Introduction
The past decade has seen rapid changes in science and technology and technological knowledge has kept pace. Education plays a pivotal role in preparing the individual to be an effective and constructive participant in knowledge society (Soran et al., 2006; Turgut, 2009). Thus, nursing curricula must continuously be revised and updated to prepare studentswho can be adaptive and productive using technology. However, nursing education faces a number of challenges, including inadequate infrastructure and resources, the shortage of qualified nurse educators, and a high student/faculty ratio,which limit the effectiveness of the teaching–learning process in the classroom (National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, 2010; McNett, 2012). These challenges are compounded by the realities and demands of clinical practice. Although clinical practice is an integral component of nursing education, the limited number of clinical sites for student placement, shortage of nursing faculty for clinical supervision, and nurses' reluctance to facilitate clinical learning of students due to staff shortages and heavy workload, are obstacles
(McNett, 2012; Fitzgerald et al., 2012).