Collaboration in the development of Multimedia Interactivities 
within the development of a Forensic WebCT Course

• An Internet Forensic Course is scheduled for pilot offering in summer session, through the Faculty of Continuing Education and The Faculty of Nursing from July 2- Aug. 14, 2002 on the WEB CT course format.

• The development of any new online course to be offered for credit at the University of Calgary involves the efforts of a collaborative team, with a combined expertise to ensure a successful delivery. 

• This project proposal will outline the project development, focusing on two the team members who collaborated on this project for the purpose of their student  project assignment for EDER 677 in which they were enrolled in the winter of 2002. 

• Interaction refers not only to the communications that should occur between the student and the instructor and the student with other students but also the interaction between the student and the content of the course. Thus, the key to success in an online class rests not only with the content that is being presented but also with the method by which the course is delivered. The effective use of the means by which interactivity is enhanced deepens the learning experience and creates a more satisfying outcome for everyone.  When content is delivered in multiple ways, it also addresses different student learning styles and creates a more interesting course overall. It is pedagogy and not technology that is critical to the success of an online course. 

Media exposure has brought a recent fascination and heightened interest into the understanding of the mind of infamous perpetrators and the social/legal issues of how to deal with offenders and care for their victims are forefront! Due to the recent interest in the study of forensic health practices there is increasing demand for forensic courses internationally. A challenge in educational technology is the dissemination of our forensic body of knowledge internationally. The value of accessing and utilizing forensic people and resources internationally on the Web is just beginning to be realized for future collaborations, with a greater degree of international links promised (Kent-Wilkinson et al, 1999).

(Cap: 20 students)
 

• An online Focus on Forensic: Introduction to health care practice in forensic populations would be open to disciplines of nursing, law, medicine, psychology, social work, sociology, and criminology.

• The target population is endless when considering distance education by Internet. Students could be local, national and international from urban and rural locations.

• The target audience is primarily nursing as the nursing discipline is the professional discipline with the great numbers or market (estimated 23 million nurses in the world). As a multidisciplinary course, it would attract some numbers from criminology, law, medicine, psychology, social work, sociology, criminology, and police sciences as well. 

• The target audience for this specific course would be: undergraduate and post RN nursing students, nurses who are interested in the forensic area, nurses who are looking for a change in their nursing practice, and student nurses simply seeking a senior open option. This web-instructed course will address the roles and career opportunities for health care professionals.

University of Calgary -
Faculty of Continuing Education
o Ms. Karen Orser  –  Manager of Special Sessions

University of Calgary -
Faculty of Nursing

o Dr Carol Lynne LeNavenec – Nursing Support
o Dr. Elaine McKiel  - Assist Dean Undergraduate
o Branda Toth - Registration
o Marlene Baier - Websity Support 
o Laura Hampson - Student Advisor
o Debbie Murphy - Student Advisor
o Laurie McDonald - Project Fund Account

University of Calgary - 
Graduate Division of Educational Research
o Mr. Norm Vaughan - Prof. EDER 677

University of Calgary - 
Learning Commons
o Mr. Patrick Kelly
o Mr. Gord Southan
o Ms. Michelle McGrat

Web Designer
o Mr. Jeffrey Spikers – Web Designer

SAIT Practicum
o Ms. Lori Ramey – SAIT Student
 

“ A decision making aid … Intended to guide selection of instructional media according to their instructional and cost effectiveness” (Rothwell & Kazanas, 1998) 

“Any technology can disseminate information; the instructor must create interactive opportunities and assess whether students have the basic knowledge to move forward to the next level of learning” (Don Olcott, 1999)

This Forensic Course through the World Wide Web offers students both flexibility and accessibility. Students access content when convenient for them. Because students study at their own pace, they determine a study schedule that makes room for life's other commitments. Study through the WWW is a very attractive alternative for pursuing academic goals. 

This Forensic Course would introduce many new roles such as Forensic Clinical Nurse Specialists, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, Forensic Legal Consultants, Forensic Geriatric and Pediatric Nurse Specialists. It also informs the student of forensic roles in existence that present curriculums may not have addressed i.e. correctional and forensic psychiatric nursing, forensic psychology, forensic social work etc. 

This Forensic Course would provide insight as to current and future career opportunities within the forensic arena. Forensic areas are anywhere health care professionals deal with victims or perpetrators of catastrophic accidents, physical or emotional trauma, violence and  crime. 

The Forensic Internet Course will address a new area of multidisciplinary interest emerging internationally - where health care and the law interface. 

Unique elements of this proposed course are:

• a broad cross-section of students both geographically and in terms of background; 

• enhanced interaction with instructor and fellow students;

• access to forensic experts worldwide;

• access to a world of forensic resources on the Web;

• high quality materials on the Web, textual, graphic, and audio; (depending on funding)

• original forensic course content enhanced by incorporating multimedia and interactive features of the Internet and World Wide Web

The major objectives of this course are to acquaint students and health care professionals with an overview of health care in forensic practice arenas. The historical development of the forensic sciences and the prevailing social/ethical forensic issues where health care interfaces with the law will be addressed. Practice roles of forensic subspecialties will be outlined, together with the target forensic populations they serve. 

After completing this course students should be able to: 

1.  Explore the historical events, laws and acts that have influenced the evolution of forensic health care practices within the health and justice systems. 

2.  Describe the roles and responsibilities of specific forensic subspecialties with regard to intervening with populations of victims and/or perpetrators. 

3.  Relate common forensic concepts to specific forensic populations at risk. 

4.  Examine prevailing social/ethical issues where health care and the law overlap. 

5.  Access and utilize Internet based tools to explore and network with forensic experts and resources internationally.

Collaboration is a philosophy of interaction and personal lifestyle where individuals are responsible for their actions, including learning and respect the abilities and contributions of their peers. (Panitz, 2000)

Cooperation is a structure of interaction designed to facilitate the accomplishment of a specific end product or goal through people working together in groups. (Panitz, 2000)

The underlying premise for both collaborative and cooperative learning is founded in constructivist theory. Knowledge is discovered by students and transformed into concepts students can relate to. It is then reconstructed and expanded through new learning experiences. Learning consists of active participation by the student versus passive acceptance of information presented by an expert lecturer. Learning comes about through transactions and dialogue among students and between faculty and students, in a social setting. Students learn to understand and appreciate different perspectives through a dialogue with their peers. A dialogue with the teacher helps students learn the vocabulary and social structures which govern the groups students wish to join, such as historian, mathematician, writer, actor, etc. (Panitz, 2000).
 

After years of depending on the instructor in the classroom, learners are experiencing a change. Clearly online, the responsibility to learn shifts considerably to the learner. Since instructors, who previously addressed the cognitive, affective and social factors in the classroom are not always available, the primary cognitive-based solutions and perspectives used previously may be incomplete and need to be refined. 

The area of consideration is how to design and present instruction that recognized, matches, and supports how individuals want and intend to learn differently (more than just how learners build knowledge).

 In this area, the primary learning goals of this project should provide multimedia interactivities that:

1.  To accomplish instructional objectives 

2.  To cooperate and collaborate on activities

3.  To continually improve online learning ability (e. g., more self-motivated and self-directed learning when they were in instructor-led   environments)

4.  To build learning environment that adapt to individual learning differences

As we put learners online and expect learners to take on more responsibility for their learning, we begin to see learners as individuals and identify how each may use or need additional support to improve their online learning achievement and ability over time. In this understanding, we also begin to see patterns (from a “whole-person” perspective) that identify gaps in how people are equipped to engage in learning online.
 

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