Abstract
Students in a new medical school were provided with laptops. This study explored the feasibility and educational benefits of mobile learning for two cohorts of students learning in two settings—university campus (first-year students) and rural clinical placements (second-year students). Evaluation involved questionnaires, focus groups (faculty and students), and document analysis. Descriptive statistics were computed. Focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed thematically. Response rates for questionnaires exceeded 84%. Compared with second-year students, significantly more first-year students (60%) took their laptops to campus daily (P=0.14) and used their laptops for more hours each day (P=0.031). All students used laptops most frequently to access the internet (85% and 97%) and applications (Microsoft Word (80% and 61%) and Microsoft PowerPoint (80% and 63%)). Focus groups with students revealed appreciation for the laptops but frustration with the initial software image. Focus groups with faculty identified enthusiasm for mobile learning but acknowledged its limitations. Physical infrastructure and information technology support influenced mobile learning. Document analysis revealed significant costs and issues with maintenance. If adequately resourced, mobile learning through university-issued laptops would be feasible and have educational benefits, including equitable access to learning resources, when and where they are needed. However, barriers remain for full implementation.
Highlights
Gippsland Medical School (GMS), Monash University, is a graduate entry medical curriculum offering a bachelor of medicine/bachelor of surgery (MBBS) over four years [1]
In 2008, we explored first-year students’ experiences of mobile learning and found strong support for the initial motive—equitable access to resources [17]
Focus groups were conducted over seven months with later focus groups showing higher levels of satisfaction with mobile learning
Summary
Gippsland Medical School (GMS), Monash University, is a graduate entry medical curriculum offering a bachelor of medicine/bachelor of surgery (MBBS) over four years [1]. The curriculum offers very different experiences for students over the first two years with the first predominantly spent on campus while the second is largely spent in rural clinical placements across a large geographical area. The provision of laptops was considered an equitable way in which to provide students with access to resources despite their distribution across significant distances. This educational offering is sometimes referred to as mobile learning. That is, “. . . the acquisition of any knowledge and skill through using mobile technology, anywhere, anytime, that results in an alteration in behaviour” [2] or “. . . is any educational provision where the sole or dominant technologies are handheld or palmtop devices.” [3] Mobile learning offers highly flexible interactive educational opportunities in which students may synchronously or asynchronously participate in webinars, tutorials, online discussions, wikis, and many other educational activities
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