Computer-based learning objects in healthcare: the student experience

Web-based computer learning objects, such as Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs), are becoming more commonplace in nursing and medical education. However, evaluation of RLOs specifically has been limited. The aim of the study was to determine how RLOs impact on the student learning experience and to compare the use and evaluation of RLOs by nursing and medical students. An online questionnaire survey was completed by 233 students (163 nursing and 73 medical). RLOs were more commonly used by nursing students than medical students. Students in both disciplines valued RLOs for flexibility of learning, as revision aids, and to supplement classroom-based learning. Nursing and medical students have different learning needs, and developing materials at the right level of learning is important. Barriers to the use of RLOs included lack of IT competence, technical difficulties, and lack of staff awareness of computer-based learning aids

Mobile technology: streamlining practice and improving care

The use of mobile phones in care delivery has the potential to improve the way in which care is delivered. When implemented effectively, mobile technologies can empower patients and enhance communication between patients and their health-care providers. When barriers are recognised and addressed, mobile technologies can change working lives, facilitating rapid access to information and supporting efficiency in practice

Mobile phone technology in chronic disease management

Mobile phones are being used to improve nurse-patient communication and monitor health outcomes in chronic disease. Innovative applications of mobile technology are expected to increase over time in community management of cancer, heart disease, asthma and diabetes. This article focuses on mobile phone technology and its contribution to health care

The PAVE study (Physical Activity Virtual Education): development of reusable learning objects (RLOs) to enhance nursing students' knowledge and understanding of physical activity

The aim of this project was to design, build and test two sustainable reusable learning objects (RLOs) for physical activity (PA) and provide opportunities to assess changes in knowledge and self-reported behaviour following exposure. The RLOs developed for this project encourage self-directed learning and help to foster transformational learning and facilitate critical reflection. Specifically, this means that students will be able to work through the content independently and engage with the RLO at a time and place convenient to them – an important factor in nursing since our students spend a significant proportion of time outside of the university setting. This project supports the integration of new technologies into the traditional learning environment for health promotion. The RLOs will be used as an interactive medium to promote the understanding of physical activity as both a key public health issue and one that they need to address both professionally (through their role as a nurse) and personally (through applying what they learn to their own behaviour). Additionally, the project will support critical reflection on students’ learning, since there will be opportunities to assess students’ knowledge and behaviour change before and after they have engaged with the RLOs

The inverse forecast effect

Social behaviour depends crucially on the way events are linked over time, and on how these linkages are perceived. From a given event, people may be able to infer what followed, or what preceded it. However these two tasks are not as similar as they may seem. Two experiments are reported in which participants had to infer subsequent events given earlier ones, or else the reverse. Performance was consistently more accurate when working ‘backwards’. We call this the ‘inverse forecast effect’. It raises issues about the strategies people use to predict and understand everyday events, and about just how the future is formed from the past