Online Learning- A Joint Venture
Anthony Gamboa
Harry S. Truman College
Information Technology Coordinator
Catherine Gierman-Riblon
Triton College
Associate Dean of Health Careers
Kimberly Mau
Kankakee Community College
Director of Nursing
The Current State of
Nursing Education
• The Nursing Shortage
– According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics
published in the February 2004 Monthly Labor
Review, more than one million new and replacement
nurses will be needed by the year 2012.
– Registered Nursing has been identified as the top
occupation in terms of growth through the year
2012.
– According to November/December 2003 issue of
Health Affairs, the number of people enrolled in
nursing programs would have to increase at least
40% annually to replace those expected to leave the
workforce through retirement.
– According to the American Association of Colleges
of Nursing 2004-2005 report, US nursing schools
turned away 32,797 qualified applicants to nursing
programs.
Why can’t we simply
increase the number of
nursing students??
Reasons for Turning Away Qualified
Students
• Faculty Vacancies
– In July 2004, the national nurse faculty vacancy rate was
8.1%, which translates to approximately 2.9 faculty vacancies
per school.
• Lack of classroom space
• Decreasing number of clinical sites
• Industry Salaries vs. Faculty SalariesAccording to the 2003 National Salary Survey of
Nurse Practitioners in Advance magazine, master’s
prepared nurses working in an emergency department
was $80,000. In contrast, the new nursing faculty
instructor makes an average of $35,000- $40,000.
The Benefits of Using Online
Courses to Meet Educational
Demand
Online/hybrid courses provide flexibility
• Time
• Place
• Life demands
Online/hybrid courses decrease demand for classroom
space.
• Online/hybrid courses help prepare community
college students for higher degree work which
often incorporates online technology.
• Online/hybrid courses can increase the
communication for students who otherwise
might not speak up in class.
• Online/hybrid courses encourage student
responsibility and initiative
• Online/hybrid courses can increase
collaboration between hospitals and schools
• The competition is doing it!
The Origin of the Grant
• A quest to find solutions to the nursing and
health professions shortages within the
Northeast Region
• Non-competitive WIA Healthcare Program
Innovation Grant, DCEO, coordinated and
monitored by ICCB
• Three colleges with nursing programs and
interest in addressing the shortages
The Goal of The Grant
• Expand program capacity to produce more RN
graduates and expand access for adult, working
students including incumbent workers in
healthcare facilities utilizing online/hybrid
nursing courses.
What the Grant Provided
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Faculty compensation, release and benefits
Consultants if needed
Meeting and training expenses
Personnel costs for project manager and IT
Capital/Non-capital equipment and software
Materials and supplies for content development
How The Process Evolved
• Truman College assumed the lead role and
managed the technology of the project
• Triton College and Kankakee Community
College were participating partners as well
• Each college had varying needs, abilities, and
campus and community resources.
• Each college developed and negotiated their
own budget
How The Process Evolved
• Each college determined their own scope of
work which was approved by ICCB.
• Each college enlisted two - four faculty
members to participate in the project
• Planning meetings were held in Fall 2004 during
which the faculty discussed their individual
curriculum structures and interests, and
determined which school would develop what
content, as well as the module structure.
How The Process Evolved
• The technology staff of the three colleges
maintained communication to meet technology
needs such format and determining a common
labeling system for modules.
• Each school developed their content which was
ultimately loaded to a shared X-drive server that
Truman manages and all three schools can
access.
Technology- Understanding the
Needs
• Faculty
– Delivering course content online.
– Reuse/Rebuild existing materials such animations,
interactive games, videos and other medias (with
consent of publishers/authors).
– Use the current content management system with
another system that would handle video streaming.
– Existence of different CMS systems and their
incompatibility.
Technology- Understanding the
Needs
• Students
– May lack the appropriate technology at home to
view hybrid nursing courses’ content.
– May lack technological knowledge to navigate
and/or view the courses’ content.
– Various online sites to remember.
Available Resources
• Content Management Systems
– Truman College
• Blackboard
– Triton and Kankakee
• Web CT
• Both Content Management Systems used by faculty
members to record grades, post course e-electronic
material, discussion boards, electronic submissions, etc.
Addressing the Needs
• Faculty
– Post digital videos on certain nursing topics.
– Create re-usable xml driven interactive games
– Research and organize a shared space wherein all
faculty members only (from all campuses) could
upload and download course prepared materials for
different modules, (The X-Drive).
– Develop a database driven website as a portal
– Facilitate a workshop for faculty members
• Students
– A main website developed to contain many
resources in one place.
– Technical support available for hybrid nursing
students over email.
Technology Structure
External Streaming/Web Server
HTML PAGE
Content Management Server
Streaming Media
[from the student
area]
See media link
Blackboard
Faculty Space
[Restricted Space]
[This area contains
the shared resources
by/for faculty
members from Triton,
Truman, and
Kankakee]
Web CT
Student Space
[This area contains the
media files that faculty
members will use for
they hybrid courses]
Accepted File Formats for Sharing
RTF, DOC, PDF, PPP, FLV, SWF, GIF, JPEG, AVI, MPEG, WAV, MP3, WMV.
Blackboard/Web CT
This are is used currently for:
- Gradebook
- Online Discussions
- Document Postings
- Announcements
- Digital Submissions
Solutions to a Central Repository
• The X-Drive
– All faculty members involved in the project to share their
electronic materials online.
