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  • Mobile Learning and Smartphone use amongst Wessex GPs

    I have finally got around to disseminating a questionnaire to the good GPs and GPSTs of Wessex to assess the use of smartphones and their use for M-learning and CPD.  More to come but I have drafted an abstract of my findings below.

    Background and Aims

    There is an increasing use of smart phones for both under and postgraduate medical education. Despite this, uptake amongst general practitioners is poor. This survey examined the current use of smartphones for medical education amongst a cohort of Wessex GPs and GPSTs. Also explored was the use of social media for medical education.

    Method

    An online questionnaire invite was sent out via email. The questions included closed demographic questions and open free text responses. The survey population was composed of GPSTs and GPs on the Wessex PBSGL database. Responses were analysed using a grounded theory approach to identify themes.

    Results

    There were 61 respondents from 253 invitees. 98% had smartphones, 77% used smartphones for medical apps, 65% used smartphones for medical education, 69% used smartphones for social media and 20% used social media for medical education.  Thematic analysis of free text responses identified 58 nodes which were grouped into 21 minor themes in 8 categories.  These were: Accessing learning; Educational impact of online and m-learning; Educational networking; Learning involves social interaction with peers and mentor; Physical constraints of mobile devices; Signposting to guidelines and learning via the Internet; Technical challenges of online and m-learning; Work life balance

    Conclusions

    This is a snapshot of a small population but does raise some important key messages.  There is a training requirement for GPs in how to use social media for education.  GPs valued the networking between colleagues at courses and conferences.  However, most respondents recognised the future benefits of mobile learning platforms and wanted to engage more.

  • USING FACEBOOK FOR PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING: A MODERN DAY ESSENTIAL

    Bodell, Sarah, and Angela Hook. “Using Facebook for professional networking: a modern-day essential.” The British Journal of Occupational Therapy 74.12 (2011): 588-590.

    Abstract here

    This is another opinion piece by Sarah Bodell & Angela Hook on the merits of Facebook use for CPD and professional networking. The above link only links to an abstract which to be honest is not of much use. However I have asked permission from the author to publish a particularly useful table which I will add to this if the answer is in the affirmative. (Edit – see fig 1 at the end)

    This article again relates to how using SNS can promote professional networks and improve CPD. However there are two other important areas which the author comments on.

    Political Change in the NHS

    I am pretty protected from the massive changes in the NHS currently taking place. I work for the MOD which has its own particular pressures. However in any publicly funded service which is under pressure to save money in these times of ‘austerity’, justification of one’s job, role and work is not only vital but may well help preserve that job. A private provider can come in & produce a business plan which superficially states a like for like replacement at reduced costs but I think we all know in healthcare, the job is never like that. Indeed, private companies often underestimate the complexity of providing healthcare (an example). What is inevitable though is that public, private & volunteers will end up working together to provide the service. SNS and professional networking used as a low density and diverse network can play a vital role. The authors describe a low density network as being geographically dispersed and diversity as having a greater range eg OTs from several countries.

    The other important role of SNS in this theme is commissioning. Most healthcare professionals will have ‘to articulate the value and purpose of their role against nationally defined outcomes in order to ensure their services are commissioned’. Achieving this may well be helped by joining a professional network. This comes onto the second area the authors raise.

    Access to SNS

    I am particularly troubled by this. I live in rural Wiltshire where broadband speeds are slow, often at old dial up speeds. What makes things worse is poor 3G coverage. I went up to London for a gig recently and whilst sitting outside a pub enjoying a pint of remarkably good ale, could not believe the speed of 3G on my tablet. It was faster than our home broadband. I cannot access Twitter or Facebook at work. The desktop is not much better. Firewalls and security limitations restrict access to SNS sites in the NHS and in my organisation the MOD. I am not sure why this is. Individual accounts can be monitored so staff could be disciplined for overusing sites (although how anyone ever gets the time to…). Its use as a networking tool for academics has been proven. Unfortunately due to the prevalent belief that risks outweigh the benefits, employers will restrict access and employees will be forced to utilise SNS outside of their own workplace. This is likely to reduce uptake, one of the things I am finding with my blog.

    Another area of concern raised by the author is the reluctance of professionals to ‘advertise’ aspects of their professional working in a public domain. It is recognised however that healthcare professionals are very aware of confidentiality and are conservative in the nature of their posting. This is something I have been made acutely conscious of when thinking about what to write on my blog. I stick to generalisations and often will use a patient contact in the context of starting debate about a certain subject.

