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This presentation was given at the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education conference in Ottawa, ON, in June 2009. The key message was that with the right educators and right tools Wikis can enhance group learning activities.
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Virtual Therapists
Incorporating Wikis in health-care
educationANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Photography: Luka Skracic
The Vision
To develop the skills of the next generation of health-care
practitioners to use Web 2.0 tools so they can develop and disseminate excellent health
care resources
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
The Approach
Invite instructors to incorporate a Wiki into existing group-work assignment
Inform students about the project aims & the role of Wikis in health care practice
Provide training and support
Invite students and instructors to participate in a learning-style survey and focus groups
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
5
Physiotherapy Wiki
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
6
Physiotherapy Wiki
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
The Journey
Photography: Luka Skracic
Unraveling the Difficulties
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Mid-way LessonsChange to another wiki program
Educators need to be flexible and creative… they also
need good tech skills and support
Reduce curriculum while adopting new technology
Creating a wiki is a journey… the process is as
important as the product
Don’t assume that students are tech-savvy based on age
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Phase Two of the Journey
Photography: Luka Skracic
Speech Pathology Wiki
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Speech Pathology Wiki
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Occupational Therapy Wiki
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Occupational Therapy Wiki
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Kolb’s Learning Styles
x 2 = 24.957p=0.002
Three cells contained less than the required number
Descriptions of Kolb’s learning styles
Accommodating• Prefer "hands-on" experience.
• Involved in new and challenging experiences.
• Act on "gut" feelings rather than on logical analysis.
• Rely more heavily on people for information than technical analysis.
• Action-oriented careers such as marketing or sales.
• Work with others to get assignments done, to set goals, to do field work, and to test out different approaches to completing a project.
Converging• Find practical uses for ideas and
theories.
• Solve problems and make decisions based on finding solutions to questions or problems.
• Prefer technical tasks and problems than with social and interpersonal issues.
• Specialist and technology careers.
• Prefer to experiment with new ideas, simulations, laboratory assignments, and practical applications.
OT group
PT group
Descriptions of Kolb’s learning styles
Assimilating• Understand wide range of
information and putting it into concise, logical form.
• Less focused on people, more interested in abstract ideas and concepts.
• Important that a theory have logical soundness than practical value.
• Information and science careers.
• Prefer lectures, readings, exploring analytical models, and having time to think things through.
Diverging• View concrete situations from many
different points of view.
• Observe rather than take action.
• Enjoy generating a wide range of ideas, such as brainstorming sessions.
• Broad cultural interests and like to gather information.
• Imaginative and sensitivity to feelings
• Arts, entertainment, and service careers.
• Prefer working in groups to gather information, listening with an open mind, and receiving personalized feedback.
SP group
Themes Wiki technology
Educator
Trust
Habits
New learning environment
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 1Wiki
Technology
“I was concerned about completing my assignment and learning what I needed... I wasn’t really interested in learning a lot about technology” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
“...we spent more time trying to format than we did with the actual content...” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 1Wiki
Technology
“...it had a really good amount of functions... to link to external sources... link to somebody else’s page... loading external pages... that was pretty cool stuff!” (Student) ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 1Wiki
Technology
“...I’ve found I have used the Wiki [again], we had to do a case history information and I used the Wiki to fill that in... it was easier than going through the textbook...” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 1Wiki
Technology
“... I don’t think they understood how much work it was going to be to learn about the assignment and learn about this [wiki] too.” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 2
Educator – knowledge, curriculum design, flexibility & enthusiasm.
“...we hoped they would use the technology to facilitate learning” (Instructor)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 2
Educator – knowledge, curriculum design, flexibility & enthusiasm.
“... she [educator] was perfectly willing to change the assignment a bit...” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 2
Educator – knowledge, curriculum design, flexibility & enthusiasm.
“I remember emailing her [about the wiki] and she got back to me right away, enthusiastic, detailed steps on how to do something or ‘come and see me’.” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 2
Educator – knowledge, curriculum design, flexibility & enthusiasm.
Theme 3Trust –
information, group, & the
Wiki
“I don’t know how the Wiki works really, but also with confidentiality...
