Technology through time

In one of my first semesters of college I had a nutrition class. Within the requirements - write a paper, go to lecture, take a multiple choice test, report a food intake, etc- there was something that didn’t really fit. In order to have our paper topic approved, we were required to e-mail it to our Teaching Assistant, and receive approval by return e-mail. This was around 1991, and although students knew where the computer labs were and did word processing and games, you didn’t exactly receive your college e-mail address with your acceptance letter. Specifically, this requirement meant we would each individually have to contact computing services, request an account, go to the computer lab, then set it up/figure it out, get the TA’s address, and connect. Obviously, for the purposes of the class, it would have been easier to catch the TA after class, or leave a note in their departmental mailbox. Using e-mail had nothing to do with learning nutrition.Fast forward- more college, 6 years later- most students have their own computers, but most still use the labs for communication. Several classes require computer modules to be completed. You print your results and hand in the printout to be checked off.We are at the present- this current school, you need the portal before you ever start classes, even before attending orientation, for registering, and paying the bills. My first class only used Blackboard once, to post an exam blueprint that someone requested during a class. I thought- wow this is a good tool! Instead of having to wait another week, or make a special trip to the campus to get this info, we all have it now... It builds fast from here.The next semester the course I took was Blackboard supplemented- The prof posted the ppt slides to print before lecture. People complained- they wanted handouts all ready for us. He also posted links, bibliographies, extra material. It is all there when you need it... We still submitted essays on paper, and they were returned in class. I bet that has changed now.Now comes Nursing Theory. Oh boy...discussion boards- not just a technological challenge, but a social challenge of building a community, and being evaluated on it. My group also did a real time online chat room (with mixed results). Theory also had my first online MC exam submission- immediate grading!! But we still had to submit written work on paper, and unfortunately for me, since the prof wasn’t done grading by our last class meeting, I never received my Concept Analysis back. Stop by my office anytime they said... Well they must mean anytime they are not busy with something else, because I was brushed off twice. I got a grade, but ZERO feedback. I thought to myself- if this had been submitted electronically, it could have been returned that way.The very next semester here comes the digital drop box to the rescue... except it seems a little unreliable. It seems the student view and the instructor view are very different, and more than once I had to convince an instructor that I had sent the work- always an uncomfortable situation.Do any of these requirements have anything to do with nursing? Being a good nurse requires developing that all important critical thinking. Being a good employee requires having the ability and comfort level to get workplace information in a timely way. Being an evidence based practitioner requires knowing how to access databases and journals. Pushing oneself, being comfortable with change, being open to mastering new challenges -these are all aspects of an evolved self. Now, because of additional Nursing Education classes, I can IM, I have a couple of blogs, and think I could set up another about anything. I can search the literature, I can track down a specific source from multiple different ways. I have 3 e-mail accounts, and have contributed to several wikis. I will have all these tools available to me in future activities- nursing, teaching, leading, advocating, and even parenting. Because I am familiar with these tools and have worked with them, I am continuing to move challenges from the ‘I don’t know how to do that’ side to the ‘which of my many tools gives the best way to achieve this’ side. I will have experienced them from the student side what using them is like, and seen the class results. In different classes, the tools are used in different ways, so that has shown me that ways the teacher uses the tools makes a difference too. As far as I know it was not a requirement in 1991 for a student in nutrition to be able to send an e-mail. It is not a grad requirement for a student with an MSN in Nursing Education to be able to IM. We may grumble on the way through these experiences, but we are the ones with the bonus at the end.