AN INDEPENDENT VOICE FOR NURSING
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An Emerging Role: The Nurse Content Curator Beth A. Brooks, PhD, RN, FACHE Beth A. Brooks, PhD, RN, FACHE, is President, Resurrection University, Chicago, IL. Keywords Content curator, nursing faculty, open-source content, professor Correspondence Beth A. Brooks, PhD, RN, FACHE, Resurrection University, Chicago, IL. E-mail: [email protected]
A new phenomenon, the inverted or “flipped” classroom, assumes that students are no longer acquiring knowledge exclusively through textbooks or lectures. Instead, they are seeking out the vast amount of free information available to them online (the very essence of open source) to supplement learning gleaned in textbooks and lectures. With so much open-source content available to nursing faculty, it benefits the faculty to use readily available, technologically advanced content. The nurse content curator supports nursing faculty in its use of such content. Even more importantly, the highly paid, time-strapped faculty is not spending an inordinate amount of effort surfing for and evaluating content. The nurse content curator does that work, while the faculty uses its time more effectively to help students vet the truth, make meaning of the content, and learn to problem-solve.
Brooks
Recently, Dr. Jon Landis, National Development Executive at Apple, Inc., spoke to a university board of directors about how the iPad and similar technologies are creating a profound and permanent shift in content access. A new phenomenon, the inverted or “flipped” classroom, assumes that students are no longer acquiring knowledge exclusively through textbooks or lectures. Instead, they are seeking out the vast amount of free information available to them online (the very essence of open source) to supplement learning gleaned in textbooks and lectures. Education, he believes, is no longer simply about providing content in a formal classroom setting; its emphasis should be on guiding students in learning what content is truthful, useful, and accurate. If this is the case, then the faculty’s role in the learning process must evolve. Toward this end, Dr. Landis proposed three new roles for faculty in this open-source world: one, truth vetting—fact checking, examining evidence-based information, and critiquing it in terms of its quality and accuracy; two, meaning making—helping students interpret and use this information correctly. For
nursing professors, this means using schema, making connections that raise important questions, and summarizing and synthesizing important ideas (e.g., concept maps). Once the student has made meaning of the information, the professor then helps the student relate the information to the nursing process. Just as important, the professor assists students to make meaning of the content in the context of the ANA Code of Ethics and Scope and Standards of Practice. Students also learn about their role as patient advocates, applying patient education skills so patients and families can interpret and understand diagnosis, treatment options, and medication information found on the Internet in order to make knowledgeable decisions about their care. A final area where students learn to make meaning is applying newly learned information in the context of policies and procedures that guide nursing practice. Third, problem solving—helping students to critically think to define a problem accurately and find the best solution. This includes determining what information is important, and what to do if a patient encounters a difficulty or barrier to the desired outcome. 51
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 50, No. 1, January-March 2015
Curator
B. A. Brooks The Open-Source Movement
The underlying premise for these new roles is that the wealth of open-source content accessed via the Internet, iPads, and similar technologies has made the faculty’s traditional role of sharing or imparting knowledge solely through classroom lectures obsolete. The definition of open source has evolved as well. Originally, open source referred to computer programs in which the source code was available for free to users who could either use the code or modify it from the original design. Often, computer programmers collaborated to make the code “better” and then freely shared the revised code. Over time, open source was used to describe Internet content that others could use or modify, typically for free, not restricted by copyright or licensing agreements. In the context of education, the Hewlett Foundation (2014) defines open educational resources (OER) as: teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge. While some organizations may restrict the use of content to community or organization members, others may use the content, but for a fee. In the context of this paper, the author refers to OER. Some examples of OER include the more than 4,400 peer-reviewed entries available on the Directory of Open Access Journals (Kamenetz, 2010)—as well as over 40,000 educational apps, games, and downloadable textbooks. iTunesU, YouTube.EDU, and similar channels contain OER. Emerging technologies even support the faculty’s ability to personalize content (J. Landis, personal communication, October 14, 2013). In this open-source world, the faculty no longer needs to focus exclusively on “pouring information into an empty vessel.” Instead, students find content to augment their learning and arrive to class having already reviewed and studied the available information. The faculty, in turn, provides wisdom and expertise to help students successfully truth-vet, make meaning of the content, and problem-solve. In essence, the role of the faculty shifts and new roles are created (Kamenetz, 2010). 