How to Keep CNA Students Engaged While Teaching Virtually
On February 18, 2021, CNA Simulations hosted the webinar, How to Keep CNA Students Engaged While Teaching Virtually. Throughout the hour-long webinar, CNA Simulations Founder Dr. Charlene Brown welcomed Ms. Tahira Goldson, an instructional designer with over 20 years of experience, to discuss tips, tricks, and more that she learned during her career on how best to keep students engaged during virtual CNA instruction. Below are some of the many important takeaways from the webinar and discussion from the CNA instructors from across the country who were in attendance.
Introduction (0:00-13:00)
“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here and we should dance”
-Unknown
In this section, Goldson took a moment to thank the audience for their work, introduced herself, and invited those in attendance to share about themselves as a way of leading into her personal experiences. They discussed things like accomplishments, adversity, and more. Things that came up as some of the most significant concerns in keeping students' attention in virtual instructional settings were others in their homes, other in-home distractions, and transportation.
Ways to Engage NA Students (13:00-16:55)
After warming up her audience with an icebreaker and some group discussion, Goldson began to explain strategies that she learned to help combat the daily issues that instructors face in the virtual classroom.
“It’s hard trying to get them engaged when they have this directive from the district they are told that they don’t have to [when online].”
-Attendee Cherie Watts
Strategy One: The first strategy Goldson gave was icebreakers. While they may seem simple, Goldson elaborated on the value they bring as psychological priming instruments to prepare students for the virtual nursing learning environment. Goldson discussed the application of icebreakers, for example, the icebreakers those on that call participated in at the onset of the webinar.
Strategy Two: The second was breaking into partners and groups. Goldson went into depth about how it will help prevent students from disengaging because of the individual focus it brings. She cited it as compelling in virtual nursing assistant learning, corporate, and general learning settings. Given that, leveraging small groups in virtual learning becomes even more pivotal.
Strategy Three: The third was Crowdsourcing. This way allows students to engage in a less stressful setting while allowing things like incorporating technological tools, like phones and computers. Goldson pointed to how group discussions with verbal follow-up questions, including and to specific students, can help keep engagement up. Group chats were another synchronous and asynchronous way to engage students in a large group..
Setting the Stage for Virtual CNA Teaching and Learning (16:55-36:05)
Additionally, Goldson talked about several ways instructors can set the stage for their students in the virtual learning setting. These strategies involved changing the rules, framing expectations, and making room for others, each point having six strategies Goldson explains in the video: engaging every ten minutes, dress codes, and teach-backs. Implementing these strategies can optimize CNA skills development and learning.
“The truth is that there is a gap that we can’t fill, and the best way that we can proceed is to be kind to ourselves and be honest so that we can do this work in a way that is sustainable and doesn’t burn out those who have the most experience.”
-Tahira Goldson, Instructional Designer
Goldson then went into depth about how incentivization strategies involving alumni and other strategies can be used to get student buy-in. Goldson also discussed positive versus negative reward structures and how CNA instructors can incentivize their students. Some of the many specific ideas presented by Goldson for virtual CNA instruction were guest speakers, enlisting family members, and incorporating phones.
Further Discussion (36:05-57:31)
In this call-and-response section of the webinar, Goldson invited participants to talk about some of the strategies they have used in their classrooms that work and those that don’t. These strategies include incorporating YouTube into lesson plans, communicating with students' families, and CNA games.
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