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!