Future Directions in Contemporary Learning and Education
Introduction:
For this assessment, you will analyze how educational innovations are influencing nursing
education and how you, as a nurse educator, can use these innovations to create a rich
learning environment for your students.
You will begin this assessment by identifying a course that you will develop. This course
could be used in a formal academic setting, or it could be used by a nurse educator in a
clinical setting.
As part of your assessment, you will analyze an educational innovation and its effect on
student outcomes. You will use current literature to provide examples of how the
innovation is currently being used in organizations, and how they have benefited from this
innovation. You will also explore how this innovation has impacted the role of the nurse
educator.
A
A. Identify one of the following educational innovations that you will use to impact student
outcomes in your course:
� MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)
� adaptive learning technologies
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 2
� simulation/gaming strategies
� flipped classroom setting
� inquiry-based learning
- Discuss how two organizations are currently using the innovation chosen in part A, using
credible sources. - Discuss how the two organizations from part A1 have benefited from implementing the
chosen innovation from part A, using credible sources. - Describe how the chosen innovation may change the role of the faculty.
- Discuss how the nurse educator will prepare himself or herself to incorporate the chosen
innovation into the academic setting.
B. Create a framework for a nursing course by doing the following: - Identify the title of your course.
- Identify the competencies of your course.
- Explain how you will implement the chosen innovation for or within your course.
C. Evaluate the process of using the chosen innovation within your course framework by
doing the following: - Discuss how you might solicit feedback from your nursing/nurse educator peers about
the chosen innovation used in your course from part B.
a. Discuss how you would evaluate feedback from your nursing/nurse educator peers about
the chosen innovation used in your course. - Discuss two advantages of using the chosen innovation in your course.
- Discuss two disadvantages of using the chosen innovation in your course.
- Discuss how your chosen innovation may affect student outcomes in your course.
- Discuss how you would integrate the chosen innovation into courses that you may
develop in the future.
D. When you use sources, include all in-text citations and references in APA format.
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Note: For definitions of terms commonly used in the rubric, see the Rubric Terms web link
included in the Evaluation Procedures section.
Note: When using sources to support ideas and elements in an assessment, the submission
MUST include APA formatted in-text citations with a corresponding reference list for any
direct quotes or paraphrasing. It is not necessary to list sources that were consulted if they
have not been quoted or paraphrased in the text of the assessment.
Future Directions in Contemporary Learning and Education
A. Identify Educational Innovations
Educational innovations have a great influence on nursing education in the sense that
they can be used by a nurse educator to create a rich learning environment for nursing students.
An educational innovation that will be used to impact student outcomes in the course is Massive
Open Online Course (MOOC). Liyanagunawardena and Williams (2014) define Massive Open
Online Course as a type of distance learning that allows students to take part in a course
anywhere through discussion forums, video lectures, and computer-graded tests. The educational
innovation is therefore appropriate for teaching students who are located in different nations of
the world (Sitzman, Jensen and Chan, 2016).
It is anticipated that the course will attract international students who may not be in a
position to reach the school to attend lectures in person. As Sitzman, Jensen, and Chan (2016)
put it, MOOC is extremely useful in bringing together learners from different nations and with
varied cultural backgrounds to share knowledge that has a positive impact on their academic and
professional lives. Since MOOC encourages distance learning, it will enable the nurse educator
to present course contents to internationally-based students through modern technological tools
such as video lectures (Sitzman, Jensen and Chan, 2016).
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Generally, MOOC has a positive effect on student outcome, and it will be used by the
nurse educator to enhance students’ comprehension of course concepts. Precisely, MOOC will be
used to increase health literacy among nursing students because it will allow learners to share
ideas about various topics in nursing that are related to the course. Moreover, the nurse educator
will use MOOC to provide continuous nursing education because it will give learners an
opportunity to download and print course contents that they can review during their free time at
home (Liyanagunawardena and Williams, 2014: & Sitzman, Jensen and Chan, 2016 ).
A1. Current Usage of Innovation
Berkeley University of California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are
examples of organizations that have successfully implemented MOOC since it was introduced in
- These two academic institutions are currently using Massive Open Online Course to a
large extent to teach both health-related and business courses. Specifically, the two organizations
are currently using MOOC to exploit the strength of peer-learning by creating diverse learning
spaces that encourage students to learn and integrate new concepts. Berkeley University of
California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology offer a wide variety of MOOCs majorly in
English. These two organizations also offer online courses in French and Spanish
(Liyanagunawardena and Williams, 2014).
