395CHAPTER 18

Effects of Informatics and Technology on Curriculum Development and Evaluation

Sarah B. Keating

OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of Chapter 18, the reader will be able to:

OVERVIEW

Chapter 18 discusses the effects of informatics and technology on curriculum development and evaluation. Distance education formats are reviewed including land-based satellite campuses of home institutions, broadcasting by teleconferences and videoconferences, and web-based platforms. Other technological advances such as smart classrooms, patient simulations, electronic medical record systems, and information systems applied to education and health care, are analyzed. A brief review of the research findings on the efficacy of these programs and student satisfaction is presented and issues related to distance education and technology are introduced.

DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Distance education is defined as any learning experience that takes place a distance away from the parent educational institution’s home campus. It can be as close as a few blocks away in an urban center to as far away as another nation(s). It implements the curriculum through a planned strategy for the delivery of courses or classes that can include off-site satellite classes managed by the home faculty or 396credentialed off-site faculty, broadcast of classes through videoconferencing and teleconferencing to off-campus sites, web-based instruction, and faculty-supervised clinical experiences including preceptorships and internships. Distance education offers continuing education programs, degree programs, single academic courses, or a mixture of on-campus and off-campus course offerings.

The following discussion reviews satellite campus programs with land-based facilities and programs that use video- and teleconferencing to broadcast the programs. Distance education formats through cyberspace follow the discussion on video- and teleconferencing.

Needs Assessment and Compatibility With the Components of the Curriculum

When planning for a distance education program, nurse educators must have supporting data from an assessment of the external and internal frame factors that document the need for a program. It should include the projected success of the program based on a business case, cost analysis, assured applicant pool, and a business plan. Once the needs assessment is completed and a time frame is in place, planners review all of the components of the curriculum to ensure congruence with the originating educational program. For details on conducting a needs assessment, budgeting, and the components of the curriculum see Sections III and IV. In addition, an evaluation plan should be developed to ensure the quality of the program and to meet accreditation standards.

External Frame Factors

Utilizing the components of assessment from the internal and external frame factors, a needs assessment reveals the feasibility for mounting a distance education program. If the program plans an off-campus but on-land satellite, the external frame factors include an assessment of the community where the program is to take place with such factors as community location and receptivity to distance education, the population’s characteristics and its sophistication in technology, the delivery of education far from the home campus, and the ability to create an academic setting away from the home campus. Additional external frame factors consideration include the political climate and body politic, that is, the openness to off-site educational programs and possible competitive issues from vendors of distance education programs and other nursing education programs that serve the region. The health care system and health needs of the populace have an influence on the program as to how graduates of the program can serve them. It is necessary to learn if there are potential collaborative opportunities to supply the program with students who are staff in the off-site health care agencies and who are interested in furthering their education for career opportunities.

A demonstrated need for a distance education program includes an adequate student body that will continue for at least 5 to 10 years; support from members of the nursing profession in the region that is to be served; national, regional, and state regulations; and accreditation agencies’ approvals. Usually, the sponsoring program 397must notify all accrediting and approval agencies of its plans to offer the distance education program with each of these agencies requiring specific descriptions of the program including the potential student body, faculty, curriculum plan, academic and capital infrastructure support systems, timelines, plans for evaluation, and most importantly, financial feasibility with a business plan.

Internal Frame Factors

Much like the external frame factors, a review of the internal frame factors provides additional information in the planning for a distance education program. Of prime concern is the support of the parent academic institution and its experience with distance education programs. If it has a history of managing these types of programs, it is more likely to be supportive of the nursing program. Even more advantageous is an established distance education program from the parent institution that exists in the proposed delivery site. A check with the mission and purpose, philosophy, and goals of the parent institution and the nursing program is in order to ensure the distance education’s program’s congruence with those of the parent. The internal economic situation and its influence on distance education programs are critical to the financial feasibility of the program.

Cost Issues

If the recommendations from the needs assessment demonstrate that the distance education program is viable, the school of nursing administration prepares a business case to present to the parent institution. The purpose for a business case is to persuade key administrators and stakeholders that establishing a distance education program meets the mission of the institution, has a substantial potential student body, and adapts the existing accredited program to a satellite format without compromising its quality. The business case describes the program in detail and demonstrates that it is economically feasible. If prior distance education programs demonstrated success in bringing revenues to the program or are, at the least, self-sufficient, it is more likely that new programs will be supported. After presentation to and approval by the administration, the business case is developed into a detailed business plan.

