Keeping an Edge: Using Your Web 2.0 Tools for Continuous Learning

Melida D. Busch, MLIS and Lorna Frank, MSN, RN-BCLaura Werts, MS

Regional Faculty and Educator Development SymposiumSeptember 25, 2010

First: Shifting Gears

How to dial a phone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGWAkLVhuVI

New Button Dialing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t5na44D0Dw

What is News and Current Awareness?

• News and Current Awareness refers to the last 30-90 days of publications within a particular field or discipline

• The content resources which provide this information differ from discipline to discipline but may include: Newspapers, Trade papers, Journals, social media (blogs, Facebook, wikis), etc.

What is Continuous Learning?

The ability to learn from life/work experience. Scanning the environment, seeking and reflecting upon changes and then implementing a change in order to accomplish goals more effectively.

Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience. ~ Denis Waitley

Creating a Personalized Current Awareness System

~There is simply too much new information and subsequent change in any discipline to rely solely on traditional methods of learning new “things”

~Creating a Personalized Current Awareness System allows you to take advantage of Web 2.0 and social media technology solutions to quickly discover, triage and implement/share new information

~When you are using a functioning Personalized Current Awareness System you are fully engaged in continuous learning

Planning Your Current Awareness System

• What subject(s) do you need to keep up to date on?– ex. Preceptors and delegation

• Where is this information found?– ex. Scholarly Journals, Blogs, Databases

• How will you use the information?– ex. Will you use this information to update others, or

for yourself?

What will you need?

• An RSS Feed Reader• A list of resources

– Journals you read cover to cover• Tables of Content

– Databases which cover the subjects of interest• Turning search results into automatic updates/RSS feeds

– Websites• Professional Organizations, Blogs, etc.

“RSS (most commonly translated as "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.[2] An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "web feed",[3] or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader", or "aggregator", which can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device-based.”

- Wikipedia, “RSS” , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss

WHAT IS RSS?

Wikipedia, List of Aggregatorshttp://bit.ly/M7er8

Read Reviews:Simply do a web search for the product name and the term “review”Example: “rojo.com” review

Finding an RSS Feed Reader

•Desktop•Online/Web-based•Browser•Email•Mobile

Question: Where do you spend your time?

Windows-based RSS Readerhttp://bit.ly/15Qq6N

Newsgator, an Enterprise Social Computing Companyoffers a suite of free RSS Readers

http://www.newsgator.com/rss-readers.aspx

Finding an RSS Feed Readerfriendly suggestions

RSS in Firefox: A Complete Guidehttp://mashable.com/2007/05/26/rss-firefox-guide/

Google Readerhttp://www.google.com/reader

Google Reader in Plain English

Setting yourself up for Current Awareness: “Childhood Obesity”

• Using Google Reader (or any Feed Reader)

• Finding the Sources

• Checking the feeds

• Sharing the information

Redistributing the Continuous Learning Wealth

•LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.comTwitter •http://www.twitter.comFacebook•http://www.facebook.com/•BlogExample: http://www.blogger.com•A Shared RSS FeedExample: http://bit.ly/UeRom•EmailMost RSS readers will have an embedded email utility

Regional Faculty Development 2010

A Nurse Educators Journey to Current Awareness

Current Awareness?

Traveling Current Awareness?

Regional Faculty Development 2010

Need for Current Awareness

Preceptor Development Classes- Continually review

the literature to incorporate current topics into program

Delegation Task Force- stay current on the topic of delegation and Ohio Law

Finding a Method for Organizing and Simplifying

Choosing and Using Current Awareness Tools

• Choose a Feed Reader : Google Reader

• May Use “Favorites”

• Identify Topic of Interest : Preceptor Development Delegation

Regional Faculty Development 2010

Finding A Method for Organizing and Simplifying

• Search the Literature

• Find a Feed

• Add to Feed Reader • Or Add to Favorites

Sharing Current Awareness • Share content through e-mail• Share using persistent link • Using SharePoint Site

Preceptor & Best Practice SharePoint

Benefits

• Easy to set up and customize based on topic of interest

• Delivers most current information to central place less time visiting web sites

• Relevant sources• Read feeds at your leisure

Challenges

• Beginning the Journey • Staying Currently Aware of Current Awareness• Narrowing the searches• Not always a link to full text• Not everything has a feed

Can be up to date without the clutter and have timely access to quality Information

Current Awareness !