Course Craft

According to Churchill (2020), digital storytelling using mobile devices enhances students’ digital literacy by combining research, creativity, and reflection. In her study with Hong Kong students, participants used iPads to collect data, design solutions, and share findings through multimodal narratives. This process encouraged collaboration, critical thinking, and the ability to communicate through visual and verbal modes, building essential 21st-century professional skills. According to Dahya (2017), digital media production allows learners to explore voice and representation within education. Her feminist ethnography demonstrated that when students create digital content, social power, culture, and gender shape how their voices are expressed and understood. Dahya emphasized that educators should intentionally design digital learning spaces that promote equity, authenticity, and inclusion, ensuring marginalized voices are represented. According to Kim and Li (2021), digital storytel...

In today's world, whether you are managing patient care in a busy hospital or simply trying to understand the latest viral health trend, navigating complexity is essential. The future of any profession, especially one built on trust and critical thinking like nursing, demands skills that go far beyond traditional knowledge. It requires Critical Digital Literacies (CDL) and Global Competence (GC). These concepts, originally developed within educational frameworks like teacher certification redesign in Ontario and the OECD’s global assessment for young people, offer crucial insights for transforming how we educate both student nurses and experienced healthcare professionals. Part 1: The Digital Nurse: From Consumer to Creator For too long, being "digitally literate" simply meant knowing how to use a computer. But in the 21st century, literacy and mastery over the processes by means of which culturally significant information is coded. This funda...

The theoretical frameworks presented by Nichols et al., Smith, and Curran provide a powerful lens for analyzing the ethical and practical challenges of the digital age. Applied to nursing, concepts such as critical literacy, datafication, and systemic risk transcend abstract academic discussion. Instead, they become central, non-negotiable considerations for patient care, professional development, and the long-term integrity of the nursing profession itself. Post-Secondary Nursing Education Post-secondary nursing education aims to create graduates who are not just skilled clinicians but also critical thinkers and ethical professionals. Smith's work on developing Critical Digital Literacies (CDL) to counter misinformation and disinformation is crucial in this context. Nursing students are continually exposed to health content across social media, ranging from patient anecdotes, to unverified claims about disease processes and treatments. Lacking robust CDL skills, they remain vulner...

The theoretical frameworks presented by Nichols et al., Smith, and Curran provide a powerful lens for analyzing the ethical and practical challenges of the digital age. Applied to nursing, concepts such as critical literacy, datafication, and systemic risk transcend abstract academic discussion. Instead, they become central, non-negotiable considerations for patient care, professional development, and the long-term integrity of the nursing profession itself. The integration of frameworks like DigComp 2.2 (Vuorikari, Kluzer, & Punie, 2022) and MediaSmarts operationalizes these concepts into defined competencies essential for 21st-century nursing. Post-Secondary Nursing Education: Laying the Foundation for Digital Fluency The rapid advancements in digital technologies and the pervasive influence of media demand that nurses, now more than ever, possess robust digital and media literacy skills. In post-secondary nursing programs, equipping students with these competencies isn't jus...

Nursing education must evolve to prepare graduates who can confidently navigate the complexities of digital health information. Similar to the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) program redesign, nursing curricula should intentionally embed Critical Digital Literacies (CDL) as core learning outcomes rather than optional add-ons. For instance, a dedicated course could have students critically analyze health-related content on social media. Learners might deconstruct a viral health trend video or evaluate a patient review on a public platform—assessing not only the accuracy of the information but also how platform algorithms, design features, and data collection practices influence user perception and patient behavior. Through such activities, students develop the capacity to become trusted, evidence-informed guides for patients exposed to misinformation online. Application in Hospital and Clinical Settings In clinical environments, these literacies move beyond theory a...

As a reflective practitioner in nursing, understanding and applying contemporary educational frameworks is essential to preparing future generations of healthcare professionals. The OECD PISA (2018) Global Competence Framework, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) pre-service teacher education redesign, and the conceptual framework of Critical Digital Literacies (CDL) collectively offer transformative insights into the pedagogical and curricular evolution required for modern education. Together, these sources emphasize the integration of critical thinking, digital fluency, and social justice which are cornerstones of a nursing profession equipped to navigate the complexities of today’s healthcare landscape. The OECD Global Competence Framework The OECD’s PISA Global Competence Framework defines global competence as a multidimensional ability that enables individuals to examine local, global, and intercultural issues. It also helps with the understanding and apprecia...