The Impact of Open Source

Introduction:

This week, I will evaluate an open source Nursing Fundamentals course offered by Kaplan University. I located this course through The Open Courseware Consortium at http://www.ocwconsortium.org/. The site provides links to thousands of courses in several languages, encompassing a wide variety of subjects. I decided to examine a nursing course because my undergraduate degree is in nursing. I completed my degree in the mid-nineties at a traditional, brick and mortar university. I thought it would be interesting to look at subject matter I have studied in the face-to-face setting to see how it is applied in the distance setting. Although the focus of my evaluation of this course is on its function in the distance environment, my familiarity with the subject matter offers a unique perspective.  

Background:

The course I am evaluating is Nursing 101 – Nursing Fundamentals offered through Kaplan University and available at http://ocw.kaplan.edu/medical/nursing-fundamentals. To provide some background, as the name suggests, this is low-level, introductory nursing course. The course description indicates that the course includes principles of patient safety, vital signs, initial assessment, bathing and grooming, personal care, mobility and effective documentation. In my undergraduate program, this was a sophomore-level course, available only after the completion of a number of science courses such as Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Psychology, and Human Growth and Development.  Although Nursing Fundamentals is simply an introduction, I would argue that certain prerequisite knowledge is essential to this or any nursing study. 

Course Description:

Nursing Fundamentals is divided into ten distinct units. Each unit, along with a short description, is listed in a navigation menu on the left of the screen. Although it is not explicitly stated, it is intuitive that one should complete the units in order. The homepage provides a description of the course, but no other instructions. There is a “next” button on the bottom right of the screen which is easy to miss. As I was exploring the course, I initially jumped from the homepage directly into unit one. In doing this, I skipped over some important course information, including the course guide, recommended reading and resources, course assignment guidelines, plagiarism policy, and course outcomes.

Each unit consists of some or all of the following elements:

·         Introduction including learning outcomes for the unit

·         Overview of the content in the unit

·         Reading assignments  to be completed using recommended text books

·         Discussion questions

·         Virtual Clinical Excursions to be completed using a recommended CD Rom

·         Project assignments

·         Skills lab assignments to be completed using skills checklists in a recommended workbook

·         Quiz which provides the student’s score and the answers compared with the correct answers following submission.

The student moves through the content of each unit using “next” or “back” buttons at the bottom of each page. The left navigation menu allows students to jump from one unit to another; however there is no way to jump to a specific content page within a unit. For example, if I wish to see the project assignment in unit four, I must jump to unit four and then click the “next” button several times until I reach the project assignment page.

It is important to note that while there are discussion questions in several units, there is no online discussion board or forum in which to answer them. The course guide encourages students to keep a journal in which they can answer discussions question and complete project assignments; these are not evaluated.  Additionally, the skills “lab” does not really exist. Each unit lists a number of skills for the student to master like providing surgical wound care and managing drainage devices however the student is not actually evaluated on their ability to complete these skills properly.

Planning and Design:

Does this course appear to be carefully planned and designed for the distance learning environment? Yes and no. Components of a successful learning system are the learners, the content, the method and materials, and the environment (Dick et al., 2004 as cited in Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2009). This focus of this course is unmistakably the content. Based on my personal knowledge of nursing fundamentals, the course content is relevant, appropriate, and presented in an order that makes sense. Unfortunately, consideration of the learners, method and materials, and environment are seriously lacking. As I mentioned, previous knowledge is necessary for nursing education. This course does not address learners’ previous knowledge or discuss who this course may be appropriate for. The methods, while well-intentioned, completely miss the mark. Without interactivity, the discussions, projects, and skills sections do not accomplish much. “A series of activities alone cannot lead to learning; it is only with the careful planning for their balance and interface that learning is the result” (Simonson et al., 2009, p.127). Furthermore, the environment is difficult to navigate. It is not likely that a student will complete the entire course in a linear fashion. The designers should have allowed for more direct navigation to the content within units.

Recommendations for Online Instruction:

Does this course follow recommendations for online instruction as listed in our textbook? The answer is mostly no. Simonson et al., (2009) consistently warn of the dangers of “dumping” a face-to-face course onto the web. “Online activities for students should have specific pedagogical or course management purposes” (p. 248). This course is structured like a face-to-face course without the benefit of an instructor or peer interaction. An element of this course that makes it seem like “shovelware” is the inclusion of “skills lab” activities that cannot actually take place in the online environment.

Another recommendation of our text is to integrate the power of the web into courses, primarily through the use of Web 2.0 tools, to engage students and foster collaboration and communication (Simonson et al., 2009). Although it is available online, the course does little more than organize, outline, and refer to information in text books and outside sources. Most of the activities occur outside of the actual course. The only interactive online activity is the quiz. Other than the immediate feedback that the quiz provides, there is not much benefit to having this course online.  

Our text also endorses making the organization and requirements of an online course very clear (Simonson et al., 2009). In order to be successful, distance students should be provided explicit instruction on how to navigate the online environment. Simonson et al., suggest providing training or online tutorials at the beginning of a course. This course does not provide any instruction up front and that may cause a lot of frustration for students. A student may jump right in to Unit One without realizing there are course texts, CD Rom’s, and workbooks they need to obtain before beginning the course.    

Course Activities for Active Learning:

Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students? Again the answer is yes and no. Strategies for active learning include hands-on manipulation of learning objects, case study analysis, structured discussion, and virtual field trips (Simonson et al., 2009). This course makes an attempt to foster active learning by including case study analysis within project assignments, discussion questions, virtual clinical excursions, and skills lab assignments. On the downside, students do not receive feedback on their case study analyses and cannot participate in actual discussions in this course. Virtual experiences are usually a great way to encourage active learning in a distance setting, however I worry that the “virtual clinical excursions” referred to in this course cannot replace the hands-on learning that occurs in actual clinical rotations with real patients; this is an essential component of nursing education. Skills practice is also essential and should be closely evaluated by an experienced nursing instructor. Would you allow a nurse to perform a complicated procedure on you if he or she had learned the steps from a book, practiced without proper equipment, and had no evaluation by an instructor? If so, good luck.

Conclusion:

My impression of Kaplan University’s open Nursing Fundamentals course is that it is not really intended for students who simply wish to acquire knowledge or engage in a unique learning experience. This seems like a “teaser” to show potential nursing students the type of content and course structure they will encounter in Kaplan’s nursing program. The course has the feel of a face-to-face course that has been dumped into an online environment; it simply outlines subject matter and refers students to outside textbooks and software. The materials needed for this course would be quite pricey to purchase. Additionally, if one were to pursue a nursing degree, this course would not offer any credit. I do think this course has potential for a blended learning or web-supported type of environment, but would not stand alone as an online course.   

Thanks,

Brandey

References: 

Nursing Fundamentals. (2009, January 05).  Kaplan University — Open Course Ware — Free Courses Web site. Retrieved October 06, 2011, from http://ocw.kaplan.edu/medical/nursing-fundamentals.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.