The first and foremost cost issue to address in the business plan is the economic feasibility of the distance education program based upon an analysis of expected start-up costs, administrative costs, required number of faculty and staff, capital expenses (on-site facilities and technology support systems), and academic support (recruitment, admission, records, library access, and student support systems). Many times the needs assessment becomes a write-off at the expense of the nursing program and is financed through contingency funds or program development funds generated from grant overhead costs. The plan should include possible initial grant support for start-up funds and plans for eventual self-sufficiency. The resources that are required from the parent institution are listed and include off-site offices, laboratories, and classrooms; clinical-experience facilities; 398technological support systems for videoconferencing, teleconferencing, and/or web-based instruction; administrative, faculty and staff expenses; and academic support systems such as library, academic, and student services. Included in the assessment is a list of potential administrators, staff, faculty, and the proposed program’s student body characteristics.

The administration’s role and costs include supervisory or management functions to implement the program such as budget and personnel management, liaison activities with regional stakeholders, public relations, coordination, marketing plans, and preparation of reports to seek approval and accreditation of the distance education program from relevant agencies. Some of the staff and/or faculty cost considerations are the required full-time and part-time equivalents, benefits, travel and other expenses, supplies, and equipment.

These expenses vary according to the selected method of delivery of the educational program. For example, off-site offices, classrooms, and lab facilities are necessary for courses or classes conducted by on-site faculty or traveling faculty from the home campus. Expenses for this type of program are rent, telephones, computer support for faculty, staff, and students, and the usual office and classroom teaching supplies, hardware, and software such as computers, printers, audio–visual hardware and software, laboratory supplies, paper, correspondence materials, desks, chairs, laboratory clinical equipment and supplies, and so on.

Curriculum and Evaluation Plans

In addition to the economic feasibility for the program, an analysis of the curriculum is in order to ensure that the proposed distant program is congruent with the mission, goals, organizational framework, and student learning outcomes of the parent program. Although, the format and delivery of the curriculum may differ from the original, it must meet the same goals and objectives of the program. Administrators and faculty must make decisions regarding the format and have a rationale for why certain formats are chosen, for example, on-land satellites, video and/or teleconferencing, and/or web-based platforms.

The new program should be integrated into the master plan of evaluation of the parent program to ensure its quality. Additionally, it should have its own evaluation plan for monitoring the program as it is implemented for corrections along the way (formative evaluation) and to have summative evaluation plans in place that measure the success of the program in terms of student learning outcomes and success, satisfaction of the stakeholders, and its continued congruence with the components of the parent program’s curriculum. See Table 18.1 for guidelines for the development of distance education programs.

TYPES OF DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The following is a description of the major types of distance education program. Some of the pros and cons for them are listed.

399Satellite Campuses

For the purposes of this discussion, satellite campuses are defined as those programs that offer the curriculum in whole or in part on off-campus sites from the parent institution. While they can incorporate technology methods such as videoconferencing and web-based instruction, the majority of the teaching and learning takes place in classrooms and involves in-person interactions between the faculty and students. For nursing, clinical experiences may occur in health care facilities in the community in which the satellite campus is located. Faculty members who teach in the parent institution serve as on-site faculty or act as consultants to off-site faculty who teach the same curriculum. For those faculty members on the home campus who actually teach on the satellite campus, travel costs and the related time it takes for travel are included in the costs for implementing the program. These costs are weighed against the cost of the salary and benefits for hiring on-site faculty.

There are added challenges for finding off-site faculty who are qualified to teach the subject content as they must be oriented to the curriculum to ensure its integrity. Thus, it is not unusual for the parent institution to have an academic manager for the satellite campus program(s) who can serve as the curriculum and academic services coordinator. In the instances of off-site satellite campuses, the course content and materials for both theory and clinical are identical to that of the home campus. Special events to link the off-site and home campuses are often planned to foster the socialization process for students and faculty so that there is a milieu of all people belonging to the same institution.

Additional resources are needed to implement the distant satellite campus such as students’ access to texts either through the home bookstore or other resources such as online book companies; library access; online access if it is part of the curriculum; and student services including academic, financial aid, and personal counseling usually through the on-site coordinator and support staff. Recruitment, admission, and enrollment services are additional resources that can be served by on-site personnel if the program is large or by home-campus staff who travel periodically to the satellite campus.

Some of the arguments against these types of program are the loss of students on the home campus, possible incongruence between the implementation of the courses in the curriculum owing to a loss of interactions among students and faculty with the home campus, a danger that the majority of the faculty and staff are part time and therefore some of the commitment to the institution is lost, and the possibility that the program is too costly and cannot become self-sufficient. Some of the arguments for these types of distance education programs include the interpersonal communications and relationships between faculty and students, a sense of belonging to the parent institution through face-to-face encounters on campus or other on-land locations, increasing student enrollments for the program, and serving a community need. If there is a careful plan for implementing the curriculum, there is an assurance that the curriculum remains intact. Some cost savings for students and the institution can be realized in travel and personnel expenses if some of the faculty and staff are part time.

400TABLE 18.1 GUIDELINES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAM

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