The Production and Deployment of an On-line Video Learning Bank in a Skills Training Environment *

Context and Background With the introduction of the pre-registration degree in nursing in Ireland in 2002, the formerly hospital-based schools of nursing amalgamated into larger programmes with their affiliated higher education institutes (HEIs). The result was a considerable increase in class sizes. The current average cohort in the School of Nursing, Dublin City University (DCU) is 240 students. This has resulted in a need to review the way we teach clinical nursing skills on campus. These skills form a large part of the programme and are taught to students in the school-based simulated nursing environment to prepare them for their practical experience in the clinical environment. To date the skills have been taught to groups of 25-30 students using a demonstration and practice technique. This teaching method has posed a number of problems: It is highly resource intensive Learning experiences vary depending on the mix of demonstration and practice in each session It can be difficult for students to absorb all of the information presented in a single demonstration. It was decided that video technology incorporating a large scale deployment of skills videos over a video web server, in conjunction with a shift in emphasis in the teaching contact sessions could offer a useful tool to aid the teaching process. This paper will discuss the production process, the implementation of the project in the teaching environment and the evaluation findings.