Mobile learning

NOLA

THE CHALLENGE

Nurses in China have difficulties finding the time to do further education. How do we provide postgraduate courses for nurses where and when they have the time to learn?

THE SOLUTION

Develop NOLA - an online mobile learning app based on microlearning - that allows nurses to learn in small steps, utilizing their spare time to and from work.

ONLINE MOBILE LEARNING APP BASED ON MICROLEARNING

Nordic Praxis believe that many of the challenges in the care sector we face today can be solved by sharing our Nordic way of learning. They see, that we teach and learn in a special, practice-oriented way that will also benefit learners on the other side of the world.

China’s online education market has a huge potential. 42% of the Chinese people having a mobile phone use it to look for relevant, quality further education.

Nurses in China do have good education. But they find it difficult to find the time to follow postgraduate courses and do further education. Nordic Praxis – together with VIA University College – has the ambition that the Nordic Online Learning Academy (NOLA) will solve this challenge and help develop competencies that nurses can benefit from in their everyday professional life.

Behind the solution

NOLA is an online, mobile learning app that develops competencies through online learning experiences and that offers Danish research-based knowledge and practice-oriented approaches within welfare, health, and pedagogy.

The idea behind NOLA is to bring human-to-human knowledge from the ‘classroom’ into practice in reality. Based on blended learning, social and circular learning, microlearning, gamification, and reflective approached NOLA gives Chinese nurses the opportunity to immerse themselves in relevant learning content that helps them perform even better in their jobs. Principles on microlearning allow the nurses to take small steps for large impact – utilizing their sparse spare time by learning on their mobile phone to and from work.

Using the app nurses educate themselves and others, learn about how to treat patients suffering from dementia, give and get answers to questions that are difficult to ask because of related taboo, and share knowledge with others – all based on a point system, that rewards shared, relevant knowledge and tracks own progression and results. When the nurses arrive at the hospital in the morning, they have gained new knowledge and learned new tools and methods that they can apply directly in the day’s work.

The app consists of

The creation of an avatar that becomes the nurse’s public face
A virtual library and courses for users to download, print, and use
A user community where nurses can share information and practical experiences about everything from challenges to good advice and tips. The community is incorporated because the founders see great learning in sharing and helping others
A point system that rewards nurses based on learning skills and user community activity. The points are a competitive gaming element that ultimately can be used to buy new courses

The results

The reactions to NOLA have been overwhelming. Hospitals and municipalities find NOLA’s scalability a much-valued opportunity to train 200.000 nurses a year instead of only training 20 nurses a year. This makes a great impression.

Reactions from nurses have also been very positive. They especially like the practical orientation and the reflective approach, which have changed the way they communicate with citizens. This makes their work easier and less stressful. Citizens experience improved care and fewer conflicts with caregivers who have been taking the NOLA courses.

We wanted to teach humans how to interact with other humans – and to learn from each other.

Combining our approach with all the experiences, technologies and capabilities Cadpeople has, allows us to build a learning product that is unique and strong.

Jakob Mølvig & Nicolai Houe, Founding Partners, Nordic Praxis