Care Reflection Online

• Duration: 2016 – 2019
• Project lead: Prof. Dr. Karsten D. Wolf

Project management: Prof. Dr. Karsten D. Wolf (ZeMKI-Lab “Media Education and Educational Media”)

Funding institution: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), European Social Fund of the European Union (ESF)

Project duration: 2016 – 2019

Learning using digital media is now widespread at nursing schools, and a wide range of eLearning materials are also available to schools. However, the potential of eLearning is still far from being fully exploited. For example, the teaching/learning opportunities are still largely static, they are not systematically integrated into nursing lessons, but only selectively, and web-based learning has hardly been used to date, even though it would be particularly suitable for linking learning at the practice and school learning locations and supporting virtual communication within the student group.

The aim of the project, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the European Social Fund of the European Union (ESF), was to develop, implement and evaluate an innovative, computer-aided, case-based, multimedia and cooperative learning environment for nursing training at the interface between theoretical and practical/company training. In the long term, the project contributes to increasing the attractiveness of nursing training and enhancing its value. By anchoring digital learning in nursing training, the media skills of teachers and students are improved.

Three specific case situations that are problematic in everyday nursing practice, e.g. caring for people with dementia or in pain, were filmed in different variations and sequences. They form the basis for the development of three multimedia teaching/learning modules based on nursing and media didactics, which are implemented and evaluated in the cooperating nursing schools and facilities. In terms of nursing didactics, the project is based on interactionist nursing didactics. What is new here is that the media of photography and film are used to promote hermeneutic and reflective skills.

In addition, a computer-based, multimedia learning environment adapted to the needs of learners and teachers is being designed for nursing training and made usable as part of a classroom management system. On the one hand, the CARO learning environment enables students to work on learning assignments independently using an app – regardless of where they are learning – and to exchange information virtually within their learning group. On the other hand, it offers teachers the opportunity to design lessons and self-learning at the workplace or at home didactically and methodically and to adapt the modular learning content individually to the respective learning group. In this way, both learning at the nursing school and nursing facility are linked and learning-related direct and virtual interaction between the students is supported.

Further project components consisted of advising the participating institutions on how to secure the necessary technical infrastructure and developing a lecturer training course, both online and face-to-face.

At the end of the project, the learning environment, the three CARO modules and the online tutorial for lecturers were published as open source on a public repository. The results and findings of the project were also incorporated into the further development of the Interactionist Nursing Didactics model.