What Do Graduate Online Nursing Students Think They Need?

Thursday, 25 July 2013: 1:35 PM

Karyn Holt, PhD, CNM, RN
College of Nursing and Health Professionals, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Frances H. Cornelius, PhD, MSN, RN-BC, CNE
College of Nursing and Health Professions, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

Learning Objective 1: At the end of this session, the nurse educator will be able to identify and manage strategies to enhance engagement in course activities.

Learning Objective 2: The nurse educator will be able to identify what students think are the three most important characteristics for online faculty to possess.

The purpose of this session is to prepare nurse educators to meet the needs of students taking online courses. The growth in online enrollment is surpassing that of face to face enrollments with an impressive 21% increase in online enrollments in comparison to only a 2% increase in face to face enrollments (Allen & Seaman, 2010).  Clearly, online higher education is in high demand and the educational paradigm is shifting.  This transformation of the educational experience can be empowering for students and provide a rich learning environment, however, not enough has been done to prepare nurse educators to make this transition. Good classroom teaching skills do not easily transfer into the online classroom. Nurse educators must be opportunity to develop essential skills in the design and management of online courses that focus on the needs and strengths of the online nursing students and provide an engaging, student-centered learning environment. This innovative session will assist the nurse educator to identify the needs of graduate online nursing students and apply best practice strategies utilized by Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions as measured by student outcomes and evaluations.