Methodology of a discussion...

Well the data was analyzed and I must say this business of data, those unemotional sets of numbers, has surprised me a lot. Some of the more pertinent things I found in the questionnaire and from Moodle.

• Nursing students have finished the course quicker
• Nursing students have only scored 1 mark less than nurses
• The distribution of time spent in the course is very similar for nursing staff and students!
• When there is little difference it gives my LMS more weight as the more experienced staff not running away with the show tells me the LMS has played a part in educating both groups.

And thus the results had a lot of charts and tables and then we went on to the discussion.

In the discussion I tried to be as unemotional as the data that I possessed. No airy fairy words of self congratulation. In fact I tried to state to the reader not too take too much 'notice' of the feedback I had received and suggested there is more to it than meets the eye! Problems in the help section, deficiencies in the human computer interaction were shamelessly exposed by this budding researcher!

And all with good reason. A discussion is meant to tell the reader things beyond the simple result. And this I feel will always be appreciated. In fact its a reference point for myself when I take it to the next level انشالله!

Acknowledgement were for all who had helped me. My supervisors Professor Jayantha Weerasinghe, Dr Gominda Ponnamperuma led the parade of thanks from lecturers to laymans.

References were in the Vancouver Style which were available in Word 2007 via the ISO 690 reference tool in the Reference section in Word 2007. Hope it is adequate.

Appendix had my questionnaires.

It also had a picture of a rather interesting blog...

Questions on Questionnaires

Right so its about that time to see what sort of output I can get. I should be able to get two types of result sets:

1. From the feedback form itself
2. From Moodle's built-in activity log

Removing the seal

 So lets do the questionnaires first. The general information I have is:

• Number of questionnaires completed: 21
• Number of questionnaires with no errors in the answering of the questionnaire: 10 (Category I or C1)
  
• Number of questionnaires with errors in the answering of the questionnaire: 11 (Category 2 or C2)
• Types of errors:
• Unclear whether student or staff
• Said they understood the lesson (Question 17) but then gave reasons why they did not understand the lesson (Question 18)
• Said they fully completed the course (Question 6) but then gave reasons why they did not complete the course (Question 7)
• Average number of errors in a C2 form : 1 - 2
• In addition there is a inherent error in Question 14 which means I have to discard this

There are errors but  is not unusual

 Now what can I gain from Moodle?

1. Percentage of Students vs Staff (Prof Jayantha feels as both are low knowledge this is not an issue) [Student/Staff breakdown answered]
2. Their duration in the course
3. Details of what they participated in and ~ how long
4. Whether all parts of the course were covered (Q6 answered)

So how do I work around the problem of the questionnaire. Some ideas from my supervisors:

• Have 2 result sets
1. From the Feedback form
2. From Moodle's monitoring system
• Remove Questions 2 - 5, 14, 17 & 18 from the analysis
• Try as best as possible to get information lost from the Question from Moodle.
• Discuss the value of Moodle as a more reliable method of surveying.

As a pleasant surprise it seems a lot of nurses want the next survey online! Puts a bit of a dampener on why I used a form but yet its good news that these low knowledge learners are willing to change their habits so readily particularly as not even 33% in the pre-questionnaire knew hot to use the internet and probably still don't have a very good idea!

Hopefully I should have a better idea in a few days time.

Day 3: Another day in cyberschool

As in days 1 and 2 the nurses came with great interest about this course which by now had spread among the staff.

• I think overall (until I see the results of the questionnaire of course) I think students liked the real time interaction of the 'chat' feature the most although their English limited them to short conversations.

Student in a chat session

• Today again I realized I have to study human computer interaction a lot more. I found many students searching for the login and lesson in the shortcut section; no doubt after the lesson I shall change this as I cannot alter the lesson environment during the experiment as that shortcut area is part of the questionnaire data. Shneiderman's 2nd rule is wanting!
• Today we had a nursing sister who joined the course as well.

The Sister in action!

As of this post I am nearing to get about 20 questionnaires filled and I hope I get more. Tomorrow I have to give 1 computer station away and my technician will not be available so I dont know if this is the last day. It has certainly been a learning experience.

Day 2: More to learn!

Day two was busier than the first and I cant remember how many nurses have come. Word has spread about the course and we found even nurses who were on duty taking short leave to attend the course. The highlights for today.

• Could not keep track of nurses count today...

Some came off duty...

Some even took short leave!

• I had to demo the system for my Managing Director who is also the secretary for the Association of Private Hospitals & Nursing Homes. It was a pleasant visit and he seemed to think this PBL lesson method would serve training nursing assitants well. 

