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The purpose of this study was to assess the self-efficacy of nursing faculty and students related to their potential use of mobile technology and to ask what implications this technology has for their teaching and learning in practice education contexts. We used a cross-sectional survey design involving students and faculty in two nursing education programs in a western Canadian college. In January, 2011, 121 faculty members and students completed the survey. Results showed a high level of ownership and use of mobile devices among our respondents. The median mobile self-efficacy score was 75 on a scale of 100, indicating that both faculty and students were highly confident in their use of mobile technologies and prepared to engage in mobile learning. (Contains 10 tables.)

We report here on an exploratory formative evaluation of a project to integrate mobile learning into a Western Canadian college nursing program. Third-year students used Hewlett Packard iPAQ mobile devices for five weeks in a practice education course in April-May, 2007. Koole's (2009) "Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education" (FRAME) model provided our definition of mobile learning and was used to organize our presentation of the results of the study. Participants reported positively on the usability of the mobile devices, finding them easy to learn, readily portable, and the screen size sufficient for mobile specific programs. However, they had difficulty with the wireless connectivity and, despite an initial orientation, did not have time to fully learn the devices in the context of a busy course. As a result, it is not clear if students can effectively use the social technology provided by such devices or if mobile learning can support interaction between instructors and learners in this context. The use of mobile devices in nursing practice education is feasible, but further investigation is needed on the use of m-learning for communication and interactive purposes. (Contains 2 figures, 6 tables and 1 note.)

This paper explores strategies aimed at minimising attrition by encouraging persistence among online graduate students who are considering withdrawal. It builds upon earlier studies conducted by a team of researchers who teach online graduate students in health care at Athabasca University. First, in 2008-2009, Park, Boman, Care, Edwards, and Perry reviewed assumptions held related to attrition of online learners and defined key terms such as persistence and attrition. Next, Perry, Boman, Care, Edwards, and Park explored factors that influenced online students' decisions to withdraw. Reported in this paper are strategies related to course design, course delivery, and programme organisation that could reduce attrition rates. An additional section of the paper focuses on strategies to ease the re-integration of students who have withdrawn and subsequently want to return to their studies. Rovai's Composite Persistence Model and Harter and Szurminski's Project Assuring Student Success (PASS) programme are used as a framework for analysis and for generation of recommended strategies. (Contains 1 figure.)

This study provides information on ways to enhance learning for students using online educational programs. Technologies that foster and engage students in the learning process are necessary in the online learning environment. Wiki is an online teaching strategy used to promote student interaction. A Wiki was introduced into three sections of a graduate level online health professions course. The use of the Wiki is evaluated using the Perception of Wiki Survey to determine students' perceptions of the value of the technology. A student's choice to pursue one career over another, and eventual success or lack of success in that career, may relate to their personal learning style and the learning demands of that discipline. In this study students' learning style preference is determined using the Felder-Silverman Index of Learning Styles. The relationship between the students' perceptions of the Wiki and their learning style preferences is examined in this mixed methods study. No firm conclusions can be reached from the findings but interesting possibilities are raised. (Contains 4 tables.)

This paper is a report of the replication of a seminal study on cognitive presence in computer mediated conferencing (CMC) by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2001). A comparison of cognitive presence coding by three different researchers is also demonstrated. The study re-ignites debates about what constitutes the segment of CMC data to be coded and the objectivity of this type of data. (Contains 6 tables and 3 figures.)

This multidisciplinary autoethnography involved three colleagues from different departments in the same online institution. Drawing from parenting behavior, we reflectively explored the research question about how we demonstrated demandingness and responsiveness with our students and how we have changed in this over time. Few studies have looked at teaching styles in this way. Our methodology involved sharing personal journals with each other to develop deeper understandings about the phenomenon. Our assessments were a reflection of our personalities, teaching styles/approaches and based on a personal assessment of parenting style as a depiction of teaching style. Our teaching styles reflected our personality and leadership styles to a large extent but were they what we thought they would be or were they what we wanted them to be? All three of us are very engaged with our students. Our collaborative autoethnographic study has given us pause to reflect on how we teach. It has heightened our awareness about how demanding and responsive we are with our students. Our hope is that this article will help extend the dialogue on perceptions of demandingness and responsiveness in online teaching and that our stories resonate with readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three academics from different fields collaborated on a study in which we reflected on our group involvement. Although we originally worked together to provide our different perspectives on how to use debates in online courses, we found that our multidisciplinary collaboration evolved into self-study as we each wrote narratives about our own participation which we then discussed and interpreted from our unique perspectives. Despite the fact that our members consisted of someone from nursing, someone from business, and someone in psychology, we all agreed that we engaged in a successful collaboration, as assessed by our desire to work together again and by the joint publication of an article. This paper presents our individual and collective interpretations of our attempts to understand why we were successful in this project, even though we did not follow most of the principles of multidisciplinary collaboration, nor of the usual conventions of our respective disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]