Evaluation of mobile learning: Students' experiences in a new rural-based medical school

Abstract

BackgroundMobile learning (ML) is an emerging educational method with success dependent on many factors including the ML device, physical infrastructure and user characteristics. At Gippsland Medical School (GMS), students are given a laptop at the commencement of their four-year degree. We evaluated the educational impact of the ML program from students' perspectives.MethodsQuestionnaires and individual interviews explored students' experiences of ML. All students were invited to complete questionnaires. Convenience sampling was used for interviews. Quantitative data was entered to SPSS 17.0 and descriptive statistics computed. Free text comments from questionnaires and transcriptions of interviews were thematically analysed.ResultsFifty students completed the questionnaire (response rate 88%). Six students participated in interviews. More than half the students owned a laptop prior to commencing studies, would recommend the laptop and took the laptop to GMS daily. Modal daily use of laptops was four hours. Most frequent use was for access to the internet and email while the most frequently used applications were Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Students appreciated the laptops for several reasons. The reduced financial burden was valued. Students were largely satisfied with the laptop specifications. Design elements of teaching spaces limited functionality. Although students valued aspects of the virtual learning environment (VLE), they also made many suggestions for improvement.ConclusionsStudents reported many educational benefits from school provision of laptops. In particular, the quick and easy access to electronic educational resources as and when they were needed. Improved design of physical facilities would enhance laptop use together with a more logical layout of the VLE, new computer-based resources and activities promoting interaction.

Mobile Learning in a Rural Medical School: Feasibility and Educational Benefits in Campus and Clinical Settings

“…In 2008, we explored first-year students' experiences of mobile learning and found strong support for the initial motive-equitable access to resources [17]. However, there were challenges associated with the laptops themselves, the use of the virtual learning environment (VLE), and the physical settings in which the laptops were used.…”

“…For licensing reasons, the image supplied in 2009 was more restrictive than that offered in 2008. Therefore, the second-year students had prior experience of an image that permitted greater functionality and with which they had expressed satisfaction [17].…”

“…Questions sought students' satisfaction with the laptops, MUSO, software applications, frequency of laptop use, and the value of online learning resources. The content of the questionnaire was based on an earlier published version [17]. However, our focus in this study was the comparison of mobile learning in different rural learning environments-the campus and clinical placements.…”

Bring-your-own-device in medical schools and healthcare facilities: A review of the literature (Preprint)

“…While bring-your-own-device (BYOD) is generally conceptualized as the use of personal mobile devices [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], Disterer and Kleiner [5] argue that BYOD is the policy that enables the use of personal mobile devices; that is, mobile devices or their use do not in themselves constitute BYOD until there is an associated policy (a plan for achieving set goals [8]). The BYOD policy would therefore be a plan for leveraging the benefits of mobile device use by fostering a safe and appropriate mobile device use environment [9].…”

A Qualitative Study on How Health Professional Students and Their PBL Facilitators Perceive the Use of Mobile Devices During PBL

“…The wider literature on the general use of mobile devices in teaching and learning is of use to this study in providing frameworks and guidelines for implementing and evaluating mobile learning (Nestel et al, 2010;Taxler & KukulskaHulme, 2005;Teall, Wang, & Callaghan, 2011). These studies are important as we move forward after 50 years of PBL in higher education, particularly in providing guidelines on successfully implementing mobile learning strategies to this new, connected generation of PBL learners.…”