...at an office only so many people have access... but on the internet?” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 3Trust –
information, group, & the
Wiki
“... the biggest [concern] would be trust, as to who is actually putting the information on it.” (Student)
“...who had access and what their credentials were.” (Student) ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 3Trust –
information, group, & the
Wiki
“We didn’t use the comments [tool] until the peer review process as we thought: ‘this is not our project, we don’t want to mess with it’.” (Student) ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
“….she’s often over at the library, she prefers it. I think she could use the computer if she wanted to” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 4
Habits – being comfortable with online technology
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
“Something you can’t develop online is the friendship...” (Student)
“...you can’t fully understand someone if you don’t see them... gestures, facial expressions...” (Student)
Theme 4
Habits – being comfortable with online technology
“...this was a really good opportunity... it forced us to use it...
...there was some pretty strong resistance...
...it was a good way to overcome... reluctance for certain people” (Student) ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 4
Habits – being comfortable with online technology
“There was one person who wasn’t interested in learning about the Wiki, she knew how to post things... but if it came to changing something like colours, she would ask one of us to do it... it was fine like that” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 4
Habits – being comfortable with online technology
“My style of evaluating is to sit and think and to flip and then to read and then to think...
...the Wiki doesn’t lend itself to that, you move you click and you can’t easily compare.” (Instructor)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 4
Habits – being comfortable with online technology
“... commenting on people’s work... I told the reader... ‘you will go and see the spacing on your work looks a little wacked...’ I put the comments in white text. (chuckles) ” (Instructor)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 4
Habits – being comfortable with online technology
“There was a peer review process, we’d check content, grammar, anything and then there was an additional page linked where we would put all the suggestions...” (Student)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Theme 5
New learning environment
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
“you could see what they had posted and you could say “I have to post this for my group”.” (Student)
“...lets have a chance to look at each other’s work... pick up on good ideas... be flattered if someone takes your idea...!” (Instructor)
Theme 5
New learning environment
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
“...when we do the editing everyone can
see it... some may take it personally but it’s actually a
good learning experience too”
(Student)
Theme 5
New learning environment
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
“I might be able to critique someone’s
work more on a Wiki rather than being
face to face” (Student)
Theme 5
New learning environment
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
“when you access someone’s ideas in written form you’re accessing different skills of theirs... not their personality, but their written work, it’s quite different [from] to face to face” (Student)
Theme 5
New learning environment
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
“We’re capitalizing on everyone’s
strengths in the groups”
(Student)
Theme 5
New learning environment
Implications
Educator
Technology
Course design
Learners
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Educator profile:
Positive attitude to eLearning
Responsive online
Creative/flexible course design
Formative assessment
Think on feet
Share & receive technology tips ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Technology features
Sophisticated yet simple/intuitive
Available 24/7 (or close to that)
Suits learning goals
Has a “sandbox” to play with the tools and to share tips
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Course designIncorporate training in the
new tool to reduce learner anxiety
Time given to learn new tools
Course learning and evaluation activities meet learning goals
Activities meet technology capacity
Flexibility in evaluationANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Learners are more positive when:
They feel connected with the educator
They feel they are appropriately evaluated
They perceive the technology as useful, for now and future
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Diffusion of InnovationAn Idea
Communication Channels
Time
Social System(Rogers, 2003)
ANITA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Example of Application in Practice
Questions?
ReferencesKift, S. (2003). From bolting on to embedding: How do we progress the
seamlessness of online and in-class learning environments to enhance student learning outcomes? Paper presented at the OLT 2003 Excellence: making the connections. From https://olt.qut.edu.au/olt2003/Proceedings/OLT%20Conf%20Proceedings.pdf#page=161.
Potts, H. W. W. (2006). Is E-health progressing faster than E-health researchers? [Electronic Version]. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 8. Retrieved 1 May 2008 from http://www.jmir.org/2006/3/e24/.
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations. (5th ed.). New York: Free Press.
Sun, P., Tsai, R. J., Finger, G., Chen, Y., & Yeh, D. (2008). What drives successful e-Learning? An empirical investigation of the critical factors influencing learner satisfaction. Computers & Education, 50, 1183-1202.
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