Lost in translation: Understanding Students' use of social networking and online resources to support early clinical practices. A National Survey of graduate speech-language pathology students

Abstract

The Internet is a source of many resources for graduate speech-language pathology (SLP) students. It is important to understand the resources students are aware of, which they use, and why they are being chosen as sources of information for therapy activities. A national online survey of graduate SLP students was conducted to assess their awareness, use, and value of social networking and online resources. Participants also viewed original interface designs created to support the use of current literature in the development of therapy activities. A total of 683 students (348 first-year and 335 second-year) representing the national population in terms of region, ethnicity, and sex completed the survey. Students were highly aware of and active in social networking. High overall awareness was associated with high overall use. First-year students reported using online resource sites when unsure what to do more than second-year students. Students reported implementing activities obtained from social networking or online resource sites (92%) but few provided feedback (14%) or contributed materials (11%). Students supported integrations between social networking and research articles that created links between activities and the evidence base. Results of this survey have implications for clinical education and academic instruction in the era of digital technologies. Integrative features of online resources may help students to bridge the gap between evidence and daily therapy activities by supporting connections to research literature.