Removing barriers to nursing student success through technology competency training

Abstract

In line with a nation-wide focus on improving student retention, increasing educational achievement and extending the reach of core courses to distance and distributed learners the Waikato Institute of Technology has made significant investments in the development of information and communication technology systems and infrastructure to support students engaged in learning and to enhance the student learning experience. In 2010, Wintec received two reports, 'Report on the e-Learning Maturity Model Capability Assessment of Waikato Institute of Technology, 2010', and the internal report 'Master of Nursing Programme Self-Assessment, 2009'. These reports identified two areas of concern/deficiency firstly, there was a lack of detailed information on the potential needs and current capabilities of students to inform the design of the provision of technological support and secondly, there was a critical need for the institution to improve its processes around preparing students for engagement with the ICT systems and infrastructure.