Demo for Secretary, APHNH

• A lot of interesting things to note about the human computer interaction

1. User had a tendency to search for the lesson link near the help center / shortcut area.
2. Clear color differentiation in the flash lesson helped these learner as I did not find any with a problem using the lesson after having gone through the available audio help.
3. The help section could have done with audio as nurses tried to 'listen' to the help which was in visual form. Perhaps this generation is used to hearing instruction.
4. I felt the help section needs to be very comprehensive for a online session with 'no' technician. I dont think with this level of learner it will be possible to hold classes without any technical help.
5. Exploratory learning of the students were there but they needed to be coaxed into pressing buttons as if something wrong would happen if they did. I dont think this will be a problem with a more advanced learner.
6. The fact that a Sinhalese dictionary was linked to the lesson was a thoroughly used by the students from my observation.
7. Chat function was met with enthusiasm by the students but I felt they were hesitant to type wrong English due to their language difficulties and thus chats were short.
8. Exam area was handled well by most students with a few hiccups here and there. The fact that I had put a time challenge was not well understood although the instructions were given.
9. Not only were all students taught to log in but they were taught to be polite and safe and log out as well. A bit of netiquette!

• My technician and I caught 3 minor errors in the LMS and corrected them.
• On a more comical note I had a nurse who came away from her private feedback form answering area and asked if she should put 8 for everything! I laughed and sent her back and told her that pass or fail the data would always be good and useful.

So although still not finished day 2 is also looking decent.

Slow and steady...

A refreshing first day of deployment!

I felt good about today when it started and my feelings were correct! The highlights...

• I and my marketing officer setup the system in the morning of two computers with data dongles.

Testing the system before the class

• Upto this blog post I have had the pleasure of three nurses come into the course

• A student who had not used computers before was able to grasp the concept of the internet...

30 mins before only one had IT skills

30 min later both were into the lesson

• Although they had difficulties in English and technical hitches here and there they really interacted well with the lesson. The lesson had links to an English-sinhala dictionary and they were well used throughout the course from my observation. We merely played the role as facilitator!

Students in the lesson

Taking notes! Must have bee useful!

Engaged in a chat with a virtual 'ලෙඩා'

• Finally we explained about the questionnaire and the students filled them up privately and placed them in a ballot box to be opened on the 26th evening!

Student putting a form into the 'box'

Although I had beta tested the system with some technical people still there were a few errors in the hyperlinks. But all in all it was a very satisfying day and gave me insight how big the words 'quality assurance managers' are not to mention the technical difficulties of running a small course like this let alone a big one.

One small step...

LMS finished but deployment is pending!

Another opportunity to overcome an obstacle!

Finally I managed to setup the LMS and feel satisfied I followed all the principles I have mentioned in my mock methodology. The course is small but sweet and already Prof Jayantha feels it has some merit which is a boost for me! Unfortunately I have now hit a roadblock in the form of networking problem with the internet. I now have two options:

1. Reduce the course to two computers as I can use my data dongle and the hospital data dongle
2. Or work for the next day and put the LMS on a LAN as was planned in my alternative system

I still feel option 1 is better as I don't see each person taking more than 2 hours to go through this short lessons and keeping the course open from Today till Wednseday 9 - 9 means I should be able to get at least 20 students through.

Stuck with lesson development

Unfortunately nobody to help with the lesson development!

• Storyboard
• Content
• Building up the PBL to reveal TB

I have a bad feeling about this but I am sure this is a point to be talked about in the limitation!

A breakthrough in the appearance of Moodle

Much better than the drab colors of Moodle...

Although initially I though I will be consigned to bring out the attractiveness of the LMS by my own animations etc. I, with some technical guidance from Mr Roshan Dikkumbura, Technical Coordinator, Moodle, PGIM managed to make a much better theme! On Roshan's advice I have tried to make a quick link area as a demonstration of one of the rules of Shneiderman's "Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design" which states

"2 Enable frequent users to use shortcuts.

As the frequency of use increases, so do the user's desires to reduce the number of interactions and to increase the pace of interaction. Abbreviations, function keys, hidden commands, and macro facilities are very helpful to an expert user."

The quick link list is just off the top of my head and I think it will get shorter and smaller. I also am planning to make profiles with clear pictures of everyone so they get that social network feel of things which might appeal to this youngish audience who may have heard 'මුහුණ පොත". Also the sinhala text will help give a clue!

I am very satisfied! My heartfelt thanks to Roshan for SKYPEing with me for nearly 3 hours on this one!