    All of this can be mitigated by an understanding of how to use social media. I have left my blog in the public domain but a Facebook group can be closed as can a Google group. It is disseminating this understanding alongside appropriate guidelines which will be the key enabler of low density, diverse professional networks.

    Fig 1

  • HOW BLOGGING CAN FACILITATE CPD AND LEARNING

    Bodell, S., et al. (2009). “Creating a learning community in today’s world: how blogging can facilitate continuing professional development and international learning.” The British Journal of Occupational Therapy 72(6): 279-281.

    Unfortunately I do not have the full text of this opinion piece to share which I had to get hold of via the Warwick University library. It is a shame as I have two by the same author both exploring how social media can assist with education. The other one I will eventually appraise (it is about professional Face booking) but I will start with this article from June 2009. One thing I have learnt in critically appraising a generic educational subject is that the first thing I look at – relevance – is less important. I am a primary care physician; the author of this article is an occupational therapist. Yet the principles of SNS and healthcare education are still the same.

    A blog (web log) is an example of a Web 2.0 use. I was always under the assumption Web 2.0 was a type of HTML or application. Actually Web 2.0 is a term used to describe second generation Internet capability. It is not specific. The benefits of Web 2.0 (and specifically blogging) in healthcare education are not widely known. Indeed one of the future considerations for research is to look at Web 2.0 and its educational impact in postgraduate education.

    The author describes 3 areas where a blog may be helpful.

    As a Tool for Reflection. Blogging is a useful way of reflecting both as an individual physician as well as in group reflection. The latter is my aim with writing a blog linked to the Salisbury Plain PBSGL.

    As a Tool for Peer Discussion. This follows on from using blogging as group reflection. Indeed these two are probably part of the same entity. Certainly receiving my POEMs or reading my journals, my intent is to write my own take on the articles (with a critical hat on) to try & promote discussion. Related to this is dissemination of guidelines and best practice amongst a Network of Practitioners. This sounds great in theory but with two cautions. Firstly it is time consuming. I am trying to work full time, trying to complete my assignment as well as have a home life. The limitations of a blog are it is author orientated so the onus is on me. This can be mitigated by engaging some of my fellow PBSGL members for which I will canvass support at the next meeting. The second area of concern is confidentiality. This I think will limit clinicians engaging and sharing experiences in a public forum.

    As a Tool for extending knowledge. The reverse chronological order of a blog is cited as a way of developing knowledge. I personally cannot see this as a decent search engine will find posts. It can however run alongside the traditional ways of acquiring knowledge to augment it and the author cites a couple of studies reinforcing this. Since starting my blog, and through microblogging (Twitter), I have viewed other blogs and sites and now have numerous tools at my disposal to answer questions that arise from my day to day practice. My most recent literature search involved registering with www.researchgate.net and I have also become reacquainted with CHAIN again ( http://chain.ulcc.ac.uk/chain/index.html ). Indeed if the term ‘tool for extending knowledge’ is defined loosely, through NoPs, informal learning, Web 2.0 applications etc, this is probably the most powerful effect of blogging.

    In summary, this opinion piece summarises nicely the potential of blogging in healthcare education. I am concurrently reading a research article which is attempting to put some meat on the bones; some objective evidence of improved outcomes using microblogging. However I have run out of time and have clinic so I will save that for another time…

  • Teachers & Social Networking part 2

    British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 43 No 5 2012 754-769

    This research in the article aimed to answer 3 research questions.

    Domain: how does the domain (and particularly the way it is approached) impact on group membership?

    Network: does it make sense to distinguish between different types of participatory attitudes and behaviours, involving different levels of engagement in the group?

    Practice: does engagement with a group of professionals sharing practices have an impact on ‘real life’ and professional development?

    It did this by testing several hypotheses. I will not go into details but suffice to say the statistical analyses seem sound although there are some confounders which I will address later. The analysis was based on several sub-groups of the 1107 respondents dividing the groups into generic & themed. An analogous example of the themed group would be a group of doctors interested in ADHD, the generic group our own PBSGL. Divisions were also made on whether the group was open or by application and how long individuals had been members for.

    Domain: There was a distinction here between themed and generic. For themed groups, FB provided emotional support and bonding social capital. Members were likely to have known one another before joining. For the generic group, FB provided a means for sharing information and ideas. It provided bridging social capital converting latent ties into weak ties.

     Network: Senior members demonstrated more active and confident behaviours compared to junior members, as would be expected. However the impact on professional life was similar regardless of length of time of membership. This impact was greater in the generic group reinforcing previous evidence that the motivation behind SNS was sharing ideas & projects.