A2. Benefits of Innovation
Berkeley University of California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have
benefited greatly from implementing MOOC. For instance, MOOC has helped the two
institutions to grow and expand by enabling them to provide continuous education for learners
from different nations. As Liyanagunawardena and Williams (2014) explain, MOOC is a very
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 5
good tool for empowering learners to get involved in continuous education. Furthermore,
academic institutions that use MOOC are better off at training learners to become professionals
than those that have not implemented the new technology. By implementing MOOC, the two
institutions have been able to provide continuous learning to some students, a factor which has
enabled them to attract new students from foreign countries and to grow.
Additionally, MOOC has helped Berkeley University of California and Massachusetts
Institute of Technology to achieve competitive advantage in the education sector by enabling
them to offer quality education to learners, thereby reducing student drop-out rate. Moreover,
MOCC has brought about significant innovation and change at Berkeley University of California
and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Successful implementation of MOOC relies on the
proper selection of contents to prevent a frequent change of topics. This has compelled leaders of
Berkeley University of California and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to engage in
strategic thinking which has resulted in meaningful reforms (Liyanagunawardena and Williams,
2014).
A3. Innovation Changing Faculty Roles
MOOC may change the role of the faculty from that of direct delivery of instruction to a
coaching role. With MOOC implementation, the teaching staff may be compelled to change the
way they deliver instruction in the classroom. For example, instead of spending their time talking
to students directly in the classroom, the faculty may ask students to watch videos lectures in
their respective locations to reserve normal class time for open discussions and class activities
which are performed via the internet. In this manner, the faculty acts like a coach who is charged
with the responsibility of guiding students on concepts that they have already gone through. This
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 6
is different from the instructional role that the faculty used to play in traditional classrooms.
Here, the role of the faculty in MOOCs almost resembles the role of the faculty in flipped
classrooms (Ramnanan and Pound, 2017).
A4. Nurse Educator Professional Strategy
The nurse educator will have to be prepared to incorporate MOOC into an academic
setting. Most importantly, the nurse educator will have to undergo training for him or her to learn
how MOOC can be implemented and how it can be used for the benefit of all learners. Being a
new technology, the number of nurse educators who are adequately informed about the effective
use of MOOC is relatively small. The nurse educator must, therefore, be trained on the effective
use of MOOC to facilitate its successful implementation (Kennedy and Moen, 2017).
Also, for the nurse educator to correctly incorporate MOOC into an academic setting, he
or she will have to know the right courses which can be taught using MOOC technology, as well
as the right teaching materials that can be used to successfully implement MOOCs. According to
Liyanagunawardena and Williams (2014), not all courses can effectively be taught using massive
open online technology. Therefore, an educator must work in collaboration with other professors
in the same field to come up with relevant courses and to identify the right teaching materials
(Liyanagunawardena and Williams, 2014).
B1. Identification of Course Title
An example of a course that can be taught using MOOC is Evidence-Based Nursing
Practice Course. Evidence-Based Nursing Practice Course is a unit that will help nursing
students to learn how they can integrate current evidence into clinical practice. By teaching this
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course, the nurse educator will work hard to produce graduates who can effectively use research
evidence to make clinical decisions which are aimed at promoting excellent delivery of care.
The nurse educator will want nursing students to demonstrate an understanding of
different knowledge areas by teaching them the Evidence-Based Nursing Practice Course.
Specifically, the nurse educator will want students to learn; basic research methods, to integrate
patient values and professional expertise with research evidence, how to distinguish between
conclusions that are based on research evidence from those that are majorly based on general
clinical opinions, the importance of making clinical decisions based on evidence from empirical
research, and to maximize validity of research findings. The nurse educator is confident that
nursing students who possess this knowledge and skills will apply them into practice for
excellent care delivery (Lewis, Stephens and Ciak, 2016).
B2. Identification of Course Competencies
The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) has documented competencies that
students must possess for them to integrate research evidence into clinical practice effectively
(Lewis, Stephens and Ciak, 2016). The following five competencies are required for the
Evidence-Based Nursing Practice Course. The graduate nurse must;
i. Participate in research activities and collect appropriate data that can be used to make
decisions aimed at solving patients’ needs.
ii. Incorporate clinical expertise, patients’ values, and research evidence when formulating
individualized care plans for clients.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 8
iii. Take part in the modification of work environment into systems that allow assimilation of
research evidence into standard operating procedures.
iv. Apply approaches to care that produce the desired outcomes for patients.
v. Locate resources that contain relevant evidence for clinical problems that are being
addressed at any given time.
The above competencies have been developed for the Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
Course because they will guide the nurse educator to implement teaching strategies that will
produce graduate nurses who are competent enough to work as registered nurses. For instance,
for graduate nurses to appreciate the role played by research in enhancing nursing practice, they
must be able to participate in research activities and to collect relevant clinical data.