– Easy accessible without compromising other faculty
members’ work.
– Web as well as windows accessibility.
– Search capabilities
– Space capacity.
Solution to a Portal
Solutions to a Central Repository
Conclusion
• All systems (current and new) are able to coexists and
provides an easy user interface.
• Selected students were prepared to take the class with
good knowledge in technology.
• Faculty members were also prepared to handle new
additional technological implementations.
• A portal for all faculty and students as gateway to other
resources.
• A central repository for all faculty members only to
share their course modules with other members.
KCC Contributions
• Evaluation of opportunities for Online courses
within the department:
– Three faculty members involved in content creation
in conjunction with the Director of Instructional
Technology and Alternative Delivery
– Plans made for integration of online material into
Practical Nursing program, Transition LPN-RN
program, Registered Nurse Program.
KCC Contributions
• Content Modules created:
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Nursing Process
End of Life Care
Gerontology
Psychiatric Nursing
Cardiac Arrhythmias
Pharmacology
KCC Contributions
• Content Modules included:
– Powerpoint presentations with printable slides and
Powerpoint Producer created for each module.
– Discussion boards
– Quizzes and Examinations in Respondus
– Video clips of nursing assessments and patient care
– Games and activities
KCC Contributions
• Created content modules were utilized in the
Summer and Fall of 2005 at KCC in four RN
courses, one LPN course and the Transition
program. Use of the grant funding allowed
these courses to become hybrid courses by the
college’s definition, creating more flexibility for
the student and meeting the demand to integrate
more technology into the curriculum.
KCC Contributions
• Equipment purchased by the grant included:
– Laptops for the department, equipped with
Powerpoint Producer and Respondus
– Adobe Acrobat and Macromedia software
– Digital camera
– Apple G5 for Video editing
– CD and DVDs for the creation of
– Wireless Access point and Router
– DVD produced with videos for purchase at LULU
Truman College’s Contribution
• Course development team established which
consisted of:
• Nursing faculty
• Instructional Technology designers
• Information Technology support
• Administrator
Truman College’s Contribution
• Needs for exploring similar programs
– A site visit to Broward Community College in
Florida guided the course development team (400
online nursing students )
– A site visit to Rio Salado in Arizona helped the
faculty members get a better idea about their hybrid
nursing program (nationally 300 students with 3 FT
faculty, NLNAC accredited to run distance
education program in IL, adjuncts from local
clinicals)
Truman College’s Contribution
Equipment needs were determined:
• Purchased laptops, software, scanner, printer,
video camera, still camera, and a projector using
grant funds
• Purchased server space for all faculty to share
their final materials
• Allocated an office space for team members to
develop and test content for the hybrid course
Truman College’s Contribution
• Nursing faculty worked with instructional
technology team to develop content
• Nursing faculty engaged in training
• Modules were created for nursing academics
• Complete online course created for NUR101
Fundamentals of Nursing
Truman College’s Contribution
• Teaching scenarios videos were uploaded
• Fundamentals of Nursing was offered in the Fall
2006 to 27 students. Five students with tuition,
fees and uniforms covered by the Hospital
partner
Triton College’s Contribution
• Course development team established which
consisted of:
• Nursing faculty
• Instructional designers
• Technology staff
• Arts & Sciences faculty with online expertise as
mentors
• Administrator
Triton College’s Contribution
• Content created:
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Management for PNs
Nursing decision making
Critical thinking content
Management for RNs
Nursing trends
Nursing academics
Videos : professionals in practice; teaching scenarios
Triton College’s Contribution
Equipment needs were determined:
• Established a resource office with computers,
software, scanner, video camera, still camera using
grant funds
• Purchased faster server with greater capacity to
handle increased content and use of streaming
video as well as increased student and faculty
demand for access
Triton College’s Contribution
• Nursing faculty engaged in training
• Nursing faculty worked with the design team
and mentors to develop content
• Modules were created which contained PPT,
online discussions, discussion board topics,
reinforcement activities.
• Complete online course created for NUR190
Preparation for the Practical Nursing Role
Triton College’s Contribution
• Practicing nurses were interviewed at their place
of employment and video was dropped into the
course.
• Teaching scenarios were also created and
videotaped on related topics
• NUR190 was offered in the Summer 2005 to 29
students with tuition and fees covered by the
grant. Students participated in formative an
summative evaluations of the course.
Benefits and Challenges
• Over 200 students in
three different colleges
are experiencing a hybrid
nursing course.
• Hospitals that participate
can help share the
burden of sustaining
nursing programs.
• Faculty are inspired to
create more courses.
• Retention issues related
to online courses in
general.
• Creation of online
content requires
additional time, technical
support and financial
support for faculty who
are often already overextended.
Benefits and Challenges
• Can expand capacity
beyond that of the
traditional program
model
• There was collaboration
between three schools
that otherwise would not
have occurred.
• Aids students who have
time constraints.
• Common vocabulary
• Facilitating
communication
• Need to be flexible
during development
• Some content may not
be appropriate
• Does the school have
enough space in their
platform?
Benefits and Challenges
• The design team concept
fosters collaboration with
faculty from other
disciplines that otherwise
might not have occurred
QUESTIONS????