“Aisling”, A Virtual Community Project
An online virtual community based upon a real location which affords students from a range of healthcare disciplines, the opportunity to enter into active discussion and debate, whilst engaging in problem based learning opportunities through exposure to re-usable, adaptable, scenario based learning materials.
Angela Gardiner (Lead)
Yvonne Needham, Mary Beadle, Patricia McGettigan, Lesley Glover, Angela Clough, Deborah Robinson, Julie Santy, Mary Dearing – ALL FACULTY
Stephen Beat, Kate Bridgeman, Patrick Lynch – DEVELOPERS
Interprofessional learning is an increasingly important aspect of healthcare which encourages teamworking and integrated approaches to patient care. Facilitation of this aspect of delivery can however be challenging in terms of planning and delivering learning across a range of professionals due to clinical placements and student location, in addition to a lack of physical space in which to accommodate large groups.
The facilitation of an online event to promote interprofessional learning was undertaken by the faculty in the past using an alternative Virtual Learning Environment. The event was successful and hence future deliveries of such events were planned. The institution transferred to a Sakai based virtual learning environment which offered a broad scope in terms of interactivity and general functionality, and therefore a new approach for future events was devised.
The key requirements for developing the next event was to increase the visual appeal of the host site, utilizing a more interactive approach to engage students from a variety of health related disciplines in the learning process. The previous delivery of the event focused around a predominantly text based approach with the inclusion of discussion forums to debate key issues surrounding a carefully selected, topical scenario. Whilst the event was well received, it was considered that a more interactive and “visual” approach would be more engaging to students and could also be adapted and re-used for future use.
The planning stage of the event was based around the identification of a topical, health related issue and a number of supporting resources identified which would support the construction of the scenario. This included digital media clips, web based resources and a range of related publications. A further stage to the development involved the production of a digital recording of actors simulating the scene, providing a realistic, authentic context to the scenario which adds richness to the learning experience. The site construction was undertaken following a systematic approach which was clearly navigable for students and facilitators, with gradual release of materials to support the event staged over the two weeks leading up to the event. The event itself was to occur over a two hour period on a set date and hence students and facilitators were required to undertake pre-reading and preparation for the event which would enable a focused discussion and debate to take place over the two hours allocated to the event.
The key challenges in relation to planning the event were related to site design and layout to ensure the pre-event activities were meaningful, and that what the students and facilitators were required to do during the event was clear. Care also had to be taken in designing discussion forums for large numbers since the event would be attracting over 550 students and 45 facilitators who were all to be organized into groups.
The event was designed to be delivered online at a fixed time for a fixed duration and hence the need for effective time management of the event was a key feature of the facilitators role. The majority of the discussion and debate was to be led by the student base with the facilitator helping to maintain shape and move students through a series of discussion points throughout the event. Given the nature of the event there was a need for fairly prescribed and directed activities and interaction as opposed to following the more flexible approach which is afforded through online learning in general. This was reflected in the site construction, particularly in relation which tools were visible to students leading up to and during the event itself since the focus of attention was to be discussion with other students during the two hour rather than site exploration and hence there was minimal flexibility in terms of visible resources until after the event.
The scenario was built around a virtual site plan of the community and featured a number of key locations which contained a range of visual, audio and text based materials to present the scenario to the students and facilitators. Each area was set in an animation based image with links to specific areas and of which had further links to videos and additional information.
The Forums function was utilized as the key communication tool whereby students and facilitators interacted in their respective groups, enabling social interaction and shared learning opportunities. The construction of the forums was particularly time consuming however, although this was done in a way to minimize confusion for each group through the use of group only access, using individual topic areas for each discussion point related to the scenario and hence took additional time to ensure consistency across each group forum. The use of the forum enabled each group to return to their discussions at a later date following the event and also enabled discussions to be archived and used for potential evaluative studies of the event.
