When you enter or reenter a nursing program, you may have the pleasure of taking an online course. If you are truly fortunate, you will work with a professor who establishes authentic learning activities – activities that promote deep learning and the acquisition of practical skills.
I had such an opportunity when professor Heidi Schweizer from Marquette University asked students to create a blog. My prior exposure to blogging was limited to a viewing of Julie and Julia which, while certainly entertaining, left me woefully underprepared for authorship.
After locating and reading a few nursing blogs I proceeded to blogspot.com . Happily, the task of creating the blog foundation was straightforward. A working blog appeared in less than an hour. Subscribing to and reading the comments made by my classmates was interesting. I learned more about each of them and the practice of engaging in the blogging helped me to understand the activity more completely. I spent a great deal of time in reflection as I prepared my post and responded to those made by my classmates,
If a problem existed with this learning activity, it might be the feeling of exposure I experience as I publicly posted in the new blog. It was a feeling of receiving a never-before-read sheet of music and being asked to sing the song aloud in front of a room full of opera critics.
Our professor requested feedback in the form of an improvement for the blog activity and the related coursework. I think my feelings of stage fright could be assuaged if we were given a short list of well-done blogs. Perhaps students could be asked to find two blogs related to their professional field and to critique those blogs using predetermined criteria for high-quality communication.
So, blog on, fellow nurses and future teachers. Find your own voice and begin to share it with others. Your patients and your colleagues need to hear from you!
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