Rethinking my original idea

O my, what a week! After realizing that my original idea was going to be a huge task I felt somewhat deflated and had to rethink my concept to come up with a more viable task - one that is more realistic (taking my current level of (in)expertise into account).

I am still of the opinion that I want to design an e-learning opportunity that deals with wheelchair seating as it is an area that needs attention, but designing an accredited course for the purpose for this assignment is a bit much. So, I have scaled my idea down considerably, and now aim to design a learning opportunity for the 3rd year OT students who are placed at the institution where I work for fieldwork.

We have quarterly seating clinics at school, during this clinic new clients are assessed for the prescription of  wheelchairs and cushions and 'old' clients' seating positions and devices are checked. Third year students are required to attend the seating clinic and perform basic/routine tasks that they have been prepared for during a pre-clinic discussion. I am thinking that I will be able to design an e-tutorial to prepare the students for the clinic. The tutorial could probably be 'hosted' on a blog and will include a powerpoint presentation of important information and a video-demonstration of a task (e.g. taking measurements to decide the size to the chair that is to be prescribed) that the students will be required to perform at the clinic. After studying the presentation & information in preparation for the clinic, students will be able to comment or ask questions to clarify information on the blog. After the clinic students will be expected to reflect on their preparation for the clinic, the clinic itself and the learning opportunity it offered on the blog to encourage interaction (discussion).

This will be a small forum and include only the 2 or 3 students involved in the fieldwork placement at  that specific time, but it is a concept that could be extended to include the prescribed tutorial program for third year students thus potentially including groups of 3rd year students doing their fieldwork in similar settings i.e. work assessment, physical dysfunction and/or psycho-social dysfunction.

Any comments, ideas?

The 'A' in ADDIE

As previously explained, OT students are introduced to the concept of 'seating' during their undergraduate years. In recent years, however, seating has become a specialized field in rehab as patients who are not optimally seated develop secondary complications and deformities that may be life threatening (i.e. bed sores) or decreased independence and function.

When proposing an e-learning experience focussed on seating, the following aspects are of importance when addressing the Analysis Phase in the ADDIE model:

Who is the audience?
A large number of occupational Therapists (OT’s) and physiotherapists (PT’s) doing their community service year work in rural areas where their client-base represents a diverse population with a wide variety of therapy needs. During a recent conference an OT serving in her community year discussed her experiences and needs. One of the needs she highlighted as an area to be addressed urgently was under- and postgraduate ‘seating- training’. This point is reiterated when one discovers that community service therapists (OT’s and PT’s) make up the bulk of the participants in the seating courses being offered by service providers such as Western Cape Rehab Centre (WCRC).

The audience could also include other OT’s and PT’s e.g. therapists working at schools for the physically disabled, rehabilitation centres, homes for the aged, etc.

The seating courses are divided into a basic, and intermediate and an advanced course – each course comprising of a week of lectures, demonstrations and practical sessions. During the basic course the focus is on human anatomy, the basic principles of seating, types of wheelchairs and the construction of a basic cushion. In the intermediate course ‘difficult’ seating scenarios are addressed and problem-solving approaches demonstrated and discussed. The advanced seating course deals with the handling of the most difficult seating cases and specifically adapted devices such as buggies for CP children and severely disabled adults.

This implies that the attendees will be away from their place of work for five working days for each course (3 weeks in total for all three courses). Travelling and accommodation costs can become quite and expense as therapists travel from as far as the Northern Cape, KZN and Limpopo to attend the courses.  

OT’s, like other health science practitioners, are obliged to earn Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Points after graduation and stay abreast with the latest developments in the field.  The ‘face-to-face’ seating courses are accredited and therapists earn CPD points for their attendance thereof. A certificate of attendance and ‘competence’ is awarded at the end of the course. The competence is assessed by a practical test during which the therapist is required to demonstrate competence in the seating of a real client.

The e-learning experience could provide for all the aspects offered in the ‘face-to-face’ course:

·         Study/reading material could be provided (information given during lectures)

·         Video clips and tutorials could be shown (demonstration of procedures, techniques, etc.)

·         Students could be asked to apply the knowledge by assessing a client, writing a case study/case notes, prescribing a wheelchair and cushion and taking before and after photographs of clients to demonstrate successful application of seating principles. (practical sessions)

Any comments, ideas?

JP
I have a broad idea of what I would like to do -something like a range of tutorials from giving basic information regarding wheelchair seating to a troubleshooting/Q&A 'space' where novices can be guided and advised by more experienced therapists and/or wheelchair suppliers. Of course I will not endeavour to do the whole range - just the introduction tut (about something like taking the correct measurements).
Seating has become an important issue and  specialized field - is only covered briefly in the undergraduate years. I know that this is a need, especially for newly graduated therapists working in rural communities in their community year. 
What do you guys think? Any ideas?
Alma

Soundcloud

Thanks to JP some of the cobwebs that have formed since Feb 2011 have been brushed away and I could access my blog. How fast we forget when we do not use the technology regularly.

I enjoyed listening to the soundclouds JP and Stephanus created, but I think I need the 'The 'Dummie's' Guide to Soundcloud' before I will be able to create my own. 

What I HAVE done at last is create a Facebook page - something I haven't done before because it is one other thing to keep track with.

Novice-Blogger

It's is never too late to learn something new! Who thought I would be creating a blog today? I'm soooo exited about getting involved in blogging.