![[book]](bigbook1.gif)
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Skilled Nursing Resource Site
for Web-based
Continuing Education
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Evaluation of the site linked here is part of a doctoral dissertation
subject area guide project.
Comments are welcome.
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Authority, sponsorship, intended audience.
Florida International University (FIU) serves a student body of over 28,000 in 120 countries. PTChat is supported by the Physical Therapy department of FIU, and is geared to meeting needs of students and the PT professional community of practitioners, educators, and researchers.
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Accuracy.
Unable to assess. PTChat is a real time chat channel, thus accuracy of discussion is dependent upon participants and information shared.
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Objectivity.
Unable to assess, although PT Web site links to APTA, and supports research and publishing.
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Currency.
No date indicated
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Browser and other concerns.
Well laid out, easy to navigate. FIU Home page demonstrates interesting use of graphics. PT department Web site provides hyperlinks to IRC software download sites.
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Continuing Education.
Real time chat is a state of the art use of Internet resources, in that the international on-line community can converse easily, timely, and at little or no cost. FIU supports a channel via IRC (Internet Relay Chat) whereby "interested parties from around the world can access" after configuring the free software. Dial-in times worldwide are provided at this site to promote coordination of weekly forums on Wednesdays, 6 am Western (USA) time, 1 pm GMT/UK, Hong Kong/Singapore 9pm, and so on. Discussion questions are provided to structure the chats, such as, "How do you document compliance, non-compliance?" Email help/information from FIU associates is accessible from this site. IRC is software that is easily downloaded and configured from hyperlinks provided at this site (either MAC or PC & Windows), and allows individuals to "chat" by typing text to each other, in dyads or in groups, in real time. For users unfamiliar with IRC, some practice is suggested to master the commands, but novice users will be able to follow set-up instructions without too much difficulty. Download and dial-in instructions are given at this site.
