'BLOGGING' AS AN EDUCATIONAL ENHANCEMENT TOOL FOR IMPROVED STUDENT PERFORMANCE: A PILOT STUDY IN UNDERGRADUATE NURSING EDUCATION

摘要

Improving learning and synthesis of new knowledge is often a challengefor nursing faculty in the twenty-first century. Faculty are urged to use new technologies and to embrace methodologies that include more interactions by the student. Today's students are less adept in written and oral communication and, consequently, more hesitant to speak out or write independently for fear of ridicule by others. These same students, by virtue of their adaptation and immersion in technological advances, need support in using these same mechanisms to improve their communication skills. Interpersonal communication across many levels is very important in nursing. This article summarizes a study of nursing students at North Carolina Central University in the spring of 2011 and their use of social networking to communicate about nursing education and medical errors. This qualitative pilot study used new social media known as web logs (blogs) to enable students to become more secure communicating with one another. The tool was a Google-based blog. The nursing students 'interaction styles were evaluated based on topics and inter-connections. Visualizations of the social network communications as maps are provided with the article to illustrate data analysis results. As a pilot study the research may be used for system design requirements for a medical educational environment that promotes sharing information and collecting data related to quality care and learning. Potential social media tools for future consideration include Facebook, Twitter, blogs, electronic journals, forums (or chat rooms), and wikis (group-authored encyclopedia/information sites) as found on the web, on smart phones and in online education tools. This research project was based on an earlier study of nursing students using blogs and sharing medical error information in confidence. The researchers on the 2011 project have found that analyzing, for example, how students support each other during school, learn about drug calculations and NCLEX examination preparations, by means of social networking could lead to ways to reduce errors as students develop communication habits, share knowledge, and pay more attention to tasks.