Collaboration
First, collaboration allows people to share ideas and solve problems together. The advantages of collaborative learning include fostering teamwork, accountability, and efficient completion of large assignments (Rowles, 2012). Technology provides various avenues for collaboration. Wikis, video conferencing, social media, blogs, and document sharing platforms, such as Google docs, all provide easily accessible ways to collaborate. One of the main disadvantages of collaborative learning is the schedule conflict group members experience (Rowles, 2012). Technology allows group members to work together at varying times and places eliminating the schedule conflict dilemma. For example, the previous post discusses how to utilize a wiki to complete a group paper. Sharing information, editing the document, and providing resources were all completed with the wiki rather than having to hold several in person meetings. Below is a screenshot of how the use of colored font enabled the group to track individual contributions.
Digital storytelling is simply sharing a story with digital media (University of Houston, 2014). The story should have audio and video components, whether they be voice-overs or video recording.
Below is a short video providing a simple definition and overview of how digital stories are created.
Digital stories may be utilized in nursing education in multiple ways. Instructors may choose to create the story in order to teach new content. For example, taking a written case study and transforming it into a digital story for students to view. Students can also create their own digital stories as an assignment. Digital storytelling assignments allow the students to be creative while requiring them to engage in high-order thinking (Du Fore, 2013). Stories require organization, planning, and synthesis of information to convey the desired message to the audience. Furthermore,when students share stories of personal experience, other students gain knowledge from clinical situations they may never encounter while in school. Finally, in nursing practice story telling serves as method to reduce compassion fatigue and cope with poor patient outcomes (Landis, 2014).
Blendspace
Blendspace is a website providing teachers with tools to integrate technology into their classroom. The website combines both collaboration and digital storytelling. Lessons created by the instructor are in digital storytelling format. The students are able to collaborate with one another through posting text or audio comments throughout the presentation. Furthermore, faculty can collaborate with one another through the "collaborate" button when finished editing a presentation. Below is a screenshot of this button, but it does require the user to upgrade in order to access this feature.
For more information on how to utilize Blendspace for digital storytelling and collaboration watch the following YouTube webinars:
References
Du Fore, J. (2013) Digital storytelling on Blendspace. [Video file] Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgAKK-BPl1g
Landis, E. (2014) Esthetic action: Creativity as a collaborative process. In Bradshaw, M. &
Lowenstein, A. (Eds.) Innovative teaching strategies in nursing and related health professions
(p.99-108). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
Rowles, C. J. (2012) Strategies to promote critical thinking and active learning. In Billings, D. &
Halstead, J. (Eds.) Teaching in Nursing: A Guide for Faculty p.258-279). St Louis, MO: Elsevier
University of Houston (2014). Educational uses of digital storytelling. Retrieved from
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/page.cfm?id=27&cid=27&sublinkid=30
Thanks adding our class example of collaborative documents.
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