Nurses Perception of Instructional Design Elements of Microlearning for Professional Development Training

Microlearning is a relatively new educational technology that allows students to learn through short, direct segments using various modalities. The nursing profession has used microlearning to provide continuing medical education (CME). The problem addressed through this study was that instructional designers who create microlearning for medical professional development training have yet to readily access nurses’ feedback and preferences for learning in this modality to may improve the training they develop for nurses. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore nurses’ perceptions of the microlearning they participated in for professional development training. The technology acceptance model was the conceptual framework used to answer the research questions of benefits, challenges and suggestions related to microlearning. Twelve U.S. nurses who had participated in microlearning-based CME were purposefully selected. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the transcripts from the semistructured interviews. Results showed that nurses perceived microlearning to be concise and fit their learning styles and be flexible for their busy schedules. Challenges included a lack of interactivity or hands-on elements, limitations related to technology, and suboptimal quality. Nurses believed microlearning could be improved by better appealing to their learning styles and updating content. The insights gained from this study have the potential to influence positive changes at individual and organizational levels, ultimately leading to improved instructional designers’ use of educational technology for improving microlearning that might better support nursing practice and patient outcomes

The digitization of TVET and skills systems

The affordances of digital technologies are such that when deployed in a context of stakeholders with a propensity for change, they will facilitate new opportunities and also create challenges for the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector. This report provides a global, high-level snapshot of the digitalization of TVET and skills systems in a set of countries and international organizations. The primary data are derived from a set of semi-structured interviews with experts and practitioners in the TVET and education sectors, as well as a desktop literature review. The data provide insights into TVET and skills systems in Brazil, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, New Zealand, Slovenia, Turkey and the United States. They also include the views of the labour market and representatives from global organizations such as the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). To deconstruct and review technological developments impacting the digitization of TVET and skills systems, we developed a conceptual framework for digital transformation in TVET, using elements of the 2015 UNESCO recommendation concerning TVET and interfacing these with the three core concepts of digital innovation, adaptation and acceleration.1 We then applied the framework to develop the interview plan and structure the wave of analyses from data generated by the literature review, case studies and interview transcripts. There exists increasing evidence that while the digitization of TVET comprises multiple policies and actions at all levels of government, it often does not represent a unitary coherent strategy. Much innovation in digital TVET is institutionally driven, with the labour market following innovation pathways that are not filtering into TVET curricula or the operations of TVET institutions. Yet digitization is frequently positioned as the driving force behind lifelong learning and flexible learning pathways. Case studies indicate that technology is also transforming traditional apprenticeships by facilitating more informal variants, as well as internships and other mentored-learning programmes, if the initiatives in many countries continue to be conceptualized, sponsored and driven by governments as opposed to industry. We argue that low-level or mature digital technologies, when taken globally, still hold the most potential for transformation of the TVET sector in the short term. Digital TVET increases dramatically in cost with increases in the complexity and sophistication of the offering. Moreover, digitization is viewed with scepticism by a significant segment of the educational establishment – and TVET institutions in particular. The overall digital competence of teachers and trainers will continue to be a key limiting factor in the affordances of digital TVET crystallizing over the next five years. If the affordances of digital TVET are to crystallize, the fundamentals of TVET as a three-way collaboration between employers, students (or employees) and educational institutions have to be improved and, in some cases, kickstarted, with the support of government as the policy-maker. We find that digital TVET increases the strength of – and need for – these interlinkages. In the process, it is also accelerating the hybridization of tertiary education. Yet despite these advances, we find that ethical implications of digitization are receiving insufficient attention.peer-reviewe

Challenges of Global eLearning

This publication contains selected full papers presented in the International Workshop "Ubiquitous ICT for sustainable education and cultural literacy", held in Hämeenlinna, Finland, 6-7 October 2008. The summary proceedings of the workshop have been published by the University of Tampere, German-Jordanian University and the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO in 2009 at: http://www.minedu.fi /OPM/Kansainvaeliset_asiat/kansainvaeliset_jaerjestoet/unesco/suomen_unesco-toimikunta/sutjulkaisuja?lang=f

How do health professionals in a Kenyan health facility learn to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance?