     Practice: Thematic groups tended to use FB as a social support mechanism as there was already significant off-line co-operation and interaction. The members knew & worked with each other in real life with the SNS providing emotional support away from this. Interestingly the generic group was more likely to start projects in real life after on-line discussion and sharing. This is real evidence that SNS can have an impact in off-line activities.

     Applying the READER critical reading model:

     Relevance: Not primary care, not English. But it did look at a cohort of professionals looking to share information and develop educational ideas.

     Education: The authors make a good argument, it is well referenced and uses terms familiar to most readers. The theoretical background is explored in some detail. There is a logic to it, funnelling the arguments down to the three research questions (relevant to NOPs) being asked. Therefore there was an educational impact.

     Applicability: Highly applicable to the Salisbury Plain PBSGL, albeit with a lot smaller numbers. It is also very relevant to my assignment. The demographics could slightly bias it applicability though with more female members (87.2%).

     Discrimination: The research was amongst Italian teachers. However it could quite easily apply to Primary care. The themes that emerged from the questionnaires are relevant: ‘Feeling less isolated’, ‘sharing ideas and projects’, ‘keep me updated on group topics’.

     Evaluation: Interestingly, the Generic FB groups (sharing school experiences in general) generally had more positive outcomes than the Thematic FB groups (special interest eg ASD). The latter felt the group decreased isolation. The former felt it enabled sharing of ideas.

     Reaction: Once I had worked through the article and digested what they were saying, my reaction was very positive. Here is some evidence that SNS could improve the outcomes in our PBSGL group. Further research is required however, or in my case, more reading. It is a start though…

     

     

  • Teachers & Social Networking

    British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 43 No 5 2012 754-769

    As part of my assignment on learning technologies, I have done some literature searches. My intent is to critically evaluate a series of articles which look at the impact of Social Media on education. I am not starting in any particular order, just in the order in which I found them. I am trying to evaluate the evidence which looks specifically at Social Media and any effect it has on enhancing knowledge & skills. It would be helpful if you could read what I have written and post any comments. These may be questions about the article, experiences you have had or just some good old fashioned advice.

    The first article I looked at was unfortunately quite long but very relevant. It had a particularly good section on the theoretical background. The article is divided into two. A very comprehensive and well referenced technical background followed by the research itself. For this blog entry (and in attempt to keep things brief), I will summarise the background. The research itself may take me a bit more time to digest & appraise but will be published in due course.

    Firstly, some facts & figures (as of 2011). Facebook (FB) has 900 million users. Two thirds of adults use Social Networking Sites. Facebook is the commonest site visited on higher educational college campuses. Professional Facebooking is a relatively new phenomenon (FB for professional reasons) and has not been explored as much. This study attempted to research the professional uses of FB amongst Italian teachers and evaluate its impact.

    Lifelong learning is a fundamental part of life, not just of compulsory education. It can be described as career related continuous learning as a pattern of formal and informal activities that people sustain over time for the benefit of their career development’ (London & Smither 1999). Ultimately it is about continually updating skills & knowledge. Information & Communication technology (ICT) has driven changes in the workforce to adapt to new technologies. However ICT has also been a driver for change: the concept of learning anytime & anywhere. The authors believe it is not the technology but the way it is implemented and used which it is used which can enhance learning & knowledge. I would agree with this.

    Social networks & social capital have introduced the concept of latent ties (the section of the FB interface which has ‘users you may know’). These latent ties can be converted to weak ties, so called bridging. This is important when we consider Networks of Practice (NOPs). The Concept of ‘communities of practice’ (COPs) was first described by Wenger in 1998. He described 3 parts to them: Domain – identity defined by a shared domain of interest. Community – members engage in joint practices to share information. Practice – Shared repertoire of resources. COPs apply to interdependent practitioners who share & co-ordinate practice. NOPs apply to a collective of all practitioners of a particular practice. COPs are therefore a subset of NOPs (Brown & Duguid 2000). NOPs by their nature are wider groups of like minded individuals. An analogy I recently encountered was at a course where I met other GPs with an interest in education. Before, there was possibly an exchange of phone numbers or an e-mail address. However I would argue how many times have you looked at your contacts some time later & deleted those contact details because nothing has come of it. A NOP is an entity which exists but is enhanced by SNS. This study looked at groups which started as Facebook groups and were actively exchanging ideas, sharing knowledge and engaging in online discussion.

    To finish, I think of one of my GP Trainer work colleagues who is soon to be moving to Scotland. He has got a Twitter account & is engaging in both this & my blog. However as a GP, he has joined the PBSGL we have established in Salisbury Plain. I hope he will continue to make contributions and we will all share best practice via the blog. This, to me, is what a NOP should represent.