Have you heard of podcasts? Or blogs? Or Webinars? These terms have been floating around for a while now and not everyone is familiar with what they refer to and how these entities offer nursing content and camaraderie.
Podcasts
Let us start with podcasts. These may be very familiar because of the popularity of MP3 players. Podcasts are a series of audio or video digital-media files that are distributed over the Internet by syndicated download, through Web feeds, to portable media players and personal computers. Although the same content may also be made available by direct download or streaming, a podcast is distinguished from other digital-media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added (http://Wikipedia.org). Streaming is when content is delivered via the computer as new content is being added. Listening to a baseball or football game as it is being played is an example of streaming.
Where or how do you find podcasts? They are available via commercial sites but are readily available by searching on your topic of interest "and podcasts." Using the search terms "nursing and podcasts" results in a wide range and a variety of available content. You can widen or narrow your search by being less or more specific as to the search criteria. I spent an enjoyable afternoon, reviewing many different sites that offered free podcasts. These included http://www.podfeed.net/tags/nursing, http://www.virginia.edu/uvapodcast/search, http://www.podcastdirectory.com, http://www.kaisernetwork.org, and http://NursingEducationontheGo.libsyn.com. There are also podcasts for which payment is required, and as you browse the Internet, you will encounter them as well. It appears that some of the professional organizations have podcasts available. These seem to predominately be member benefits, thus limiting or not allowing nonmembers to have access.
I noticed the symbol "RSS" on several sites I use regularly but until recently did not understand that this was another way to obtain podcasts. The initials "RSS" are used to refer to the following formats: "Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)," "RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)," or "Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91.)." RSS is group of Web feed formats used to publish works that are frequently updated such as blog entries, news headlines, and audio and video segments. Using an RSS Web feed enables the entity publishing or podcasting the information on the Web to do so quickly and automatically. The publishers/podcasters determine whether the RSS document contains full or summarized text. The file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs (http://Wikipedia.org).
The user benefits by receiving timely updates from favorite Web sites or as aggregated feeds from numerous sites. The user "subscribes" to the feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds (http://Wikipedia.org).
Blog
The next term heard a lot is "blog" especially if you are at all associated with persons younger than 30 years. Blog entries are mentioned earlier when discussing RSS. A blog is the contraction of the words "Web" and "log," and it is a series of comments, updates, or discussions usually originating from an individual on some topic or series of events. The entries are in reverse chronological order and are updated as the individual determines. They can be personal or professional in nature. Blogs are predominately used to enable the blogger to share their lives and thoughts with others or to serve as a form of self-expression. Blogs can be made private or public. The advantage to a blog is that communication through a blog is much faster than writing or even e-mailing.
There are many nurses who maintain a blog and the material found on these blogs runs the gamut of personal musings to information. As with a Web site, the quality and accuracy of the content must be evaluated for accuracy and currency prior to use of the information in your practice. To locate a nursing-related blog, search for "blogs and nursing." I found numerous sites but list only three to whet your appetite. These Web sites are http://www.northeastcenter.com/links_nursing_blogs.htm, http://www.travelnursingblogs.com, and http://mediblogopathy.blogspot.com/.
Webinars
Webinars are somewhat newer entities in nursing. The name formed from the contraction of "Web" and "seminar." A Webinar is a conference or presentation conducted live over the Internet. To "attend" a Webinar, the participant sits at his or her own computer and is connected to the other participants via the Internet. Prior to the actual Webinar, the participant must register, which may involve a fee as any other conference. Once registered, the Web site address will be e-mailed to you along with a password. You go to the designated Web site address, enter the password, and will be connected to the conference. Some Webinars are free and no password is needed to participate.
The Webinars are usually one way from the speaker to the participants, although interaction does occur via questions either telephoned in to the conference or through e-mail. The speaker gives the presentation as he or she would if all the participants were in the same room and is able to show slides using PowerPoint or Keynote on a Mac. The speaker can be seen in the larger computer screen or in a smaller side box or window while the slides are being viewed.
There are two ways in which the speaker's words are heard by the participant. The participant calls into a designated telephone number and hears the speaker over the telephone while viewing the presentation or via VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) technology, which enables the participant to "dial" up the speaker using a telephone icon on the Webinar site and hear the speaker via the computer. As you can imagine, using either technology in a noisy room where others may carry on a conversation during the Webinar is distracting to both the participants and the speaker.
A Webinar can use "Web tours," which allows the speaker to push to participants a URL (bypassing the logons, etc.) so the participants can have access to the site under discussion during the presentation. This feature works well when demonstrating Web sites to participants.
A Webinar can be recorded for viewing at a different time. Participant comments and subsequent speaker responses are also recorded allowing someone to gain the information they may have missed or review the content for further understanding.
The capacity exists that enables the speaker to annotate the slide presentation to highlight or draw attention to particular points of importance. Depending on the software program used for the Webinar, the capability exists to also allow viewer additions to the presentation either using the slide presentation or on a whiteboard specifically designated for viewer interaction.
As mentioned previously, live question-and-answer sessions can occur although limited to the participants. This is called "text chat." It can be public, open for all participants and the speaker to see and contribute to, or private, which is usually between two participants. Another option allows polls or surveys to be taken. The presenter is able to question the audience using multiple-choice questions and the audience's answers are seen in a graph or other format.
Screen, desktop, or application sharing is also available in most Webinars although used less frequently. This sharing activity allows the participants to view anything the presenter currently has shown on his or her screen. Once again, it enables the viewer to see exactly what the presenter is discussing. The content viewed is commonly outside the slide presentation and may involve Web browsers, spreadsheets, and so forth.
A related feature inherent in Web conferencing, of which Webinars are a part, is application sharing. Application sharing is an important capability of Web conferencing software because it enables one party in a conference to share an application (such as a spreadsheet, Web browser, etc.) from their desktop with everyone else in the meeting and pass control of the application to someone else in the meeting. This is an excellent tool to be aware of for remote meetings such as board meetings or workgroups. Web conferencing is sold as a service and can be priced on either a usage basis (cost per minute) or a fixed fee (cost per "seat"). Institutions may already participate in one of these services, and your organization may be able to contract for their institutionally based lower rates.
Unfortunately, because Webinars are "live," there are no examples readily available. The use of Webinars has been increasing and is becoming more commonly advertised. If you want to try one out, look for a free one, and even if it is not a topic of central importance to you or your practice, give it a try so you know if you would like to use this medium in the future. Perhaps one day we will "meet" at a Webinar!!
Conclusion
Now that you have a basic understanding of podcasts, blogs, and Webinars, you can take advantage of the content and learning opportunities offered by these approaches. More and more content is being offered through these new mediums and nurses need to be able to access the content needed to remain current, no matter how it is made available.
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