In 2015, the World Health Organisation set the goal to reduce Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) as a global priority on their agenda. It is estimated that AMR could kill as many 10 million people per year. Tackling AMR requires concerted efforts of which many recommended approaches highlight the important role of the workforce. This has been pivotal in directing the line of inquiry for this thesis. This thesis uses mixed methods research to examine the challenge of AMR in Kenya. Mapping its underpinning historical and social roots with the view to explore how health professionals in a peri-urban, Kenyan health facility learn to tackle AMR using learning technologies. The thesis demonstrates the development of a body work that negotiates the tension between western methodologies that are emblematic of the modern university with African ways of knowing, thinking, and living. It engages with the materiality and praxis of decolonisation as grounded in resistance, adroitly creating small ruptures from Eurocentrism to conceptualise the challenge of AMR though an African lens in an attempt to comprehensively answer the following questions: • To what extent and through what methods do health professionals engage with continuous professional development ? • What socioeconomic factors impact learning for health professionals? • What are the barriers and facilitators to learning about and practicing AMR stewardship? The thesis methodologically demonstrates critical engagement with theoretical tools and develops a conceptual framework that leverages Cultural-Historical Activity Theory and Design based research in mapping context, informing design, and facilitating analysis. The theoretical framework furthers a sociocultural and sociomaterial understanding of practice and practice-based learning and illustrates a decolonial approach that centres spatiotemporal nuances in ethics, culture, and practice to develop a feasible and contextually appropriate solution to tackling AMR through the use of e-learning

Architecture of Engagement: Autonomy-Supportive Leadership for Instructional Improvement

This multiple paper dissertation addresses the importance of improving student success in online higher education programs by providing support for instructors. The autonomy-supportive structures to improve instructional practice are explained through three main domains, including instructional development, instructional design, and instructional practice. The first paper addresses instructional leadership with the theoretical foundations and practical considerations necessary for instructional leaders. Recommendations are made to use microcredentials or digital badges to scaffold programming using self-determination theory. The second paper addresses the importance of instructional design in improving instructional practice including the intentionality involved in implementing a gamification strategy to improve online student motivation. The third paper addresses instructional practice with a mixed-method sequential explanatory case study. Using the community of inquiry framework, this paper explains intentional course design, course facilitation, and student perceptions of the digital powerups strategy. The conclusion considers implications for practice and the need for instructional leaders to scaffold an architecture of engagement to support instructors and improve student success

The impact of emotions on student participation in an assessed, online, collaborative activity

There is growing recognition of the importance of emotions in academic online learning contexts. However, there is still little known about the role of emotions in social and collaborative online learning settings, especially the relationship between emotions and student participation. To explore this relationship, this study used a prospective longitudinal research design to follow 46 distance learning students throughout a 3-week assessed, online, collaborative activity. This approach allowed the fluctuating and dynamic aspects of emotions to be explored as well as the relationship between emotions and student participation in the collaborative activity. Self-report data were gathered using a semistructured online diary at five time points throughout the task (once at the start of the collaborative activity, three times during the activity, and the final entry after the activity had finished). Findings revealed that learners generally perceived pleasant emotions (such as relief, satisfaction and enjoyment) to have positive impacts, or no impact, on participation, whereas unpleasant emotions (such as anxiety, frustration, and disappointment) were generally perceived to have negative impacts, or no impact, on participation. Interestingly, however, anxiety, and to a smaller extent frustration, were perceived by a number of students to have positive impacts during the activity. To conclude this paper, implications for educators are highlighted

MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses available to anyone who can sign up. MOOCs provide an affordable and flexible way to learn new skills, advance in careers, and provide quality educational experiences to a certain extent. Millions of people around the world use MOOCs for learning and their reasons are various, including career development, career change, college preparation, supplementary learning, lifelong learning, corporate e-Learning and training, and so on