Digital collaborative learning in nursing education: a systematic review

Objectives The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of educational interventions in digital collaborative learning implemented in nursing education. Design A systematic literature review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was carried out in accordance with Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidelines and the PRISMA statement. Data sources CINAHL (EBSCO), ERIC, MEDLINE (Ovid) and Scopus databases were used to identify original peer-reviewed RCT studies published between 2003 and 2018. Review method The 'hits' were systematically screened by title, abstract and full text by two authors acting independently. The quality of the selected original studies was evaluated using the quality assessment criteria of the JBI and Cochrane collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials. The studies were analysed by narrative synthesis. Results Five peer-reviewed RCT studies were included in the review. All participants in these studies (647 in total) were nursing students exposed to educational interventions in various nursing programme courses. The reviewed studies indicated that digital collaborative learning increased students' knowledge and nursing skills. The results show that collaborative learning in digital learning environments enhanced nursing students' interaction and collaborative skills, problem-solving skills, satisfaction and motivation for learning. Conclusion Collaborative learning in digital learning environments has encouraging effects in enhancing nursing students' knowledge, competence, satisfaction and problem-solving skills. Moreover, evidence-based digital collaborative learning is becoming increasingly effective in nursing education, as available tools and teachers' abilities to use them are improving and providing new learning activities to boost students' learning outcomes in higher education. Thus, its systematic use in digital collaborative learning environments in various nursing courses is recommended.