Technology Integration Among Faculty in Online Nursing Courses

Purpose: Technology not only plays an integral role in nursing practice, but it is essential in nursing education. While the concept of online course offerings has been realized through advances in technology such as learning management systems, faculty struggle to implement the newest technologies in online courses that engage students, enable social learning, and enhance the learning experience. May et al. (2013) highlighted how various technology is available to nurse educators, and when used appropriately can augment and enhance both the classroom and clinical experience. Posting static video lectures is one method of content delivery in online courses, but it does not allow the student to interact with faculty or peers. Furthermore, the integration of technology has the potential to be very stressful on nursing faculty (Merrill, 2015). At the current time, there are limited findings from research in regards to the integration of technology into nursing education settings (Williamson & Muckle, 2018). Understanding faculty desires and adaptability in regards to the integration of interactive video technology can be used to guide processes of technology implementation and impact the culture of change in regards to technology acceptance. Technology tools such as interactive video platforms offer an innovative method of content delivery and engage faculty and students in the use of technology as well as the teaching-learning process (Khan, Egbue, Palkie, & Madden, 2017).

Methods: A descriptive correlational design was used for the study. Data collected included: 1) demographic information and 2) responses to the original TAM tool modified for interactive video technology. The TAM provided the conceptual framework for this study and was developed from the Theory of Reasoned Action by Davis (1989). The TAM has been validated as reliable for predicting the acceptance or adoption of new technologies by end-users and provides a causal relationship for explaining or predicting technology acceptance among users based off of their perceptions, attitudes, and intentions (Davis, Bogozzi, & Warshaw,1989; Lai, 2017). The original TAM was comprised of six questions that measure perceived usefulness (PU) and six questions that measure perceived ease of use (PEOU). The two determinants for attitude are PU and PEOU, and according to the TAM, PU has an independent effect on behavioral intention while PEOU has an effect on PU (Davis, 1989). Pearson’s r is commonly used in correlational research and was the statistical approach in this study. The survey was disseminated to a convenience sample of nurse educators via electronic format through the Sigma platform known as The Circle. SPSS is being used to analyze demographic and quantitative data. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained.

Results: Data collection concluded May 27, 2019. SPSS is currently being used to analyze demographic and quantitative data.

Conclusion: This research study is currently in progress and is anticipated to be completed by July of 2019.