Thoughts so far.
Due to clinical commitments, I have been unable to attend all tutorial sessions. I am really grateful to my fellow course mates who have attended, as I have found conversations in the tutorials extremely stimulating. I’m circling around the area of digital decision support systems and how they impact deep, transformational learning. I wanted to thank Ranjana and Gustav for their comments in this morning’s tutorial (04/03/2021 @ 0930) as the vague static I had in my head (when thinking about what the focus of my assignment could be) cleared somewhat during their discussion about electronic patient records, documentation and medicolegal side of things, as well as the concept of “garbage in, garbage out”.
In their honour, I thought I would compose my first blog post 😉
Participation in the MSc as a whole has taught me that I am definitely someone who like to reflect on their experiences in order to learn. I didn’t realise that this was so fundamental to my learning process and I’ve realised that I take it for granted that others do the same as a matter of routine. As I reflect on the course so far, I feel like it is making me consider ideas that were always in the background but are now things which I must consider if I am to move forward with encouraging learners to move more on to digital platforms for education.
The concept of being digitally literate requires us to know and understand the digital tools at our disposal and how we may use them. We enjoy being able to have access to information, to our contacts, immediately. There is almost immediate gratification – have a thought, document it, get “feedback on it” via social media or contribute our opinions to those that already exist. This connectivity has been a life line through the Pandemic for many.
The idea of Digital Professionalism is something I have considered in the past but never reflected on what it entails or what the implications are in an increasingly digitalised world. It is clear that one must communicate professionally in a work context – emails replacing letters and electronic patient records making it clear for all to see what we document. Personally, I think it is becoming more and more integrated into personal life – where social media used to be a tool for personal expression is now becoming another way we can be assessed on our professionalism, access academic resources and “network” with others (no pun intended). In this way, is there ever really a moment now, when we are online, that we can truly communicate personal views without it being a reflection of our professionalism. Should I put that photo up? Should I respond to that post? Should I use my real name or real photo? These are things I have always considered but it seems with the link between my digital personal life and professional life becoming inextricably linked, should we be removing ourselves personally from these forms of media and go back into the “real world” – print photos and get them into frames or simply share only with those you know. Blog your reflection or save it for a face to face discussion? Can we really “switch off” from work if we are continuously linked to it and what are the effects of this on our personal life?
I realise these thoughts are by no means original, they just struck me when reflecting on the course so far.
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Congrats on your first blog post! It’s a good ‘un 🙂
It was very gratifying to see you refer to this morning’s tutorial in your post and to see these disparate aspects of the course join together. It’s never that clear who watches the tutorial recordings or what people make of them (is it painful to watch a conversation you can’t be an active part of?), although there are probably analytics working in the background that could tell us about the number of views, etc. Should we look at / worry about those? This is a question I have wrestled with (though not very aggressively) for years.
Lots of great thoughts in here. Regarding digital professionalism, Rachel Ellaway (I think!) suggests it shouldn’t be separated from professionalism more widely. What do you think? One interesting way to look at this is to compare the answer you would give now to the answer you think you might give in 20 years time, once much of the new stuff is deeply embedded within day to day practice.
Thanks Tim!
Although I cant always make it to the tutorials I see them as a key resource for the MSc in general. It can be frustrating not being able to contribute when a topic of interest comes up but this is a minor issue compared to the ideas that can pop into your mind as a consequence of hearing the ideas and insights of others.
I think we are now past the point of being able to choose whether digital professionalism is something we can separate from the wider concept of professionalism. If I consider the clinical digital revolution of the past 20 years, I can only imagine how much more integral to practice education and technology will be. The “Black Mirror” version of our lives where we do not proceed with caution or consideration, enthusiastically down the route of embedding technology into our daily life, “Alexa, turn on the light” (or in Ranjana’s smart toothbrush case “Alexa, turn on my toothbrush”). As a child of the eighties, its easy to think nostalgically back to a time when we didn’t have access to so much technology and then through the phases of boxy mobile phones, dial up internet access, Game Boy . Although I may seem cynical, I love the fact that we have so much access to technology which can make life easier and more efficient. I just think we have to proceed with a bit of caution – just be cause we can , doesn’t mean we should?
Hi Lynsey…I loved your post and agree with your thoughts. I am also in the similar turmoil when it comes to the digital professionalism. “Pendulum swings both ways,” digital revolution also have some of the verse implications even when it comes to healthcare industry. We can survive and grow with it by facing the challenges and overcoming the barriers that comes along but maintaining the professional behaviour and ethics while using the digital platforms.
Question is, can we maintain this professional behaviour in this evolving digital environment?