A rational rationale + moving some intro to method

Prof JW suggested I do a SWOT for the rationale:

S - We have solid nursing in SL
W - Their IT literacy and CPD levels are not great
O - The improved IT literacy should be exploited
T -  Their is a future threat for employment of some nurses so a LMS will address this

Also I think this business of my 'proposed' solution should really be in method as I cannot propose anything in an introduction! What was I thinking?

Nurse Training Centre

So now I require a nurse training center to deploy my LMS to our nurses. To this effect I have instructed Mr Nizam, Marketing Officer to use the available resources and make a 3 table area with 3 chairs in the Villa Room, Level 7 only until 31.1.11. I will also require:

• 3 Computers
• 1 will be my laptop
• 2 will be the Acer 14" laptop of Prof RS
  
• 3 will be the Compaq 14" of Mr WR
• Internet: Shall be provided by me
• Power Supply: Extension cords if not available in WI will be provided by me
• 3 Mouse: Shall be provided by me
  

The centre will be open daily from 9am to 9pm starting from Tuesday to 26.1.11. Mr Nizam will conduct orientation classes for the selected students during the period from 18.1 to 20.1 and anybody who needs introduction to basic computers. 21.1 to 26.1 will be only for students of the course which will include some orientation as well to be conducted by me. Up to today the following have agreed to follow the course.

1 Ms Kumari

2 Ms Shriya

3 Ms Nishanthi

4 Ms Vasana

5 Ms Sharika

6 Ms Erandie

7 Ms Udayangi

8 Ms Champika

9 Ms Chaturika

10 Ms Sanoja

11 Ms Lanka

12 Ms Nilushika

13 Ms Yamuna

14 Ms Nisansala

15 Ms Niranjala

16 Ms Dilrukshi

17 Ms Deepika

18 Ms Deepani

19 Ms Shanthi

20 Ms Indika

21 Sister Nilmini

...And any other nurses who could not be present for the interview conducted on 14.1.11 are still welcome up to the cutoff date of 18.1.11. If I could also interview Ms Pushpakanthi and Ms Naomi it would useful as well.

I shall collect only the data up to 26.1 evening and after that Mr Nizam will run the course for the benefit of the nurses till 31.1 when we can return all things back to normal.
I can well understand that everyone cannot be released at one time and neither do we have the PC's to do so. I shall work with Matron and Mr WR on this one. At the end of the day this is of benefit not only to me but also to the nurses who go through the course as such things as TB drug regimes and Mantoux testing will be covered.

Lets hope this works out InshaAllah!

Started testing embedding of flash!

A great start as I was easily able to to start embedding flash using Dreamweaver as the IDE and then copying the tags except the everything including and outside <body></body>. Worked like a charm! I am thinking since its a problem solving approach having it like a 'mystery' would be appropriate. Lets see. If I can write up the initial methodology it would be great!

Guideline for the thesis received!

So finally the guidelines have arrived. A little different from what I was doing but its not too bad. My only problem is dividing the write up between the Rationale and the early part of Introduction which seems to be the same. On the flip side the feasibility report can be included in the thesis which means reducing my thesis into 10,000 words looks like my likely problem InshaAllah.

Basically it now goes like this:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.       List of symbols

II.    List of tables

III. List of figures

IV. Appendix

1.      Rationale

2.      Introduction

2.1.   Background of nursing in the private sector

2.1.1.      The current categories of nurses

2.1.2.      Analysis of the current refresher course

2.2.   Problems with the current refresher course

2.3.   Proposed solution: Learning Management System (LMS) for refresher course

2.4.   General & specific objectives

3.      Review of the literature

3.1.   Definition of key terms

3.2.   Review on "Assessing online nursing courses"

3.3.   Technology adapted

3.3.1.    Feasibility study

3.4.   Research question

4.      Materials and Methods

4.1.   Preparatory work

4.2.   Structure of the LMS

4.2.1.      Overview

4.2.2.      Roles of specific users

4.3.   Developing a lesson

4.3.1.      Instructional Material Design - ADDIE Process

4.3.2.      Applied Human-Computer Interface

4.3.3.      Application of the principles of multimedia learning

4.3.4.      Application of eLearning 2.0

4.4.   Monitoring mechanism

4.5.   Assessment techniques

5.      Results

6.      Discussion

7.      Limitations of the LMS

7.1.   Reflection

8.      Recommendations

9.      Acknowledgement

10.  References

Timeline @ the speed of light!

Talk about a close finish. Very roughly my timeline looks like this:

15 - 20: Design the LMS + Write the method
20: Make a draft questionnaire
21 - 26: Deploy the LMS to the nurses.

• I am given 3 computers with internet connection so this should be adequate time to do a trial run as well as proper run and allow a little interactivity between the students. I hope by the tail end of this to have developed the questionnaire to give the nurses.

