Part Two: Using Mobile Learning to Enhance the Quality of Nursing Practice Education edited by Mohammad Ali (2009)

Part Two: Research on Mobile Learning
Using Mobile Learning to Enhance the Quality of Nursing Practice Education

RICHARD F. KENNY

CAROLINE PARK

ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY

CANADA

JOCELYNE M. C . VAN NESTE-KENNY

PAMELA A. BURTON

JAN MEIERS

NORTH ISLAND COLLEGE

CANADA

Abstract

This chapter reviews the research literature pertaining to the use of mobile

devices in nursing education and assess the potential of mobile learning (m learning)

for nursing practice education experiences in rural higher education

settings. While there are a number of definitions of m-learning, we adopted

Koole’s (2005) FRAME model, which describes it as a process resulting from

the convergence of mobile technologies, human learning capacities, and social

interaction, and use it as a framework to assess this literature. Second, we

report on the results of one-on-one trials conducted during the first stage of

a two stage, exploratory evaluation study of a project to integrate mobile

learning into the Bachelor of Science Nursing curriculum in a western

Canadian college program. Fourth year nursing students and instructors used

Hewlett Packard iPAQ PDAs for a two week period around campus and the

local community. The iPAQs provided both WiFi and GPRS wireless capability

and were loaded with selected software, including MS Office Mobile along

with nursing decision-making and drug reference programs. Our participants

reported on a variety of benefits and barriers to the use of these devices in

nursing practice education.

Det var väldigt intressant att ta del av en studie där man använt sig av mobilt lärande i skarpt läge och se vad för fördelar och nackdelar de hittade med detta. Först måste vi bara sätta oss in i vad de menar med m-learning (mobilt lärande). Intressant är också att notera att de använt sig av Kooles Frame-modell när de ska analysera denna studie.

Keegan (2002, 2005) agrees that it should, declaring that the future of distance education is wireless and noting that there has never been a technology that has penetrated the world with the depth and rapidity of mobile telephony. He claims that the challenge for distance educators is to accept this fact and to now develop pedagogical environments for mobile devices.

What then do we mean by m-learning and what does it allow educators to do differently than other forms of teaching and learning? Keegan (2005) defined the term simply as the provision of education and training on PDAs4/ palmtops/handhelds, smart phones and mobile phones.

I det här fallet använde de sig av följande mobila hjälpmedel.

The HP iPAQ 6955

Erfarenheterna av användadet var att studenterna kände sig mindre stressade när de hade dessa till hands hela tiden och kunde kontakta kursledarna. Roligt att se tycker jag för annars brukar det alltid pratas om att den den nya tekniken "stressar upp" de som använder den.

Experiences with Mobile Learning in Nursing

Rosenthal (2003) outlines a number of useful functions identified by nurses using PDAs: address book, “to do” lists, date book, memo pad, expense tracking, “find” functions, diagnostic tools, clinical guidelines, medical dictionaries, lab values, and patient, student, and staff management programs. She categorizes these as tools that enhance productivity, promote risk management/error reduction, and through their rapid access to critical information lead to stress reduction. Newbold (2003) notes that if the PDA is also a wireless device, the uses increase in both number and complexity. She lists potential applications such as: interdisciplinary consultations, electronic ordering and test results, patient histories, progress notes and assessments, references, protocols, and prescription information. Increased PDA wireless capacity to include phone and camera capabilities permits rapid chart access, improved work flow, increased time for patients, cost savings, enhanced productivity and, therefore, boosts professional satisfaction.

 De kom även fram till följande faktorer för och emot användandet av dessa mobila hjälpmedel i sin inlärning och kommunikation med instruktörerna.

