Enhancing Community in Online Nursing Education
Creating a sense of community in online nursing education is essential yet challenging. Drawing from the readings below, three strategies resonate for me to foster connections and engagement among students and instructors.
Effective Strategies:
- Instructor Modeling: Instructors play a crucial role by actively participating in discussions, providing prompt feedback, and demonstrating professional values, setting a tone for empathy and collaboration.
- Interactive Dialogue: Structured discussions and group activities encourage peer support and collaborative learning, critical in nursing education for developing critical thinking and practical skills.
- Purposeful Course Design: Incorporating interactive elements like forums, virtual simulations, and live sessions in course design can significantly enhance engagement and provide varied learning opportunities.
Addressing Challenges:
- Presence and Engagement: Overcoming the absence of physical cues and varying digital literacy levels among students requires innovative use of multimedia and clear guidelines for participation.
- Practical Skills Development: Leveraging virtual simulations and arranging for in-person experiences, where feasible, can help bridge the gap in teaching practical nursing skills online.
Overcoming Obstacles:
Adopting a mix of synchronous and asynchronous methods, offering virtual office hours, and creating informal virtual spaces can mitigate feelings of isolation and strengthen the learning community.
Conclusion:
By integrating these strategies and acknowledging the challenges of online learning, nursing educators can build a supportive and effective educational environment that prepares students for the demands of the nursing profession.
- Dunlap, J.C., & Lowenthal, P.R. (in press). The power of presence: Our quest for the right mix of social presence in online courses. In A.P. Mizell & A. A. Piña (Eds.) Real life distance education: Case studies in practice . Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Retrieved from http://patricklowenthal.com/publications/The_power_of_presence–our_quest_for_the_right_mix_of_social_presence_in_online_courses.pdf
- Vesely, P., Bloom, L., & Sherlock, J. (2007). Key elements of building online community: Comparing faculty and student perceptions. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching ,3 (3), 234-246. Retrieved from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol3no3/vesely.pdf CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US
Hi Deb,
You have some great overall strategies outlined for your educational context. I was just reading Hannah’s post and she talked about the value in building community and involving students in that more explicitly. Are there any specific strategies you hope to use (l am thinking of some of the equity unbound activities that were shared in the discussions) to help establish connections early on? I also wondered about ways to better communicate the role learners can play in developing community in the course – how do we as instructors make that a bit more direct or provide strategies? Thanks! Michelle