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How are digital technologies used?
Key findings: The digital technologies and methodologies currently used in health and care education
Find out about how digital technologies are being used.
As can be seen above, a lot of technologies centred around collaboration. Online lectures were identified as a theme in at least 20 responses in the survey and often software such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams were used to facilitate these lectures.
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Blackboard for document sharing and online lectures. Zoom or Teams for online meetings. Mentimeter in live and online lectures.
Student
A range of virtual learning environments (VLEs) were also mentioned, including BlackBoard, Moodle and Canvas. In addition, audience response systems such as Mentimeter and Padlet seem to be used during online lectures to boost student engagement and collect feedback. Some courses, Radiography for example, also have technologies such as virtual reality (VR) incorporated into teaching.
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The university uses a VLE (Canvas) and Microsoft Teams for communication and delivering online lectures. Teaching/learning resources for Radiography include VR (Skillitics x-ray) and programmes such as Slido for use in lectures, Padlet for feedback.
Staff at higher education institution (HEI)
However, there is disparity between staff in how technology is being used.
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This is an area of disparity. I lead on digital simulation and have introduced several VR/mixed reality (MR)/augmented reality (AR) platforms for students to practice decision making skills and approaches to deteriorating patients and managing specific presentations of conditions - this is done through both VR and MR across 2 different platforms. The disparity is that within our Nursing department, there is only myself with the expertise in these areas, therefore the experience is different amongst other staff groups and digital technology is generally viewed as an add on and something that is not necessary within the curriculum.
Staff at HEI
The exposure students get to different digital technologies varies according to academic institutions, staff confidence and experience. As noted by the above member of staff at a university, those staff groups who are less confident using digital technologies may not view them as a necessary part of the curriculum in the same way. This suggests students are receiving varied levels of exposure to digital technologies, such as virtual reality (VR).
There are elements of clinical digital technologies being integrated into the curriculum, such as Electronic Patient Records (EPR). This is aiming to bridge the gap between education and clinical practice and was specified as an important skill of the future by our surveyed groups.
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We are pushing this agenda via our Electronic Practice assessment documentation, however there is reluctance and lack of digital skills in the nursing workforce - this requires a lot of support for our admin to manage.
Staff at HEI
This demonstrates how digital technologies are already being incorporated into assessment documents in health and care education.
Additionally, online lectures are now being incorporated as the norm in terms of teaching (Figure 10).
Figure 10: Chart showing the responses from staff at Higher Education Institutions when asked the question “Does your university deliver any online teaching as part of its health and care provision?”
Practice education facilitators frequently report having delivered online learning sessions for students (Figure 11). This demonstrates that online delivery of learning materials is not only common in university settings but also on clinical practice settings.
Figure 11: Chart showing the responses from Practice Education Facilitators when asked the question “Have you delivered online learning sessions?”
Case Study 1: using technology to enhance collaboration and theoretical learning.
Mike Bellis is the Director of Pre-Registration Nursing at the University of Chester and explores innovative and impactful ways to enhance the learner experience and improve knowledge using blended delivery methods.
Before the pandemic, the teaching of catheterisation to undergraduates typically involved theory-based lectures, followed by practical exposure within a lab environment for students to practice and test their skills. While effective, this traditional approach required the delivery of multiple, repeating lectures to compact audiences, with missed learning opportunities for non-attendees. Utilising video conferencing, recording and collaboration technology Mike was able to deliver a Urology masterclass on catheterisation at scale using digital techniques to blend theoretical and practical demonstration to the undergraduate cohort.
With cameras set up in the lab environment, Mike was able to live-stream to his audience and enhance engagement using Vevox, a live polling, word cloud and question and answer platform. This enabled him to assess existing knowledge at scale though a series of exploratory questions, as well as provide opportunities for students to ask questions in a safe and confidential way. Mike’s teaching was adapted in the moment to the needs and knowledge level of the audience. The use of this engagement technology also provided rich data in relation to levels of engagement, monitoring the volume of student participation.
The taught theory was further contextualised through Mike’s practical, live-streamed demonstration, providing students with the benefits of observing the procedure in close proximity, something previously impossible to do with large audiences prior to COVID-19.
Students went on to attend practical sessions in a lab environment and apply their newfound knowledge.
Delivering learning in this way enabled Mike to blend the practical demonstration of catheterisation along with the opportunity for students to engage in the theoretical content interactively to further consolidate their learning.
Contributor: Mike Bellis, Director of Pre-Registration Nursing at the University of Chester.
Page last reviewed: 10 May 2023
Next review due: 10 May 2024
