Module 3: Rhymes of History

My mother and grandmother often tell stories of evening gatherings with family and friends on the front porch of the “Downey’s” (the family matriarch) and sharing the activities of the day, news of the family, or discussion world events.  The neighborhood kids would play and neighbors came together!

 Today, we log-on to facebook to connect with family and friends to share the activities of our day, news of the family or discussion of world events.  We know who is pregnant, who is working tonight, and who's child saw snow for the first time, "pooped" in the toilet or did something else too cute for words (thus the photos or video upload)!

Therefore I propose that facebook is the rekindling of the “front porch” where individuals come together to share and socialize.  The difference is that technology makes it possible for us to connect with a larger network of friends and to share across longer distances.  The one limitation is – there is no sharing of the fresh-baked cookies and pies made by the neighbor!

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Here are some social networking sites focused on families:  Sort of a virtual front porch!!
e-family , 10 family friendly social networking sites 

Module 2: Learning Community Assignment

The photographic camera has a long history and has undergone many changes over time.  The beginning of the photographic camera dates back to the 4^th century when philosophers described the principles of optics and in the 1660’s when Isaac Newton discovered that light is composed of different colors.    The earliest camera were introduced in the 1800’s but required up to eight hours of light exposure and the image subsequently faded.  Throughout the 1800’s a number of individuals introduced new chemical processes and way to create and preserve photographic images, all based on the exposure to light.   In 1900 the “Brownie” was the first mass-marketed camera. The Brownie was followed by the 35mm still camera, the flash Bulb, film variations, the Polaroid camera, and the point and shoot camera (Bellis, 2010b).  In 1980 Sony demonstrated the first consumer camcorder and in 1990 the photo CD was introduced as a digital storage medium (Bellis, 2010b).  By the mid-2000 digital cameras were used by many photojournalists and becoming available to and accepted by the general public. 

While the introduction of the digital camera would seem like the next step in this cluster of technologic progression of the camera, it is not.  The modern day digital camera is not a result of the cluster of photographic cameras and camera related technologies, based on Newton’s knowledge of the light spectrum, but a rekindling of the technology from the early 1950’ used to capture live images by television cameras and to convert this information into electrical (digital) impulses which were saved to magnetic tape.  This was known as a video-tape recorder (VTR), which was funded by the Bing Crosby laboratories and was in common use by the television industry by 1956 (Bellis, 2010a).  Both those early television/video cameras and the digital cameras of today use a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) to sense light color and intensity of the image (http://www.electronics-manufacturers.com/products/digital-photography/ccd-camera/ ).   In addition in the 1960’s as part of the space race, NASA used a precursor to digital camera technologies to converted analog to digital signals with space probes to map the surface of the moon. 

Thus the emergence of the digital camera is an example of McLuhan’s idea that tetrads can grow as clusters or as chains (Thornburg, 2008). As I approached this assignment, I was certain this tetrad would be part of the cluster of the evolution of the photography.  However, as I learned more about the technology of digital cameras I realized it is an example of a chain because the digital camera diverts from the evolution of film and light exposure photography to the digitalization of live images.  Thus the technology of the digital camera is a reverse or rekindling of the technology used in the 1950’s and 1960 by the pioneers of the television industry and NASA scientists.   Here is a tetrad illustrating the emergence of the digital camera.

So what is next – maybe 4-dimensional or holographic photography?  Scientists at the University of Central Florida have a working prototype of a zoom lens that mimics the working of the human eye (Piquepaille, 2007).  Thus virtual photography will instantaneous dissemination may be on the horizon.

References:

Bellis, M. (2010a).  History of the digital camera.  About.com: inventors.   Retrieved 12/23/10 at: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bldigitalcamera.htm

Bellis, M. (2010b).  Photographic timeline.  About.com: inventors.  Retrieved 12/23/10 at:  http://inventors.about.com/od/pstartinventions/a/Photography.htm

Electronic Manufacturers (2007).  Retrieved 12/23/10 at:  http://www.electronics-manufacturers.com/products/digital-photography/ccd-camera/

Piquepaille, R. (2007).  Zoom liquid lenses for digital cameras.  Retrieved 12/23/10 at: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/zoom-liquid-lenses-for-digital-cameras/639

Thornburg, D. D. (2008b). Emerging technologies and McLuhan's Laws of Media. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

Module 1

How to prepare students to act in unexpected situations is a challenge for educators in high risk practice based professions. Understanding nursing care needs and developing the professional judgment needed to provide safe care don’t happen in a single moment or through the discrete event of hearing, reading or watching. Responding to a complex phenomenon requires learning opportunities that are cumulative, integrative and multifaceted.  In the teaching of health professions curriculum, high fidelity simulation has emerged as a possible solution.

Simulation allows events to occur simultaneously and the nurse learns to identify relationships essential and common to safe and effective practice in a setting. Unlike a classroom setting, simulation allows learners to function in an environment similar to the clinical setting and to think on their feet and to “act as the nurse” without the constraints of potential harm to the patient or liability issues. Simulation allows the integration of technical skills with the knowledge and the application of professional judgment foundational to safe and effective nursing care. Simulations are optimized for learning. With the use of simulation, the educational experience is determined by the needs of the learner and not the needs of the patient. Learners have permission to fail and to learn from the negative consequences of the failure to recognize and act. This isn’t feasible in the clinical setting.  The use of simulation removes the potential of risk to the patient and lets learners experience the outcomes of their actions or inactions in the clinical setting.

One disadvantage often cited in discussions about the use of simulated learning experiences is the cost. While simulation may be more costly and time-intensive than the ad hoc clinical experiences available in the practice setting, the lack of risk to patient well-being, lack of liability and ability to explore the impact of failure to act may outweigh the financial investment in the simulator and development time.  A second limitation is when educators use simulation as a replacement activity.  Some setting have tried to use simulation in place of direct patient care experiences, and the outcome has been less than satisfactory  

This technology has potential benefits to society as nurse competence and safe patient care outweigh the cost associated with the use of simulated nursing situations as learning opportunities. 

Here is a video demonstrating the use of simulation in a nursing laboratory setting:  Video and a link to an article abstract:  Article Abstract

These photos are from a community based project, using high-fidelity simulation that we are developing for parents preparing for their infant's discharge from the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).