ASCILITE Live! webinar: Batman – the online clinical classroom

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, physical distancing and lock-down requirements created significant challenges for tertiary education and disciplines, such as nursing, typically taught face-to-face with the inclusion of skill-based clinical teaching. Our challenge was to pivot rapidly nursing clinical skills to an engaging, online course that supported the development of clinical skill and social group dynamics. With the help of Batman, nursing lab learning pivoted online by demonstrating clinical skills in and enabling students to simultaneously practice in their own environments. Our goal was relevant and enjoyable learning that would prepare students for clinical placements later in the semester.

This webinar showcased how we leveraged existing course resources, staff knowledge, accessible technology, and the superhero Batman to create a non-threatening and enjoyable online learning community for 183 first-year nursing students. We will discuss how we taught professionally congruent, nursing clinical assessment skills by scaffolding students’ engagement in the online classroom using the Activity-Centered Analysis and Design Framework. We will share how our experience with Batman continues to influence our teaching and open the discussion on the importance of positioning the student to ‘practice’ within an ecology of elements in online learning environments.

This session was presented by Marla S Burrow (Lecturer in School of Nursing at Massey University), Camille Manning (Educator in the School of Nursing at Massey University), Shelley van der Krogt (Educator in the School of Nursing at Massey University) and Jenny Green (Award-winning educator with extensive tertiary and clinical teaching experience).