Additionally, graduate nurses will be able to view the evidence-based practice as an extremely
important concept in formulating individualized care plans for patients only if they have the
capacity to incorporate patients’ values effectively and clinical expertise with evidence from
research (Rosenblum and Sprague-McRae, 2014).
Furthermore, for graduate nurses to value the need of making constant organizational
improvements to match patients’ needs, they must be able to modify their work environments to
make evidence-based practice part of the standard operating procedure. Again, graduate nurses
can only make meaningful changes to clinical practice if they are competent enough to apply
approaches to care that produce the desired outcomes for patients. Moreover, graduate nurses
will appreciate the importance of the information contained in professional journals in
influencing clinical practice only if they have the capacity to locate the right resources that
contain valuable evidence for specific clinical problems (Rosenblum and Sprague-McRae, 2014).
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 9
B3. Implementation of Chosen Innovation
MOOC will be used to impact student outcome in the Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
Course. The initial step of implementation of MOOC involves identification of the best school of
thought to guide the integration of the innovation. According to Liyanagunawardena and
Williams (2014), there are two schools of thought that influence the development of MOOCs.
These schools of thought are cMOOC and xMOOC, which are based on connectivism and
instructor-centered learning and teaching approaches respectively (Dewar, Uhomoibhi, Ross and
Hutty, 2014). MOOC for the Evidence-Based Nursing Practice Course will be implemented
based on connectivism school of thought, (cMOOC).
The second step of implementation is the development of course contents that will be
delivered to students using cMOOC. This second step will be followed by choice and purchase
of the right technological tool to deliver the course contents. A highly advanced technological
tool that can give students an engaging learning experience will be purchased and utilized. This
technology will be chosen based on the expected number of students to enroll in the Evidence-
Based Nursing Practice Course as well as on the anticipated level of interaction between learners
and the instructor. To minimize financial costs, video and audio lectures for the MOOC will be
shot by the instructor who will be running the course instead of a professional team that may
require extra financial costs (Dewar et. al., 2014).
In the fourth step, a proper assessment strategy for use with the cMOOC will be
identified. A fluid and more adaptable strategy for assessing student outcomes will be used
bearing in mind that connectivism gives learners the freedom to select topics that they find more
appropriate for them. Proper selection of school of thought, course contents, technological tool,
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 10
and assessment strategy will prevent the cMOOC from falling flat either before or during
delivery of the course contents (Dewar et. al., 2014).
The fifth step of implementation is teaching the Evidence-Based Nursing Practice Course
using the cMOOC by applying the chosen course contents, technological tool, and assessment
strategy. During course delivery, the instructor will be careful to optimize the course by
minimizing resource-use by learners. The sixth step will involve monitoring the performance of
the cMOOC. The instructor will work in collaboration with the institution to assess the
effectiveness of the cMOOC in preparing students to acquire relevant course competencies.
From this assessment, necessary changes will the made to promote the effectiveness of cMOOC
in generating the desired student outcomes (Dewar et. al., 2014).
The seventh and the final step of cMOOC implementation will be seeking accreditation
from relevant agencies in the nursing industry. The accreditation body that will be approached
for certification to allow the institution to continue offering Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
Course using cMOOC is the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN). Suppose the
institution receives accreditation from QSEN, it will have the freedom to make decisions
concerning examination methods to use as per the QSEN guidelines (Dewar et. al., 2014).
C1. Peer Feedback Solicitation
To avoid publication of an ineffective curriculum for the Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
Course, the nurse educator should solicit feedback from nursing or nurse educator peers about
the use of cMOOC in the course. Peer review will help to strengthen the program and to give it a
high chance of receiving accreditation from QSEN. This is because the nurse educator will use
the feedback obtained from reviewers to modify the program in a manner that will increase its
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 11
relevance. According to Chung (2017), peer feedback solicitation should follow the right steps to
promote effective selection of experts who will provide the best review. In this case, the nurse
educator will begin the peer feedback solicitation by directly choosing experts to review the
designed program. Direct choice of experts would be appropriate because it would encourage
close cooperation between the nurse educator and the reviewers, thereby resulting in a quality
review (Chung, 2017).
The experts chosen must possess a comprehensive knowledge of nursing education,
especially that related to the use of cMOOC in evidence-based nursing practice courses.
Additionally, the reviewers must; not be more than 40 years old, have a close affiliation with an
institution that currently implements cMOOC in teaching nursing courses, and must have a
comprehensive knowledge of issues related to epidemiology and evidence-based nursing
practice. The contacted experts will only accept the solicitation only if they possess the qualities
listed above. However, experts who feel that they can review sections of the program may
inform the nurse educator so that he or she may make decisions as to whether additional
reviewers should be contacted. Those who feel that they cannot take part in the review have the
freedom to decline the request (Chung, 2017).