52 © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 50, No. 1, January-March 2015
Enter the Nurse Content Curator (NCC)—and a New Role for Registered Nurses Merriam-Webster defines a curator as “one who has the care and superintendence of something; especially: one in charge of a museum, zoo, or other place of exhibit” (Curator, 2014). In the online world, “a curator ingests, analyzes and contextualizes web content and information of a particular nature onto a platform or into a format we can understand” (Buck, 2013). With some 40,000 education apps available—along with countless YouTube videos and audio lectures— the role of faculty as content curators becomes daunting. What is the “best” app for note taking, tracking assignments, and course schedules? Is there an app or video available to teach undergraduate nursing students pathophysiology, the nursing process, or how to write a care plan? Imagine trying to curate content for a new pharmacology course or a new health assessment course! Then, imagine trying to locate the “best” video on how to auscultate lung or heart sounds, how to interview a client for a health history, or how to change a sterile dressing when dozens of options are available. Then, there is content for use in the clinical setting. Some faculty is having great success using the iPad in clinical units with their students. Appropriate content for clinical and a post-conference is available, but is time-consuming to locate. The mind reels thinking about the faculty time involved to curate content, given the practically limitless and ever-changing information available online. Certainly, students can share their “best” apps or videos they use to support their learning; however, they do not yet possess all the knowledge necessary to truth-vet that content. But this is just the beginning. Another type of content to curate is that which students will use in their day-to-day interactions with patients, clients, families, and communities. From apps that teach about a disease or medication to those that enable clients to track vital signs, blood sugar, or diet, a nursing student needs assistance to determine the “best” app to use to teach a patient or recommend to a client. Only an NCC, someone focused exclusively on vetting these types of content for clinical appropriateness and relevance, would be up to the task. Certainly, a health sciences librarian and instructional technologist have roles in curating content, but their expertise lies outside of determining if content is clinically appropriate and relevant. Health science librarians are adept at comprehensively locating
Curator
B. A. Brooks content due to their knowledge of outside resources. While they can validate authorship or eliminate outdated information, the final decision about clinical relevance is beyond their scope of expertise. Likewise, an instructional designer can curate content, but here the expertise is focused on determining if the right technology was used to best convey the content. Again, an instructional designer is not the person best suited to select content for clinical appropriateness. When content needs to be evaluated for clinical relevance and appropriateness, an NCC is needed. Profile of NCC Content curation, “the process of analyzing and sorting Web content and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme” (Content curation, 2014), is not a new concept. However, a nurse curating content is a new role. What does this role look like? Ideally, an NCC is one with a BSN or MSN with expertise in pedagogy, a basic understanding of curriculum and course design, assessment, and evaluation. Technology skills to locate, collect, and filter content, and the ability to contextualize and evaluate content, and to create standardized ratings and an evaluative summary are important. Keep in mind that the NCC’s role is not to create content on a particular topic, but to use someone else’s content to make the best resource on that topic. A sample job description is provided. Certainly, the faculty has to remain current in the topics it is teaching. For all faculty, keeping abreast of the latest evidence and having the ability to locate online resources that enhance student learning are required and cannot be delegated to the NCC. But the faculty has a new collaborator in locating the very best content. The NCC can take direction from the faculty, but can proactively provide suggestions of other available content to enhance student learning. Conclusion Candace Thille of the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University maintains that the business of higher education is “changing the knowledge state of the learner” not simply providing content (Kamenetz, 2010). If this is the case, dusting off old course syllabi, PowerPoint slides, lecture notes, and handouts will not suffice in an online world. Students will demand that content be conveyed in more technologically advanced
