Abstract

Clinical education on the move: a survey of medical students� experiences of m-learning

Author(s): Gerard Gormley, Ian Bickle, Paul Hamilton, Alexander Davey, Patrick Stirlin

Objective: mobile learning or ‘m-learning’ can allow contextual learning that is not restricted by location. The objective of this paper is to assess firstly the ownership of mobile technologies and secondly the experiences and attitudes towards m-learning, in a cohort of medical students during the clinical component of their training.

Methods: an online questionnaire was developed to capture medical students’: 1) general demographic details, 2) ownership of portable electronic devices, 3) use of such devices, 4) experiences of such technologies in the clinical component of their studies and 5) perceived educational effectiveness of different downloadable media. The questionnaire was distributed to all medical students in the clinical years of the medical degree programme (n=498) at Queen’s University Belfast (Northern Ireland). Participants’ responses were rated on Likert scales.

Results: the response rate was 60% (298/498). The majority of students reported to own mobile electronic devices and use them frequently during a variety of day-to-day activities. Usage of devices most commonly occurred during commuting. Responses indicated that music files were the most popular file type. Students tended not to use their mobile device for educational purposes and felt suitable educational files were not widely accessible. If such files were more accessible, students appeared keen to use them in their learning. Of all the different file types, students tended to favour more visually intensive mediums, such as clinical examination and procedural videos.

Conclusion: medical students appear to be no different from other similarly aged individuals, in terms of their usage and enthusiasm for using mobile technologies. Not only do they widely use such devices in their leisure time, they also express keenness and a desire to utilise m-learning in their clinical studies. Where such technology has the potential of delivering contextual learning in the clinical environment, a lack of suitable educational material appears to be a limiting factor. As educators we need to embrace this method of teaching and extend the provision of learning material into this arena; however, any developments need to be underpinned by educational theory, rather than technological novelty.