Publication Details
Clark-Burg, K.,
Carr, P.,
Hay, B.,
&
McNaught, K.
(2013).
The use of social media in undergraduate curriculum.
The Hive, Summer (4).
Abstract
Social media (SoMe) and mobile technology (MT) have been topics of interest to many educators, health professionals and policy developers over the last decade. This year, two editorials in leading nursing journals have described the potential for SoMe in nursing (Jones & Hayter 2013; Ferguson 2013). A recent Australian journal publication further supports the potential of SoMe and in particular Twitter (Wilson, R, et al. 2013). Increasingly, nurses and other health professionals and the general public are actively utilizing new technology to improve health and enhance practice (Barton, A 2012)]. To-date, there is limited evidence on the use of information technology and SoMe within the undergraduate nursing curriculum. Today’s students have a variety of technologies at their fingertips, from mobile devices to cloud technologies. It is imperative that higher education facilities look at innovative teaching methods to engage students in this digital era and enhance their learning. For the nursing and midwifery profession to innovate and remain current it must connect and collaborate with health care practitioners that exist outside of the traditional classroom. SoMe allows for this method of learning.
Keywords
social media (SoMe), mobile technology (MT), innovation, teaching methods, health care practitioners
