Engageli & Canva in Group Work Assignments
All academics know that students engage and produce their best work in assessments when they can see the value in doing it. I developed a group assessment for a first year, first semester nursing course that not only assesses their learning of course content but also engages them in social interaction, teamwork, and using unfamiliar technologies. These skills are vital for nurses today as healthcare revolves around teamwork, and they need the skills to be able to adapt to new technologies.
This was achieved by using Engageli, an online platform that enables asynchronous team meetings to take place at a time and day suitable to the students. Canva was used as a platform for each student to develop a poster on a topic from the course and provide peer feedback to their teammates. WordPress Portfolio was then used for students to upload an individual reflection on their experience of working in a team and using new technology.
Marking the reflections showed surprising results. Out of 550 students in semester 1, 95% felt that they had learnt valuable team communication skills and had more confidence with using new technology. Many of our international students reported that they were nervous at first but acceptance by other team members helped them to feel a part of the university and less shy about speaking out.
Want to know more?
Explore student portfolios using the WordPress platform – Create@UniSQ
Read more about Engageli and the ongoing Pilot of this tool at UniSQ
Learn more about the affordances of Canva (free tool) for media production and access ‘how to’ videos on the Nursing Portfolio Resource site.
Questions? Contact Jo.Southern@usq.edu.au
About the Author
Jo Southern
Lecturer | NUR1103 & NUR8340 Course Examiner | BNSG Program Coordinator
Jo has been nursing for 34 years and has 10 years teaching experience. Her passion is work integrated learning where teamwork and technology meet healthcare. Jo is currently a PhD candidate at UniSQ focusing on immersive technology in healthcare education.
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Fantastic ThinkPiece Jo. An excellent overview of how you are innovating in your online teaching.