Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
prepares students for collaborative work in practice. The aim of
inter-professional learning is to produce a workforce that can work
effectively as a team, across all boundaries thereby facilitating
collaborative practice to improve the quality of care (CAIPE, 2000).
More recently The NHS Improvement Plan (DoH, 2004) emphasised
the desire to modernise the NHS and in doing so reinforce the vision
that inter-professional learning is the way forward.
Several definitions of Inter-Professional Learning (IPL) and Inter-
Professional Education (IPE) exist. The most widely accepted and
embraced definition of inter-professional education states that IPL
occurs when two or more professions learn from and about each
other to improve collaboration and the quality of care (Barr, 1997).
This learning is primarily achieved through interactive; group based
learning building upon learning from, about and with each other.
The Centre for Inter-Professional e-Learning (CIPeL) endorses this
definition and emphasises that the fundamental elements of interprofessional
learning involves inter-professional exchange that is
patient-centred.
Electronic (e) -learning is the means by which inter-professional
learning can be delivered and facilitated. It involves online learning,
web-based training, and technology-delivered instruction.
Kurubacak (2007) identifies the use of Project –based on line
learning (PBOL) as a pedagogical aid to guide and reinforce
independence learning by engaging learners in complex reusable
activities, ie the RLO. Advantages of e-learning are cited ranging
from allowing a flexible pace of learning to allowing learners to
access digital spaces for discussion and reflection with and through
others. Bonk (2004) states that e-learning presents training
professionals with both potentials and challenges; enormous learner
demand for training when needed, and ever present erased or
significantly reduced budgets through which one has to navigate to
deliver e-learning that truly impacts on work and lives. It is reliant
upon learners being receptive to this method of delivery and having
good reliable Internet Access.
RLO’s are developed as the catalyst to encourage the interprofessional
learners to achieve learning from and about each other.
Debate is ongoing as to what a RLO actually is and how it can be
defined. The fundamental idea behind learning objects is that
instructional designers can build small (relative to the size of an
entire course) instructional components that can be reused a
number of times in different learning contexts.
Edmunds & Barron (2002) indicate the RLO may consist of applets,
graphics, video, and other forms of data and elements. RLO’s are
generally understood to be digital entities able to be delivered over
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