ways. And with so much open-source content available to faculty, it only benefits them to use readily available, technologically advanced content. The NCC supports the faculty in its use of such content. Even more importantly, the highly paid, time-strapped faculty is not spending an inordinate amount of effort surfing for and evaluating content. The content curator does that work, while the faculty uses its time more effectively to help students vet the truth, make meaning of the content, and learn to problem-solve. References Buck, S. (2013, May 9). If you use the Web, you are a “curator.” Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2013/05/09/curator Content curation. (2014). In Macmillan dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/opendictionary/entries/content-curation.htm Curator. (2014). In Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/ dictionary/curator Hewlett Foundation. (2014, March 3). Open educational resources. Retrieved from http://www.hewlett.org/ programs/education/open-educational-resources Kamenetz, A. (2010). DIY U: Edupunks, edupreneurs, and the coming transformation of higher education. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Appendix Nurse content curator Job description Position summary: Curating is the act of finding, collecting, contextualizing, and organizing the best resources from available web content. The nurse content curator (NCC) collaborates with the faculty to share open educational resources (OER) that are appropriate for teaching and learning. Working closely with the faculty, the NCC evaluates OER for clinical relevance and appropriateness for use in the classroom, clinical settings, or with patients and clients. The NCC is someone who continually finds, groups, organizes, and shares information resources. Essential duties and responsibilities: 1. Finds, collects, and evaluates open-source content from iTunesU, YouTube.EDU, Directory of Open Source Journals, and similar channels. 2. Organizes, evaluates and verifies original sources, cites, and provides full attribution of content. 3. Collaborates with the faculty to understand content needs for assigned courses. 53
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 50, No. 1, January-March 2015
Curator 4. Searches for relevant content and scouts for new sources. 5. Determines clinical appropriateness and relevance of content. 6. Excellent computer search literacy, able to filter, and categorize content. Minimum acceptable qualifications: • 3–5 years as a registered nurse required • Classroom and/or patient teaching experience preferred
54 © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 50, No. 1, January-March 2015
B. A. Brooks • Possess an understanding of curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment • Ability to effectively interface with all levels of the organization and outside contacts, using a high degree of judgment • Excellent organizational and communication skills • Highly professional appearance and presentation required • Bachelor’s degree in nursing required; MSN preferred • Certified nurse educator desired
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An Emerging Role: The Nurse Content Curator Beth A. Brooks, PhD, RN, FACHE Beth A. Brooks, PhD, RN, FACHE, is President, Resurrection University, Chicago, IL. Keywords Content curator, nursing faculty, open-source content, professor Correspondence Beth A. Brooks, PhD, RN, FACHE, Resurrection University, Chicago, IL. E-mail: [email protected]
A new phenomenon, the inverted or “flipped” classroom, assumes that students are no longer acquiring knowledge exclusively through textbooks or lectures. Instead, they are seeking out the vast amount of free information available to them online (the very essence of open source) to supplement learning gleaned in textbooks and lectures. With so much open-source content available to nursing faculty, it benefits the faculty to use readily available, technologically advanced content. The nurse content curator supports nursing faculty in its use of such content. Even more importantly, the highly paid, time-strapped faculty is not spending an inordinate amount of effort surfing for and evaluating content. The nurse content curator does that work, while the faculty uses its time more effectively to help students vet the truth, make meaning of the content, and learn to problem-solve.
