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From the Editor
This is the July 2005 issue of NI News - the quarterly free newsletter from the site Nursing Informatics.com.
This publication offers articles, news, product and systems analyses, tech resources and dialogue on global nursing informatics issues, discoveries and theory. We will provide a comprehensive view of informatics in practice, education, research and administration.
If you would like to receive a regular copy, please go HERE to subscribe.
June Kaminski
Read the OJNI -
The Online Journal of
Nursing Informatics
Go to OJNI
As Editor in Charge of Virtual Nursing Practice and Culture, I invite you to submit your research and other papers related to using the online environment as a nursing context for OJNI publication.
 Canadian?
It's Membership Time!
As President-Elect, I also invite you to join the Canadian Nursing Informatics Association at cnia.ca
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Moodle – a User-Friendly,
Open Source Course
Management System
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It would be a rare educator who has not been introduced to the recent wave of educational technology.Virtually, every education-related journal, course, and resource has some information related to using computers and technology for state-of-the-art teaching in educational environments at all levels. Greeted by some with open arms, technology also raises alarm bells in some educators for a variety of reasons. Some are concerned that teachers will be replaced with computers. Others have an aversion to technology in general while others have little time to master the skills necessary to even use a computer, let alone design a course or lessons on one.
The current advancement of technologically - supported learning is a key area of focus for all sectors of the educational system from kindergarten to post-secondary levels. Exponential advances in computers and technology - based educational applications have influenced education in both subtle and sweeping ways (Peters, 2002). These changes necessitate the involvement of educators in becoming cognizant of teaching and learning in new ways. If educators are to make
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informed decisions about the use of technology in the classroom, professional development initiatives are necessary (Bates, 2000). Educators need information about the issues and advantages of using technology in the classroom. They need sources of accessible professional development to learn to work with various aspects of technology and to apply them successfully. The need for change can be a source of anxiety and frustration, especially if resources are not available. Both knowledge and practice are needed to begin to change and adapt teaching to an online environment. Practitioners need time to learn technology -
related teaching skills, to learn how to use technology, to experiment with it and how to integrate it into the school curriculum. "Critical areas of agreement include a need for relevant, applicable professional development that reaches the widest possible range of groups and uses learning technologies as a delivery method." (Roberts & Associates, 1999, p. xxii).
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The full paper is available online at:
http://eaa-knowledge.com/ojni/ni/9_1/talktech.htm
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