Nursing student information network: fostering collegial communications using a computer conference.

This article describes the development and implementation of a student-based computer information network in a university setting. A computer conference was established as a pilot project on two campuses in a large multipurpose, multicampus university school of nursing, and it was used to communicate information and facilitate collegial interaction among students, faculty, academic counselors, and administrators. The project demonstrates that computer conferences can be used to disseminate information effectively to diverse and geographically distant student populations. Such networks have the potential to enhance opportunities for collaborative learning experiences and student-faculty communication.