Brooks
Recently, Dr. Jon Landis, National Development Executive at Apple, Inc., spoke to a university board of directors about how the iPad and similar technologies are creating a profound and permanent shift in content access. A new phenomenon, the inverted or “flipped” classroom, assumes that students are no longer acquiring knowledge exclusively through textbooks or lectures. Instead, they are seeking out the vast amount of free information available to them online (the very essence of open source) to supplement learning gleaned in textbooks and lectures. Education, he believes, is no longer simply about providing content in a formal classroom setting; its emphasis should be on guiding students in learning what content is truthful, useful, and accurate. If this is the case, then the faculty’s role in the learning process must evolve. Toward this end, Dr. Landis proposed three new roles for faculty in this open-source world: one, truth vetting—fact checking, examining evidence-based information, and critiquing it in terms of its quality and accuracy; two, meaning making—helping students interpret and use this information correctly. For
nursing professors, this means using schema, making connections that raise important questions, and summarizing and synthesizing important ideas (e.g., concept maps). Once the student has made meaning of the information, the professor then helps the student relate the information to the nursing process. Just as important, the professor assists students to make meaning of the content in the context of the ANA Code of Ethics and Scope and Standards of Practice. Students also learn about their role as patient advocates, applying patient education skills so patients and families can interpret and understand diagnosis, treatment options, and medication information found on the Internet in order to make knowledgeable decisions about their care. A final area where students learn to make meaning is applying newly learned information in the context of policies and procedures that guide nursing practice. Third, problem solving—helping students to critically think to define a problem accurately and find the best solution. This includes determining what information is important, and what to do if a patient encounters a difficulty or barrier to the desired outcome. 51
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 50, No. 1, January-March 2015
Curator
B. A. Brooks The Open-Source Movement
The underlying premise for these new roles is that the wealth of open-source content accessed via the Internet, iPads, and similar technologies has made the faculty’s traditional role of sharing or imparting knowledge solely through classroom lectures obsolete. The definition of open source has evolved as well. Originally, open source referred to computer programs in which the source code was available for free to users who could either use the code or modify it from the original design. Often, computer programmers collaborated to make the code “better” and then freely shared the revised code. Over time, open source was used to describe Internet content that others could use or modify, typically for free, not restricted by copyright or licensing agreements. In the context of education, the Hewlett Foundation (2014) defines open educational resources (OER) as: teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge. While some organizations may restrict the use of content to community or organization members, others may use the content, but for a fee. In the context of this paper, the author refers to OER. Some examples of OER include the more than 4,400 peer-reviewed entries available on the Directory of Open Access Journals (Kamenetz, 2010)—as well as over 40,000 educational apps, games, and downloadable textbooks. iTunesU, YouTube.EDU, and similar channels contain OER. Emerging technologies even support the faculty’s ability to personalize content (J. Landis, personal communication, October 14, 2013). In this open-source world, the faculty no longer needs to focus exclusively on “pouring information into an empty vessel.” Instead, students find content to augment their learning and arrive to class having already reviewed and studied the available information. The faculty, in turn, provides wisdom and expertise to help students successfully truth-vet, make meaning of the content, and problem-solve. In essence, the role of the faculty shifts and new roles are created (Kamenetz, 2010). 52 © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 50, No. 1, January-March 2015
Enter the Nurse Content Curator (NCC)—and a New Role for Registered Nurses Merriam-Webster defines a curator as “one who has the care and superintendence of something; especially: one in charge of a museum, zoo, or other place of exhibit” (Curator, 2014). In the online world, “a curator ingests, analyzes and contextualizes web content and information of a particular nature onto a platform or into a format we can understand” (Buck, 2013). With some 40,000 education apps available—along with countless YouTube videos and audio lectures— the role of faculty as content curators becomes daunting. What is the “best” app for note taking, tracking assignments, and course schedules? Is there an app or video available to teach undergraduate nursing students pathophysiology, the nursing process, or how to write a care plan? Imagine trying to curate content for a new pharmacology course or a new health assessment course! Then, imagine trying to locate the “best” video on how to auscultate lung or heart sounds, how to interview a client for a health history, or how to change a sterile dressing when dozens of options are available. Then, there is content for use in the clinical setting. Some faculty is having great success using the iPad in clinical units with their students. Appropriate content for clinical and a post-conference is available, but is time-consuming to locate. The mind reels thinking about the faculty time involved to curate content, given the practically limitless and ever-changing information available online. Certainly, students can share their “best” apps or videos they use to support their learning; however, they do not yet possess all the knowledge necessary to truth-vet that content. But this is just the beginning. Another type of content to curate is that which students will use in their day-to-day interactions with patients, clients, families, and communities. From apps that teach about a disease or medication to those that enable clients to track vital signs, blood sugar, or diet, a nursing student needs assistance to determine the “best” app to use to teach a patient or recommend to a client. Only an NCC, someone focused exclusively on vetting these types of content for clinical appropriateness and relevance, would be up to the task. Certainly, a health sciences librarian and instructional technologist have roles in curating content, but their expertise lies outside of determining if content is clinically appropriate and relevant. Health science librarians are adept at comprehensively locating
