The UNMC College of Nursing, a nationally recognized leader in nursing distance education programs, will host the second Biennial Distance Education Conference Sept. 24 and 25 in Omaha at Educational Service Unit No. 3, 6949 S. 110th St.
The conference is targeted to health professions educators, including those in nursing, allied health, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, as well as library, information science and educational technologists. About 120 people are expected to attend, including representatives from 37 universities/schools from 24 states, Canada and Jordan.
The conference will provide a forum for faculty, administrators and educational technologists to share best practices and wisdom from the field in a conference dedicated to distance education in the health professions, said Donna Westmoreland, Ph.D., associate professor of nursing and project director of the Health Systems Nurse Specialist project.
“As we traveled around the country looking for programs to help us learn more about distance education, it became clear we needed a venue to share key learnings and best practices, especially related to health professions education,” Dr. Westmoreland said.
The conference committee was surprised at the level of interest generated when they put out a call for abstracts for speakers. “We were overwhelmed by the huge response,” she said. “It was amazing. This is going to be a good program.”
Scheduled speakers include UNMC nursing faculty and about 33 speakers from around the country.
Catherine Bevil, Ed.D., professor and director, UNMC College of Nursing Continuing Nursing Education, said the focus of the conference is to share what the experts have been doing in the field, what they’re using and what outcomes they’re getting compared to traditional nursing education.
“This is a program for the experts to come together and share – to make what’s good better,” Dr. Bevil said. “This will help us to improve the quality of our distance education programs.”
The UNMC College of Nursing leads the way at UNMC in the use of innovative technology to deliver instruction to students at a distance, including throughout Nebraska, regionally, nationally and internationally. About half of the college’s students are enrolled in distance education programs. Distance education programs, which were born from the need to serve rural Nebraskans, now serve as a key instrument in the effort to resolve the nursing shortage.
“In the 1970s, Dr. Rosalee Yeaworth, former dean of our college, published a paper on what the college was doing with distance learning across Nebraska,” Dr. Bevil said. “She was a pioneer and not only did the work but moved it out there and disseminated it. We’re recognized as a leader in distance education, and for our excellence.”
Continuing Nursing Education contact hours are available. Cost of the conference is $175, which includes continental breakfast, lunch, breaks, conference materials and contact hours.
For more information or to register for one of the few remaining spots, go to http://www.unmc.edu/hsns/disted/conference.htm, or contact rharnish@unmc.edu or concne@unmc.edu, or call 1-800-626-8431 ext. 7487 or (402) 559-7487.