Education in Technology

Teaching can be a tough thing to do. The educator has to prepare themselves to be able to be open enough to deploy the knowledge of themselves to others. They have to be prepared for the random questions that they haven't thought about, be prepared for the class of people who might not be interested in what they have to say or be prepared for the class who will challenge whatever the teacher has to say. Along with having to be prepared for teaching a group of students, the teacher, or in our case, the nursing informaticist needs to understand the different kinds of teaching methods to be able to teach appropriately in any given situation. 

One scenario the nursing informaticist is going to face is the education of nurses in regards to different kinds of technology. One specific piece of technology is through the use of mobile apps in the clinical setting. For this, a good teaching method would be for one-on-one education with the nursing informaticist and the clinical nurse. I think a one-on-one style would be best for this kind of education because the use of the mobile apps would be done on a cell phone which is small and unable to be seen by multiple people. It is hard in a group setting to get everyone to the same page if they cannot physically see the instructor and watch the steps they take to get into the depths of the mobile app. A one-on-one approach would be more manageable and intimate and allow for the educator and the student to create a bond which allows for back and forth questioning. The student would also be able to provide feedback as to what they might need more education on, and at the end will be able to provide a demonstration of what they learned through the education. 



A second scenario is the nursing informaticist and how they can educate on EHR systems. I think for this educational purpose, the lecture mixed with hands-on learning would be the best way for the nursing informaticist to go. The lecture style will be able to provide information to a larger group of people. Lecture style will also be helpful in the larger group because the informaticist can provide interaction which allows for the group to learn the system together. Using this kind of education in a group setting also allows for people to ask questions which other people may be too embarrassed to ask, giving the same information to everyone. A hands-on approach and also letting the students work within the system on their own to understand how it works can also help the students with their memory in trying to remember how everything works when the education is done.