A "MINI MOOC": OUTCOMES OF A GATEWAY INTRODUCTORY COURSE FOR ONLINE LEARNERS

Mature, non-traditional students are often fearful of returning to school for a higher degree; especially after a long hiatus or when the program is offered online. A course was developed in our institution that provides students with a guided introduction to the skill sets necessary to support online learning, communication and the production of scholarship. Students are introduced to the technologies and resources that are fundamental to success in the RN-to-BSN program. This credit/non-credit course, required of all online RN-to-BSN students, is taken in the first quarter of study. It is designed to provide students with two specific skill sets necessary for success in an online BSN program 1) familiarity and practice using on line learning activities and 2) increased comfort with conducting basic online research (i.e. finding journal articles relevant to an assigned topic) and writing scholarly papers. The course received rave reviews and increased enrollment in the online program by 25% within the first year of implementation. The second year we began to offer sections of the course on a scholarship basis to area nurses who might be hesitant in taking an online course. To date over 100 nurses have completed the course without paying tuition. In this presentation, we will share the course components, recruitment and retention efforts and credit allocation in our “mini mooc” pilot course.
1. Describe the Introductory Course for Online Learners.
2. Define the challenges and opportunities of offering a free course to nursing students.
3. Identify outcome results of the "mini mooc" initiative and share ideas for implementation.