I completed my Content Module in Desire2Learn (D2L), a Learning Management System that we use at Camosun College, Victoria BC. It is the second module in the course I teach on Interprofessional Practice, which is one of five courses in a post-degree diploma called Interprofessional Mental Health and Addictions (IMHA). The IMHA Program is offered as a blended delivery; each course is primarily online in D2L and includes face-to-face seminars at the beginning and/or end of each course. This Interprofessional Practice course includes these seminars at the start and end, during their final week in the IMHA Program.
My digital story, as described previously in this class blog, offers foundational concepts related to stress and stress management; these are explored in more depth as students progress through the module. Subsequent modules present content on teamwork, boundaries, codes of ethics, standards of practice, and ethical decision-making in the context of interprofessional practice. For our students to be effective graduates in the field of mental health and addictions, they must demonstrate sound coping and team skills to support clients to be healthy and able to manage their challenges. Community mental health and substance use services experience a high degree of worker turnover and burnout, so we have much content in the Program to support students to be well-rounded and balanced professionals with effective self-care to promote all aspects of holistic health (e.g., mental, physical, emotional, interpersonal, and spiritual).
In a major re-write of this course, I included the digital story using VideoScribe to offer a more light-hearted take on the content that can be very challenging for some students, especially as they delve deeper into the course. VideoScribe can offer playful elements through the programs vast collection of images, yet I was able to bring in my own as well.
In the online academic environment, adult learners need to experience a connection to the material to be engaged with it. Because students read a significant amount of research in the course, I want to incorporate a variety of elements to help keep the content fresh and interesting. Degang (2015) recognizes that “visualization of abstract knowledge can stimulate students’ interest, maintain and improve learners’ enthusiasm to actively participate in leaning“(p. 21). My intention in the course is to enhance the content to be more reflective of current trends in interprofessional practice and to help students be excited (or at least enthusiastic) to learn. They can develop personal skills to be effective in the field, yet at the same time equip their counselor “toolbox” with strategies to support clients. Just as I demonstrate the application of various strategies to help my students be actively engaged in their learning, they too will be teaching and coaching their clients to learn new skills and knowledge. I believe it is incumbent on me to create an online learning environment that is inspiring for lifelong learning as the field of mental health and addictions is ever changing and growing to incorporate new strategies of frameworks of practice.
Degang, L. (2015). Research on the factors affecting online learning participation of learners in teachers distance training. Higher Education of Social Science, 9(1). 19-23. DOI: 10.3968/7202