A range of interactive tools were utilized within the environment to maximize student engagement with pre-event activities, and of which was supported by clear user guidance to support those students who may not be familiar with the environment. Leading up to the event students were able to utilize the messaging tool for any questions or queries in relation to the event. Discussion forums were set up to provide students with the opportunity to discuss issues surrounding the scenario with their respective group which was constructed based on student background. Each member of the group was required to introduce themselves in relation to their background, year of course and clinically based experiences to date to develop a group dynamic for the event.
The key interactive area of the community is the forum [screen shot 2] since access can be managed for each group. This was a particular requirement of the event since students and facilitators alike could be confused about which area to post their contributions to since there were 45 separate discussion groups during the event.
The visual basis of the community is focused around a map with clearly identified links which “zoom in” [screen shots 1 & 3] to key areas which provide useful materials to support the scenario which is under review. The zoomed in areas then also have links to additional materials / resources such as text based information, videos and publications which are pertinent to the scenario and help the learner construct the key pieces of the scenario together.
A series of videos were also produced which outlined the pre-event activities, the event day introduction and followed up with a post-event video thanking students for their participation in the event. The pre-event and event day videos were placed on the home page leading up to the event and then as a final tool “weblink” located in the tool area to be released towards to end of the event.
Additional student resources were also located within the Wiki tool area, providing links to key websites and policy documents to support the scenario.
Finally a series of userguides [screen shot 5] were developed once the site construction was complete which were based on screen shots of the actual site to enable students and facilitators to navigate their way around the site effectively.
The basis of the site construction for the event and future use through adaptation of existing resources / materials ensures that contexts can be set depending on the nature of the learning which is to take place in the site. This was one of the key attributes for consideration when building the site both in relation to the event and also for its future use and re-use as an effective environment for supporting learning across a range of disciplines.
In relation to the event, each healthcare speciality has within its programme learning outcomes the need for awareness of interprofessional working at lower levels of learning and the interaction and sharing of learning with other healthcare disciplines at more advanced levels of learning.
The site construction has been undertaken in a consistent manner, with a series of images being developed which can be extended to replicate other areas of the community [screen shot 3]. This particular event focused around the key locations of a housing area, health centre, shopping centre and hospital. Each of these areas can be populated with further links to develop further scenarios in the future as can other areas of the city scape.
The site image is clearly signposted and comprises significant detail to provide a more authentic, visual setting as opposed to text based outlines which depict an area. The ability to insert video clips and text based material [screen shot 4] provides an additional facet to the presentation of information to support the learning journey.
The provision of student support is available through a variety of guises on the site, ranging from simple user guides for the general use of the site through to specific guides which support and guide students through specific learning scenarios and episodes [Screen shot 5]. A list of key contacts for support are also available in addition to video based supporting materials.
The key stages of the event were outlined to students through the use of announcements with links to relevant information in addition to messaging and email, with key contacts being identified at each stage of the event.
The focus of the event the Sakai environment was utilized was to encourage and engender interprofessional learning amongst healthcare students from different health disciplines. Previous events had been held using another VLE platform which was heavily text based and did not offer a significant basis for interaction other than through discussion board interaction.
This innovative use of the Sakai environment provides students significant opportunities to engage on a professional level with students from other areas and explore issues which are pertinent to specific roles within healthcare. The approach taken can be replicated across a range of disciplines which support the use of scenario based learning in addition to problem based learning. By increasing the visual basis and interactive capabilities of a learning environment, there appears to be an increased opportunity to engage learners whilst building a series of resources which can be re-used and adapted across a broad range of academic disciplines.
The ultimate aim of the site construction is to develop a community based site plan with a number of locations aligned to that of a real community with real challenges and contexts. The web based location of the site means that students remote to the campus can have increased involvement with campus based students, which ensures that locality does not represent a challenge for the learner, creating increased flexibility for the learner
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Screen shot 1 home.pdf | 174.17 KB |
| Screen shot 2 forum.pdf | 98.81 KB |
| Screen shot 3 city link.pdf | 189.63 KB |
| Screen shot 4 video city.pdf | 198.78 KB |
| Screen shot 5 userguide.pdf | 100.08 KB |
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