Curator
B. A. Brooks content due to their knowledge of outside resources. While they can validate authorship or eliminate outdated information, the final decision about clinical relevance is beyond their scope of expertise. Likewise, an instructional designer can curate content, but here the expertise is focused on determining if the right technology was used to best convey the content. Again, an instructional designer is not the person best suited to select content for clinical appropriateness. When content needs to be evaluated for clinical relevance and appropriateness, an NCC is needed. Profile of NCC Content curation, “the process of analyzing and sorting Web content and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme” (Content curation, 2014), is not a new concept. However, a nurse curating content is a new role. What does this role look like? Ideally, an NCC is one with a BSN or MSN with expertise in pedagogy, a basic understanding of curriculum and course design, assessment, and evaluation. Technology skills to locate, collect, and filter content, and the ability to contextualize and evaluate content, and to create standardized ratings and an evaluative summary are important. Keep in mind that the NCC’s role is not to create content on a particular topic, but to use someone else’s content to make the best resource on that topic. A sample job description is provided. Certainly, the faculty has to remain current in the topics it is teaching. For all faculty, keeping abreast of the latest evidence and having the ability to locate online resources that enhance student learning are required and cannot be delegated to the NCC. But the faculty has a new collaborator in locating the very best content. The NCC can take direction from the faculty, but can proactively provide suggestions of other available content to enhance student learning. Conclusion Candace Thille of the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University maintains that the business of higher education is “changing the knowledge state of the learner” not simply providing content (Kamenetz, 2010). If this is the case, dusting off old course syllabi, PowerPoint slides, lecture notes, and handouts will not suffice in an online world. Students will demand that content be conveyed in more technologically advanced
ways. And with so much open-source content available to faculty, it only benefits them to use readily available, technologically advanced content. The NCC supports the faculty in its use of such content. Even more importantly, the highly paid, time-strapped faculty is not spending an inordinate amount of effort surfing for and evaluating content. The content curator does that work, while the faculty uses its time more effectively to help students vet the truth, make meaning of the content, and learn to problem-solve. References Buck, S. (2013, May 9). If you use the Web, you are a “curator.” Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2013/05/09/curator Content curation. (2014). In Macmillan dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/opendictionary/entries/content-curation.htm Curator. (2014). In Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/ dictionary/curator Hewlett Foundation. (2014, March 3). Open educational resources. Retrieved from http://www.hewlett.org/ programs/education/open-educational-resources Kamenetz, A. (2010). DIY U: Edupunks, edupreneurs, and the coming transformation of higher education. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Appendix Nurse content curator Job description Position summary: Curating is the act of finding, collecting, contextualizing, and organizing the best resources from available web content. The nurse content curator (NCC) collaborates with the faculty to share open educational resources (OER) that are appropriate for teaching and learning. Working closely with the faculty, the NCC evaluates OER for clinical relevance and appropriateness for use in the classroom, clinical settings, or with patients and clients. The NCC is someone who continually finds, groups, organizes, and shares information resources. Essential duties and responsibilities: 1. Finds, collects, and evaluates open-source content from iTunesU, YouTube.EDU, Directory of Open Source Journals, and similar channels. 2. Organizes, evaluates and verifies original sources, cites, and provides full attribution of content. 3. Collaborates with the faculty to understand content needs for assigned courses. 53
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 50, No. 1, January-March 2015
Curator 4. Searches for relevant content and scouts for new sources. 5. Determines clinical appropriateness and relevance of content. 6. Excellent computer search literacy, able to filter, and categorize content. Minimum acceptable qualifications: • 3–5 years as a registered nurse required • Classroom and/or patient teaching experience preferred
54 © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 50, No. 1, January-March 2015
B. A. Brooks • Possess an understanding of curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment • Ability to effectively interface with all levels of the organization and outside contacts, using a high degree of judgment • Excellent organizational and communication skills • Highly professional appearance and presentation required • Bachelor’s degree in nursing required; MSN preferred • Certified nurse educator desired