27: Analyze the data of the questionnaires
27 - 31: Results and Discussion

All of this with back and forth mails and meeting with my respected supervisors!

Do I even have time to blog?

General Pre-Questionnaire Complete

I formulated a Pre-Questionnaire based on the advice I received and although its not perfect I feel I have achieved some good objectives:

• It was a face-face interview method used. I hope that will not be a problem. Each student was individually interviewed and questionnaire filled. Are their pitfalls in this method. I merely did as I had no time!
  
• The majority are student learners and thus more multimedia and colorful interface is justified by the principle of individual difference which states "...that design effects are stronger for low-knowledge learners than for high-knowledge learners. Design effects have lower impact for high-spatial learners compared to low-spatial learners..."
• I'm technically unable to do major style editing to the color interface of Moodle. I hope the theme selected will serve the purpose.
• To compensate for this I plan to do this prototype lesson in Flash rather than HTML. Flash's slow loading time will certainly be a talking point in the defense but I cannot be faulted for lack of design effects which will assist the learning of this cohort. At the same time I am not fluent enough in HTML and Javascript to give a truly interactive experience on those platforms.
  
• 66% of students have some sort of interaction with computers which is a boon for me.
• 70% of students like a problem solving approach to learning which was a pleasant surprise and ties in to my lesson plan.
• 100% of students were willing to join a course of this nature which may mean they are scared to say 'no'
  

Project Method: ADDIE Process + Other Stuff

Whilst writing the method of implementation I had to read up the ADDIE process of developing online instruction (http://www.instructionaldesign.org/models/addie.html). To be frank this level of designing we were not taught and I shall not attempt to fully address this section when I send my methodology in a few days time. I shall concentrate a bit more on:

• Instructional strategy: That we will plan the the student to learn about TB through more of a scenario based theory than just plain theory
• Multimedia: How I used the principles to effect in the instruction
  
• Human computer interface: How the interface is styled and the unformity of design throughout the LMS

I know it sounds good when writing. Unfortunately its still not in a stage of deployment. I am having trouble changing the colors and style in Moodle at the moment to suit the course.

Time is short!

Chat with Dr BJC on 10.1.11

Whilst waiting for my MSc group photo I thought to tap into the mind of Dr BJC Perera, a good mind as any to tap into. Sir had some clear advice for me which echoes the sentiments of my supervisors:

1. Deploy your system asap
   
2. Get feedback data
3. Discuss what went right / wrong
4. No result is useless for a MSc thesis

Wise words indeed and hopefully ones I will heed to...

What sort of pre-questionnaire is needed + Started work on web page

Last week was a terrible loss for my family as my maternal aunty passed away. The worst thing about it is she died whilst I and my sister were taking turns doing chest compressions on her. Even here the thoughts of the use of ICT were in my mind. Could the ECG machine have told me something was up early? Shouldn't it be a standard in all ECG machines? The BP monitor should work better in low pressure situations. The pulse oxymeter did not work well at low SpO2 levels. More instructional videos for the nurses how to react in an emergency may have saved minutes. The doctors needed it too. All in all I felt the need for ICT.

Pre-questionnaire to nurses

• General Information: Name, Age, Nursing Level (Students, Nurse, Senior Nurse, Sister)
• General ICT Information: Use of Computers, Use of Internet, Use of an online course (probably nobody would have)
• Human Computer Interface: Choose from a range of colors, Choose from a range of fonts
• Multimedia: Preference for images, audio (local languages), video

Or since I have done a LR and have concluded that a multimedia driven system is preferable is this necessary and will only a General Questionnaire do?

Rough plan for the LMS:

• Basic structure.
• Emphasis on a colorful interface as possible
• Moodle itself is not very pretty.
• I can make the web pages I create somewhat attractive.
• Prior to deployment (?Jan 20) I shall at least have Pulmonary TB up and running as I hear most students are working on only one module.

Feasibility Report Sent

Well I knew it was feasible. I had mentioned in my project proposal as well what was feasible. But I had to break it down into certain parts:

• Economic Feasibility - Is it financially feasible (Man, Material, Money)
• Technical Feasibility - How technically challenging is it (Use of HW and SW)
• Legal Feasibility - Are their legal issues? (Licencing, Agreement with client)
• Organizational Feasibility - Do you have the team to do it?
• Alternative System - Do you have a plan B?
• Cost Benefit Analysis - Benefits you can see (tangible) and cant (intangible); is it worth the investment?
• Risk Analysis & Mitigation (What can go wrong and what is a possible solution)
• Organizational risk
• Product risk
• Project risk 
• Technology risk  

All in all its a good refresher!