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Authors | Institution |
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Alexander Bonner Lucie Byrne-Davis |
Manchester Medical School University of Manchester United Kingdom |
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| Student expectations of using mobile devices in medical education |
Today's medical students are digital natives. Unlike the generation before them - digital immigrants - those born after c.1990 have grown up in an almost entirely digital world, and have never known an existence without mobile technology. Many of them spend a large proportion of their time in close proximity to a mobile phone and/or tablet device, usually with internet access. The majority are active within communities linked through social media, utilising web 2.0 technology to interact with one another (Friedrich, Le Merle, Peterson, & Koster, 2010). Tomorrow's generation of doctors will expect to be "on the grid 24/7", whether at work or home.
All 3rd Year medical students at Manchester Medical School (MMS) receive a tablet device (Apple iPad Mini). We sought to establish what the baseline expectations of the students receiving such a device were.
Our results show that, reflecting the growth in tablet accessibility, 41% of students already used tablet devices prior to being given an iPad by MMS. On a 5-point Likert scale (1= strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree), we found students considered themselves highly ‘tech-savvy’ at baseline (3.8). Students expected that the iPad would support academic performance (4.1), efficiency of studies (4.1) and were highly motivated to use the technology (4.3). Data was collected regarding what the students planned to use their devices for. Students also felt that the investment made by the medical school represented good value for money (4.2).
The current generation of doctors in training will continue to use mobile technology for learning, leisure and clinical practice. It is incumbent upon providers of medical education to keep abreast with the changing way students access technology for learning, particularly just-in-time technology. Students are enthusiastic about using tablet devices to support and enhance their studies.
The authors would like to thank the members of the Mobile Technology Research Group at Manchester Medical School (MMS) for their contribution to this work.
468 students at Manchester Medical School (MMS) were given iPad-mini tablet devices at the start of their 3rd year.
Ethical approval was given for an e-questionnaire to be distributed via the MMS e-Form application on the iPad as soon has students took receipt of their device. We designed our questionnaire to try and reflect domains which previous work has shown to affect user acceptance of information technology (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2013). Baseline data regarding: (a) prior technology usage and (b) user expectations of the technology was collected. E-forms from 237 students (50.6%) were returned.
The use of mobile technology in medical education is growing, and recent work has described how students use such devices in their studies (Ellaway, Fink, Graves, & Campbell, 2014). However, little is known about baseline expectations of medical students.
Our data suggests today’s medical students are technology-embracers who are enthusiastic about engaging with their mobile devices to support and enhance their studies. Many students already had access to a tablet device before being given one by the medical school. We plan to follow this group of students to see what impact mobile technology usage has on pedagogy and performance.
Ellaway, R., Fink, P., Graves, L., & Campbell, A. (2014). Left to their own devices: Medical learners’ use of mobile technologies. Medical Teacher, 36, 130–138.
Friedrich, R., Le Merle, M., Peterson, M., & Koster, A. (2010). The Rise of Generation C: Implications for the World of 2020. Retrieved from www.booz.com
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2013). User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478.