Sheila Bouie
Southwest Tennessee Community College, USA
Title: Open educational resources in nursing education: Trend or necessity?
Biography
Biography: Sheila Bouie
Abstract
Open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP) are making significant inroads in higher education. Once framed as a more cost-effective delivery mechanism, open resources have evolved to include changing the way students are educated. A significant aim of adopting open teaching strategies and resources is to increase student engagement with content thereby increasing the student???s retention and application of information. This strategy employs encouraging students to participate in the creation and dissemination of new information. As nursing continually evolves and healthcare remains in a constant state of improvement, OER/ OEP has the potential to help develop future nurses who are more creative in solving healthcare problems. This is an opportunity to improve nursing students use and contribution to digital information that promotes healthy outcomes for patients. While this lofty goal may appear better suited for advanced practice nurses, students who learn this process at an introductory to practice level will be more likely to advance the practice of nursing in this manner across their careers. Nursing education is usually at the forefront of adopting new teaching modalities but may be getting left behind in adopting OER and OEP. Discussion regarding defining and determining effective use of OER and OEP and open dialogue regarding the relevance to nursing education is warranted.