Johnson S; Simmons College, Boston, MA, USA. Stephanie.Johnson@simmons.edu.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to conduct an evaluation of the clinical education website. BACKGROUND: Criteria were previously established for evaluating the website and an instrument developed and piloted to conduct the study (Johnson, 2000). Criteria included (a) facilitating access to and communication with the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (ACCE), (b) promoting collaboration among students during full-time clinical learning experiences, and (c) overall satisfaction with the Physical Therapy Clinical Education Website. SUBJECTS: The 38 students graduating from the physical therapy program in May 2001 were invited to participate in this study. METHODS: Criteria for gathering, displaying, and analyzing the data were established. Thirty-two individuals (84% response rate) responded to a mailed survey about the clinical education website, addressing access to technology, communication and collaboration, student preferences and overall satisfaction. ANALYSIS: SPSS 2000 release 10.1 was utilized to perform the analysis. Frequency counts were tabulated for all but the short answer responses. RESULTS: Respondents indicated that access to a computer was not a barrier, as twenty-six respondents (81%) owned a personal computer, and 100% of respondents were able to access the website while on campus and on clinical affiliation. No major barriers were identified to using the technology or navigating the site. Twenty-six respondents (81%) indicated that the website facilitated communication with the ACCE and with classmates while on clinical affiliations. Students provided specific examples of benefits to utilizing the chat room and bulletin boards as well as the website in general. As far as overall satisfaction with the website, 21 respondents (66%) indicated they were very satisfied, and 11 (34%) noted they were somewhat satisfied. None of the respondents indicated that they were dissatisfied with the website. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that the website was meeting the objectives for which it was established. Recommendations included (a) reviewing results with the Information Technology Department, (b) reviewing bulletin board procedures with students (c) better organization of postings, (d) uploading the Clinical Education Manual in PDF format, (e) repeating the survey spring 2002. FUNDING SOURCE: none.

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