Supporting eLearners by Increasing Digital Literacy Skills in Healthcare Educators

This paper presents a case study detailing the author’s involvement in a teacher training module designed to improve healthcare educators’ scope for delivering e-learning elements within their curricula. The best method for enhancing teacher understanding of how students experience learning in the online environment is by first allowing teachers to experience the process themselves from a student perspective. It is proposed that such exposure will allow teachers to gain greater insight into the potential benefits and pitfalls of online delivery and apply the knowledge gained to their own practice. Teachers from a wide range of healthcare specialities engaged in discussion forums and gained practice in new and varied methods of e-learning, discovering how they could be blended with traditional classroom-based delivery to achieve a diverse range of learning outcomes. It was found that the inter-disciplinary representation on the module created a potent mix of experience and viewpoints that greatly contributed to the overall learning environment. The cohort of twelve included adult and children branch nursing (hospital- and community-based), midwifery, allied health and a member of the e-learning support team.