Methods: After receiving ethical and operational approvals, participants were purposively sampled across all years of a three-year nursing program at both sites to take part in focus groups. The semi-structured interview guide invited participants to talk about their experience of and perceptions of the challenges and benefits of distributive synchronous learning. The focus group discussions were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed for themes. These themes will inform the development of a survey that will go out to all students in the program in phase 2 of the study.
Results: Participants at both campuses preferred classes where their instructor was present in-person because it enhanced active engagement with peers and with the material. Challenges identified by participants at the distributed site were a sense of being unknown/unknowing, anxiety associated with speaking in class, difficulty communicating with the instructor outside of class, technological issues, and didactic approach to teaching. The benefits cited were the inclusion of a rural perspective, accessibility of post-secondary education, cost, and convenience.
Conclusion: The use of technology is becoming ubiquitous in undergraduate nursing education. The rapid proliferation of various forms of e-learning have been criticised as being driven primarily by economic factors rather than pedagogical evidence. Our preliminary analysis suggests that the success of distributed synchronous learning extends beyond the availability of technology and depends on the extent to which students and faculty feel engaged and supported as they integrate these approaches into the learning experience. This study informs a deeper understanding of students' experience of synchronous distributed learning and provides guidance for nurse educators involved in distributed teaching and learning.