Several authors have outlined benefits and barriers to PDA use. Davenport (2004) identified 38 barriers and 68 benefits to PDA use and, based on a survey completed by nurses, she produced six themes in each category, ranked in priority order. The benefits were: a) quick access to current drug database and nursing reference books (highest ranking), b) the ability to manage patients and procedure information, bedside data entry, and data collection for research and teaching (tied for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4^th rankings) c) patient health management (ranked 5th), and d) improved team communication (ranked 6th). Davenport also found the following barriers, ranked by priority: a) the risks of storing confidential patient information, b) the cost of PDAs and ease of loss or damage, c) not enough research on PDA use in nursing, d) difficult to read, e) slow data entry, and f) difficult to understand. These barriers were rated as modest to moderate.

TABLE 1 Nurse Practitioner Insights – Park (2006)

Reasons to recommend

1. Valuable with right software

2. Lighter to carry than textbooks

3. Decrease in medication errors,

safer than memory

4. Convenient, useful tool

5. Information available is immense

and valuable

6. Back-up quick reference, security blanket

7. Concise and easy to transport

8. The way of the future

9. Looks professional

10. Can edit & highlight the most important

information & add personal notes

11. You can use it to explore options

with client

12. Organizational benefits

13. Up-to-date information

14. Aids mobility

Barriers to use

1. Cost

2. Lack of knowledge about technology

and software

3. Difficult to set up

4. No time to learn

5. Confidentiality issues

6. Technology failures (batteries die)

7. Loss of personal touch

8. They aren’t necessary

9. They don’t teach you to be

a Nurse Practitioner

Om vi tittar på hindren och om vi bortser från kostnaden så är det inte överraskande för mig att handhavandet av de nya tekniska hjälpmedlen är de största problemen. Det som dock är roligt att se är dock när de intervjuade eleverna (se nedan) så framkom det att de tyckte att de ändå var ganska enkla att komma igång att använda och dessutom så var det roligt med alla bra funktionerna de hade. Det är som att det förutsätts att ny teknik ska vara svårt men när de väl använder det så inser det att de egentligen är ganska enkelt och roligt.

Ease of Use

Despite the apparent complexity of the devices, especially the number of

features to learn, our participants uniformly claimed that these devices were

easy to learn and easy to master overall. While they found that the two orientation

sessions were not sufficient to allow them to achieve full mastery,

our respondents found that they only required an additional one to three

hours learning on their own after wards to become comfortable with the use

of the iPAQs. In particular, they found that much of their knowledge with

desktop computing was transferable.

More specifically, our respondents even found some of the more unusual

features simple to use. Referring to the transcriber (touch hand writing to

text), Jane commented that:

I found that to be just amazing, you could write in anything

and ... I have pretty messy hand-writing and I could hand write

words in and it would come up and you know, it would print

them on the Word document, it was amazing. I found that to

be very… kind of fun to use, you know.

Tittar vi på vad de kom fram till i deras slutsatser av undersökningen så tycker jag att det är de delar som jag själv tror är viktiga för att det ska fungera bra som är viktiga nämligen:
1. Bra tillgång till mobila hjälpmedel för att kunna interagera i sin utbildning.
2. Att de mobila hjälpmedlen är väl fungerande och att innehållet till dem är väl anpassat för det formatet.
3. Att det finns en hög potential för mobilt lärande men att det är viktigt att urforska detta mera.

Dessutom så är det ett väldigt roligt sätt att lära sig på och det kan ju aldrig vara fel..... :)

Conclusion

We noted that nursing care is

moving to the community where client complexity and acuity is increasing

and where up-to-date information at the point-of-care is critically needed

to support practice. As a result, we argued that the delivery of nursing education

requires physical mobility throughout the community and does not

lend itself to more traditional direct teaching supervision models. Instead,

guided by Koole’s (2005) FRAME model of m-learning, we judged that

access to and usability of mobile learning devices is critical to supporting

the context of learning and learning interactions.

In conclusion, Stage 1 of our study confirmed that the use of m-learning,

at least with the HP iPAQ PDAs, is feasible in actual nursing practice

education settings and that this use has the potential to be very effective

at least in affording students and instructors with ready access to resources at

the point of care. Our results indicate that the interactive uses of mobile

devices are also potentially very useful, but this aspect needs to be more

thoroughly investigated in the second stage of our study.

/Helge Lundgren