The Point Website for Informatics and Nursing 4th Edition

The Lippincott ThePoint website with resources for faculty and student to support the 4th edition of Informatics and Nursing is http://thepoint.lww.com/Book/Show/235900 .  It is not fully functional for faculty yet, but the student resources that I reviewed all work.  When the site is ready, the textbook should be available in as a print and as a eBook.

Linda will have our personal textbook site ready within a couple of weeks.  She is finalizing the chapter web pages and creating an index now. As with the 3rd edition, all users will have all of the corrections (several URLs are already broken).  Such is the life of nursing informatics!  It is quickly changing!!

Informatics and Nursing 4th edition

I received a pre-publication copy of the 4th edition of the Informatics and Nursing textbook in the mail today.  I really hope that users continue to find it readable and a great source of learning.

• The chapter on hardware is now included in the appendix. 
• Chapter 12 on mobile computing includes screenshots of the iPhone and iPad, as well as some detailed information on cell phones, iPads, and other mobile devices.  
• The chapters on office software include references to the software for the Mac and free office software such as OpenOffice.org and Google docs. 
• Users will be able to download the files used for the textbook screenshots to interact with the data. 
• The other updates include meaningful use, the HITECH Act, data security, disaster recovery, and more about HIPAA. 
• Student and faculty support will be available online at http://thepoint/lww.com/Sewell4e.   
• The website does indicate that the book will be available as an eBook.  I hope that the hyperlinks work! 

I have included a screenshot of the textbook cover below.

4th Edition of Informatics and Nursing Textbook

I received final proofs of the 4th edition of the Informatics and Nursing textbook yesterday.  According to an email from the acquisitions editor - the textbook will be available in February 2012!  I believe that everyone will enjoy the new fresh "look and feel" of the book.  The graphics have been updated. 

Looking into the Future of Education

Now that my research team and I have submitted two grant proposals, it is time to get back on track with this blog.  I read the EDUCAUSE Horizon reports each year.  The 2010 report provides us a glimpse at the future of education.  The authors note that within:

• This year we will have a wide-scale adoption of mobile computing and open content
• Within the next 2-3 years we will adopt electronic textbooks and "simple augmented reality"
• Within 4-5 years we will adopt "guesture based computing" and "visual data analysis"

Clearly mobile computing is evident on our campuses.  Students and faculty alike depend upon netbooks, smartphones, like the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android to access email, online course content, and electronic resources.  The worldwide economic crisis has sped up the interest in open content.  Open content is a term for online courses that are freely availalble without charge.

Electronic textbooks have increased popularity.  I am currently using 3 electronic textbooks on my laptop.  Electronic textbooks provide the ability to highlight, make notes, and bookmark similar to a paper version.  The perks are the ability to have electronic booksmarks and to have them anytime I need them and have my laptop (everywhere). Simple augmented reality is a feature on many cell phones, for example, the GPS, a digital camera, and the compass on the iPhone. 

Guesture based computing is a term for operating computers using movement of hands, arms, and/or body.  Guesture based computing is used on popular news shows where the news anchor uses their hands and arms to open or close windows on wide screen televisions to show news and weather reports.  The iPhone uses guestures such as a finger swipe, tap and shake.  The Wii has popularize guesture based computing with software for sports and fitness. 

I am really excited about the emergence of visual data analysis, which will allow us to visualize complex data without having to know complex software.  It should prove especially meaningful for healthcare.  I am looking forward to the day that every nurse will have expertise in the analysis of healthcare data to improve the safety, effectiveness, and quality of care provided.