C1a. Peer Feedback Evaluation
The nurse educator will have to evaluate whether the feedback obtained from peers
conforms to the professional standards required for peer reviewers. The evaluation will also
enable the nurse educator to identify the weaknesses and strengths of the peer-review process
(Kaskas, Ballard, Weisman and Vanchiere, 2016). The nurse educator expects the reviewers to
observe the relevance and validity of teaching materials, the effectiveness of the proposed
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 12
syllabus in teaching the Evidence-Based Nursing Practice Course using cMOOC, as well as the
thoroughness of the teaching strategies in reflecting the degree of preparedness that the instructor
has in delivering the course. Therefore, the peer feedback obtained from the reviewers must be
related to these areas of assessment (Chung, 2017).
When evaluating the feedback from peers, the nurse educator will examine whether the
information obtained from the reviewers is based on what they gathered from their interaction
during the actual review process (Chung, 2017). Furthermore, the nurse educator will assess
whether the peer feedback talks about the effectiveness of the chosen learning materials and
teaching strategies. Moreover, the peer feedback will be considered useful if it has a positive
contribution to the development of learning and teaching activities for the Evidence-Based
Nursing Practice Course that is taught using cMOOC. Suppose the nurse educator finds the peer
feedback effective, he or she will use the information to make changes to the teaching program
that it had already designed (Kaskas et. al., 2016).
C2. Advantages of the Chosen Innovation
There are two major advantages of using cMOOC in Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
Course. First, cMOOC will enable nursing students to effectively understand course concepts by
allowing them to exchange ideas with teachers and their colleagues located in different regions
of the world. By using cMOOC in the course, nursing students will be able to gain a
comprehensive understanding of different approaches to care delivery that is used in several
countries of the world. This shared knowledge will not only improve students’ performance in
the course, but it will also enable them to learn how to use the best evidence to support clinical
decisions (Liyanagunawardena and Williams, 2014). Second, using cMOOC in the Evidence-
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 13
Based Nursing Practice Course will promote organizational learning and change. Once cMOOC
is implemented, the academic institution will be required to integrate new technologies to
improve its performance. This will promote constant innovation and change in the institution
(Dewar at. al., 2014).
C3.Disadvantages of the Chosen Innovation
Although using cMOOC in the course will benefit learners and the institution in one way
or another, there will be some disadvantages associated with its use. First, odd choice of course
content and technological tools to deliver it may prevent successful implementation of cMOOC.
Successful implementation of cMOOC in the course largely depends on appropriate selection of
technological tools and course content (Dewar at. al., 2014). Failure to do so may make the
whole innovation to flop early before it is implemented. Second, using cMOOC in the course
limits direct interaction between the learners and the instructor. This may negatively affect the
learning outcomes of students whose academic needs can best be met through direct student-
teacher interaction (Liyanagunawardena and Williams, 2014).
C4. Student Outcomes
cMOOC will have a positive impact on student outcomes in Evidence-Based Nursing
Practice Course. According to Liyanagunawardena and Williams (2014), cMOOC gives learners
an opportunity to choose learning materials that they can use for their offline studies. In this
respect, by using cMOOC in the course, learners will be able to obtain materials that they can
use for offline learning at home. This will enhance their understanding of course concepts, which
will translate into improved student outcomes.
C5. Integration of Innovation into Future Courses
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 14
After successfully using MOOC in the Evidence-Based Nursing Practice Course, the
innovation will be integrated into future courses in the institution. The procedure for integrating
MOOC into future courses will resemble the one utilized in implementing the innovation in the
Evidence-Based Nursing Practice Course, with only slight differences due to variations in course
contents. The initial step of the integration process will involve the development of course
content. The institution must have course content in place as this is what will guide successful
implementation of the MOOC. After developing the content, the institution will select and
purchase the right technological tools which can best be used to deliver the course. The choice of
technological tool will depend on the complexity of the course content as well as the needs of
learners which the course is expected to meet. The third step of the integration process will
involve the establishment of assessment approach to be used in the course. Assessment is critical
because it will help the institution to examine whether MOOC has got any positive impacts on
students’ outcome (Dewar et. al., 2014).
In the fourth step, the institution will start to teach the course using MCCO. As the
institution continues to use MOOC in the course, it will monitor the ability of the innovation to
meet the learning objectives of students. In case the innovation is operating as planned, the
institution will solicit for peer review from experts who will help with the assessing the
effectiveness of the designed course program. This step will be followed by evaluation of
feedback from peers to determine whether they conform to the professional guidelines for peer
reviewers. Based on the feedback obtained from peers, the institution will make relevant changes
to the course program before seeking for accreditation from relevant certification bodies (Dewar
et. al., 2014).
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY LEARNING AND EDUCATION 15
References
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