Computer and Office Software Competencies

Nursing computer competencies is a topic that comes up over and over in the literature and in faculty discussions.  Yesterday, I read an article by Elder and Koehn (2009) that describes my experience with nursing students' computer and office competencies.  The researchers surveyed 90 first and second semester nursing students and 19 RN-BSN students to identify self-perception of computer skills and compared the results to computer assessment skills outcomes.  The study results indicated that while students self-assessed themselves to be experts in specific skill areas, such as word processing, in actuality, they lacked many of the skills necessary for college work.

Marc Prensky (http://www.marcprensky.com/)  is known for his work about Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants (http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf ).  Essentially, Digital Natives grew up with technology, whereas, Digital Immigrants, like myself, adopted technology.  The potential misconception that instructors make is that Digital Natives are technology experts.  I suggest that "you never miss what you never had" and that many Digital Natives have knowledge gaps related to computers in general and office software in particular.

Examples of word processing and spreadsheet software knowledge gaps include competencies for:

• Word Processing
• Using word wrap
• Creating tables
• Using spellcheck, thesauras, and word count functions
• Using endnotes, footnotes, and personal reference management functions
• Using the outline function
• Creating headers and footers
• Creating a hanging indent
• Inserting page numbers
• Saving files into other file formats
• Using search and replace
• Spreadsheet
• Using formulas with spreadsheet software
• Formatting spreadsheet software to function as a database
• Importing and exporting in comma in other file formats such as a CSV (comma separated value)
• Using filters
• Using search and replace
• Using conditional formatting

I read a posting on the nursing informatics listserv about a free online resource sponsored by the Goodwill Community Foundation International, which provides free online learning resources.  The link is at
http://www.gcflearnfree.org/default3d.aspx

Registration is free!  The site provides educational resources for computer basics, office software, and exploring life (see screenshot below). I especially like the fact the the OpenOffice software is included.  I use OpenOffice to create all of the HTML (hypertext markup language) files for Blackboard learning management system courses, because it creates "clean code" and is very user friendly. 

I plan to explore the learning resources on the GCF site over the next few weeks.  Please feel free to comment on this topic.

Elder, B. L., & Koehn, M. L. (2009). Assessment tool for nursing student computer competencies. Nursing Education Perspectives, 30(3), 148-152.