Looking in the Mirror…How technology can enhance reflective practice.

                         
                          Damn I look good. Photo.  Retrieved http://themetapicture.com/damn-i-look-good/

 

 

Reflective practise and reflective journaling have been used in nursing education for decades.  I know this because it’s more than two decades since  I was doing it as a student nurse and have been involved with students and professional development ever since (no hiding my age now)!

Reflective journaling by students nurses has been used to encourage them use a systematic approach to analyse clinical practice, ethical issues, or just their personal thoughts on situations This reflection allows them to improve future actions and responses (Sherwood, 2012). 

Historically, when being used as a learning/assessment piece to show critical thinking, students write a journal which is reviewed by a supervision/teacher. Or they present a reflective experience through tutorial forum.  There is no doubt it’s an authentic skill, and one that aids in becoming a nurse that is open to feedback, reflection and critical thinking.  In my own Intensive Care Unit, this practice is encouraged in practitioners of all levels.

This area of learning and assessment now can be adapted to todays learners via a number of modes.  Having students do microblogging via twitter, on line blogging via LMS or open blogging tools like wordpress or blogspot, has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of the reflective exercise. The learning theory of constructivism suggested that using these social modes of ICT, the learner will be much more involved and actively participate, also in sharing the experience with peers and facilitators can create knowledge based on reflection of experiences (Harasim, L. 2012).

 Timeliness of feedback is important to learners, with the advent of twitter and blogging, students can get formative feedback instantaneously, which may be more meaningful being closer to the time of the experience upon which they reflect.  This is inline with the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education which Chickering and Erhmann(2006) updated to reflect (today’s catch word getting plenty of use) today’s technology.   These ICTs also encourage contact between faculty and students and collaboration by peers.

 The great thing about bringing reflective exercise into open forums, means not only the person writing the reflection may learn from the experience, so too may the reader.  And my eyes are always on the end goal…learning.

 

Retrieved: http://reganjpreston.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/gibbs.gif

 

References

 

Chickering and Erhmann(2006). Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as a lever. Retrieved from http://www.unc.edu/courses/2007fall/germ/700/001/downloads/Chickering.pdf

 

Harasim, Linda. (2012) Learning Theory and Online Technology. Taylor and Francis: New York

 

Sherwood, G. (2012, Oct 12). Reflective Practice: Narrative Pedagogy Can Transform the Educational Paradigm. Guest post. http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs2012, /human-capital-blog/2012/10/reflective_practice.html

 

 

Blogging on bloggers

 

( http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/wp-content/uploads/blogging-out-loud.jpg)

My fellow bloggers have put forward some very interesting readings.  It's great when you can learn from other students.  They present ideas that I hadn't thought of before and take my ideas and knowledge in new directions.

Blog 1: Blair's     Night of the living dead (lecture)
Blog 2:  Luke's   The MOOC conundrum
Blog 3: Jackie's  Enhancing assessment with technology
Blog 4: Della's   Trends, new directions and affordances of technology (Pull not Push)

Let's get social...

 
(Tips on Collegiate student blogging, 2012)

Thinking about my classroom (or lab), what makes it up?  It's me and those 24 faces staring at me (or at their smartphones when they think I'm not looking).  When they are busily engaged in activity it's still just them....and me.

But occasionally there's little intruders.  "The other lab didn't do this activity," " RPH blood transfusion policy doesn't require that...," "you know One direction just landed in Sydney."  And this information all came from 'the outside' world.  So my opinion now is, if you can't beat them, join them!  Social media and technology is in every part of most of our lives now, 80.5% of Australians are internet users (Internet World Stats. Usage and Population Statistics, 2013).  It plays a role in how we communicate, seek information, shop and many other facets of our lives.

So why not in learning?  Instead of banning smartphones in class, maybe we should embrace them.  Isn't that more authentic?  Out in the 'real world' professionals access the internet and social media for information exchange, expert advice all the time.  So why say no in class?  There's always that risk that it will be misused and students will be distracted. But as Caleb Ferguson  (2013, 745) points out with view to smart phones in hospital settings, "avenues for idling time away have always been there, but those who work within ethical  and clinical standards clearly will not engage in this behaviour."  Let's put the ball in their court.  You misuse it, you loose it.

Within my practical labs, I encourage the use of devices along with the 'old fashioned' text or lecture notes.  If it's going to aid in their learning, I'm all for it.  I'd like to even enhance it.  Microblogging platform twitter is starting to show a strong presence in research and how people information exchange.  A study outlined by Peter Reed (2013) showed students that used twitter for an assessment requiring them to tweet daily on a topic, raise points of concern, offer remedies, also respond to tweets on the original topic/concerns and remedies were far more engaged and offered more discussion points than a control group that were writing journals.

NDU Fremantle Campus Nursing School conducted it's inaugural SMART Care conference (Social Media application for research and teaching) recently.  Students there showcased how they have engaged in social media to benefit their learning.  And if you were unable to attend the conference, you could follow along on twitter #NPD100.  Academics tucked away at universities or nursing experts in their hospital offices are now within reach, exchanging current up to date information with the community the seek to improve.    It's an exciting time, not time to put the phone down.


 
 (Social media in education. Is it a good thing? 2012)

References

Ferguson, Caleb. 2013. It's time for the nursing profession to leverage social media. Journal of Advanced Nursing 69 (4): 745-747
 Internet World Stats. Usage and Population Statistics, 2013. Accessed Oct 29, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

Reed, Peter. 2013. Hashtags and retweets: using Twitter to aid Community,Communication and Casual (informal) learning. Research in Learning Technology 21 :19692 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.19692 Social Media in education is. Is it a good thing?  2012. http://www.iptv.org/medialib/graphics/ed_20120308_socialmedia_classroom.jpg

Tips on Collegiate Student Blogging. 2012. http://profalbrecht.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/social_media_classroom.jpg