaboration.

The authors have all engaged in using social media with students as a means for collaboration across national and international boundaries for various educational purposes. Following the explosion of big data in health the authors are now moving this concept forward within undergraduate and postgraduate nursing curricula for the development of population health virtual exchanges. Nursing has a global presence and yet it appears as though students have little knowledge of the health and social care needs and provision outside their local environment. This development will allow for explorative exchange amongst students in three countries, enhancing their understanding of their own and the selected international population health needs and solutions through asking and responding to questions amongst the learning community involved. The connection of the students will be recorded for their use in reflection; of particular interest will be the use of information included by the students to answer questions about their locality.

Using concurrent think-aloud and protocol analysis to explore student nurses' social learning information communication technology knowledge and skill development.

UNLABELLED: Observations obtained through concurrent think-aloud and protocol analysis offer new understanding about the influence of social learning on student nurses' acquisition of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) knowledge and skills. The software used provides a permanent record of the underpinning study method, events and analyses. The emerging themes reflect the dimensions of social engagement, and the characteristics of positive and negative reactions to ICT. The evidence shows that given the right conditions, stronger learners will support and guide their peers. AIMS: To explore the use of concurrent think-aloud and protocol analysis as a method to examine how student nurses approach ICT. To identify the benefits and challenges of using observational technology to capture learning behaviours. To show the influence of small group arrangement and student interactions on their ICT knowledge and skills development. BACKGROUND: Previous studies examining social interaction between students show how they work together and respond to interactive problem solving. Social interaction has been shown to enhance skills in both ICT and collaborative decision making. DESIGN: Structured observational analysis using concurrent think-aloud and protocol analysis. RESULTS: Students displayed varying degrees of pastoral support and emotional need, leadership, reflection, suggestion and experimentation skills. CONCLUSION: Encouraging student nurses to work in small mixed ability groups can be conducive for social and ICT skill and knowledge development. Observational software gives a permanent record of the proceedings.

Using principal components analysis to explore competence and confidence in student nurses as users of information and communication technologies.

AIM: To report on the relationship between competence and confidence in nursing students as users of information and communication technologies, using principal components analysis. DESIGN: In nurse education, learning about and learning using information and communication technologies is well established. Nursing students are one of the undergraduate populations in higher education required to use these resources for academic work and practice learning. Previous studies showing mixed experiences influenced the choice of an exploratory study to find out about information and communication technologies competence and confidence. A 48-item survey questionnaire was administered to a volunteer sample of first- and second-year nursing students between July 2008-April 2009. The cohort (N = 375) represented 18·75% of first- and second-year undergraduates. A comparison between this work and subsequent studies reveal some similar ongoing issues and ways to address them. METHODS: A principal components analysis (PCA) was carried out to determine the strength of the correlation between information and communication technologies competence and confidence. The aim was to show the presence of any underlying dimensions in the transformed data that would explain any variations in information and communication technologies competence and confidence. Cronbach's alpha values showed fair to good internal consistency. RESULTS: The five component structure gave medium to high results and explained 44·7% of the variance in the original data. Confidence had a high representation. The findings emphasized the shift towards social learning approaches for information and communication technologies. Informal social collaboration found favour with nursing students. Learning through talking, watching and listening all play a crucial role in the development of computing skills.

Implementing a Virtual Exchange Project for student nurses in Queensland and Nottingham.

This paper discusses the design and initial progress made with a virtual learning environment to help student nurses develop an understanding of cultural awareness and globalization. Using a Web-based application the Virtual Exchange Project was designed to facilitate study-elsewhere experiences located in the student's own setting. Promotion of the United Nations' Millennium Development goals provided an opportunity for student nurses to explore changes in global health and disease patterns, nursing education and systems of nurse regulation in the United Kingdom and Australia. A pedagogical framework created for this activity acknowledges the social and academic identities that learners often use, when working together in a virtual environment. The architecture of the Virtual Exchange supports local conversations about nurse education and health and social issues across hemispheres.