The diffusion of new instructional technologies is rapidly changing nursing education and what educators do to promote student learning (Peck, 2014). Successful integration of social media into curricula can help students gain greater understanding of communication, professionalism, health care policy, and ethics (Schmitt, Sims-Giddens, & Booth, 2012). The assimilation of formal curricula that include digital communication will ultimately promote student success in using social media as a professional tool (Peck, 2014).
Social media offers a learning platform that can actively engage students outside the classroom, enhance student learning outcomes, and provide a means for the dissemination of scholarly activities. To be effective, social media as a teaching strategy must be used purposefully with measureable objectives (Peck, 2014). The benefits of using social media in curricula, such as active student engagement, have been identified in the literature and outweigh concerns related to social media usage (Schmitt et al., 2012). However, there is a noticeable gap in the literature regarding the programmatic integration of social media into health sciences education. This article contributes to the body of knowledge by describing the integration of social media use in an online doctoral nursing program.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Boyer (1990) proposed that the scholarship of teaching involves the utilization of best evidence to create active, engaged learners. The integration of social media into curricula fosters Boyer's ideal (Greenhow & Gleason, 2014). It also aligns with social constructivism and connectivism values by creating decentralized learning that is easily accessible to a broad network of individuals (Greenhow & Gleason, 2014). As digital technologies and communities evolve, the discussion of social scholarship grows and new theories emerge. Networked participatory scholarship is one such theory.
Conceptualized by Veletsianos and Kimmons (2011), networked participatory scholarship is "the emergent practice of scholars' use of participatory technologies and online social networks to share, reflect upon, critique, improve, validate and further their scholarship" (p. 768). Networked scholarship meets Boyer's goal of broadening scholarship by fostering connection, collaboration, and curations between people as opposed to institutions (Stewart, 2015). Veletsianos and Kimmons (2011) argue that this cultural shift requires new skill sets for scholars involving transmedia application and networking.
Social analytics provides a mechanism for examining and organizing social media content and may help inform best practices regarding the integration of social media into curricula (Greenhow & Gleason, 2014). Although research supports the integration of social media into curricula, barriers do exist. These include risks of privacy violation, time, and lack of familiarity with technology (Schmitt et al., 2012).
CASE STUDY: INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA
The primary reason for the integration of social media into an online doctoral nursing program is to develop professional social media skills, in particular, networking and dissemination of information. Integration provides students multiple formats, directions, and channels for communication and participation and builds a learning community supportive of understanding, synthesis, and knowledge dissemination (Procter, Brixey, Honey, & Todhunter, 2016). This case describes the integration of social media into an online doctoral nursing program through the use of blogging, microblogging via Twitter, and the creation of ePortfolios using the Wordpress platform (https://wordpress.com).
During their on-campus immersion as part of the orientation to the program, students are introduced to social media as a learning platform and the role social media will play in their program of study. During orientation, students participate in the following activities: a) sign a social media use contract and review Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) policies outlining social media use and patient privacy, b) review examples of social media content and engage in discussions to define professional communication within the context of social media, c) review the use of ePortfolios as a professional repository and the blogging feature of Wordpress, d) work with Wordpress instructional experts to create a personal professional ePortfolio, and e) create a dedicated Twitter account for the purposes of learning and interacting with faculty and fellow students.
To reinforce learning during the immersion and promote networking and the building of a community, students are asked to create a blog post and respond to fellow students' posts. The social media integration continues as students begin actual coursework. All courses in the program of study embed at least one of the three social media tools into course assignments alongside traditional teaching methods.
An example of a course assignment that uses social media as a learning tool is the development of scholarly products for dissemination via the ePortfolio. Faculty develop assignments that directly involve the use of social media and assign a course deliverable that highlights attainment of at least one programmatic student learning outcome to be posted on the student's ePortfolio. The attainment of learning competencies is documented through a dynamic electronic repository of the student's work (Wilmarth-Stec & Berry, 2015). As students enter their last semester of the program, they polish their ePortfolios and ready them for presentation to their doctoral project teams. As part of the requirement for successful program completion, the ePortfolio demonstrates the link between knowledge gained from coursework and course objectives and/or doctoral competencies.
The ePortfolio is also used as a blogging platform throughout the student's course of study. The blog feature of the Wordpress ePortfolio site allows for self-assessment and personal reflection. Blogging topics range from personal leadership development and communication to health care policies and ethics. Dissemination via blogging fosters professional growth by inviting peer review of the reflection.
Individual faculty also incorporate microblogging into their courses by adopting Twitter hashtags and creating assignments using these hashtags. Students develop a professional social media presence by refining their microblogging skills and maintaining collegial peer relationships beyond the online classroom.
An example of social media competency attainment can be found using the leadership competency. Students begin with a blogging assignment that directs them to reflect upon identified leadership strengths and weaknesses and how they might leverage those attributes in the creation of a project team. Based on peer feedback, students then develop, in a subsequent course, a personal leadership profile for dissemination via their ePortfolio. Students also create a microblog about effective leadership and identify a national leader to follow on Twitter. Twitter is then used to examine how this leader cultivates and maintains an active social media presence.
This social media platform allows students to engage with one another and other professionals through retweeting and replies, creating a network of learning on leadership (see Supplemental Digital Content, available at http://links.lww.com/NEP/A96). By using social media platforms, achievement of the leadership competency is demonstrated in a real-time, meaningful manner to the public, including faculty, fellow students, and community partners.
DISCUSSION
The presented case highlights the incorporation of social media into an online doctoral nursing program and demonstrates how social media integration fosters the development of professional skills including networking, engagement, dissemination of scholarly works, and the use of health information technology to create sustainable change. Measuring outcomes and social media competence can be challenging. Future studies on the integration of social media into an academic program should include measures of student skill development and social media's effectiveness as a tool for the dissemination of students' scholarly works.
This case attempts to mitigate risks of social media, in part, by having students sign usage contracts. However, organizational risks exist as content has the potential to be unmoderated. Preparation of the next generation of health care providers requires educators to equip clinicians with social media skills that will enable them to engage with an increasingly digital professional world.
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