Abstract
Issues relevant to smartphone-supported mobile learning have been extensively discussed and investigated over the past years. Unlike general mobile devices, the advantages of smartphones, such as recording learning and portability, can cross formal and informal education. Smartphones can promote communication between health professionals; however, there is still a lack of systematic analysis of the application and development trends of smartphone use in medical education. The present study systematically reviewed research articles published in international academic journals from 2007 to 2016, analyzed the application domains, subjects, and adopted learning strategies, and investigated the research issues of smartphone-supported medical education. The findings revealed that the application of smartphones in medical education and training has not gained much popularity over the past years. In addition to the changes in the software technology in smartphones and the rising number of studies on mobile learning in medical education, research issues have become increasingly diverse in recent years. Smartphone-supported learning has mainly been implemented to develop basic concepts of biomedical information and in information technology environments; moreover, applying smartphones in medical education did not extensively adopt such learning strategies as inquiry-based learning, contextual mobile learning, mindtools, game-based learning, or synchronous sharing. This indicates that most of the studies adopting smartphones focused on skills training and basic knowledge acquisition rather than on the development of learners’ higher-order thinking, for example, problem solving or critical thinking. On the other hand, it was found that the number of experimental studies related to smartphones has increased recently. The majority of research adopted questionnaire surveys and reported learners’ cognitive performances and concepts, while learning behaviors were seldom analyzed. Therefore, this study indicates the research trends and potential research issues of integrating smartphones into medical education, and provides suggestions and references for researchers, medical teachers, and decision-makers.
Highlights
The advancements in wireless Internet, sensing technology, and mobile technology have brought about innovative changes for instructors and learners; the development of wireless communication and sensor technologies in smartphones provides new perspectives of research in the field of digital learning and education (Hwang, Wu, & Chen, 2007)
Compared with general mobile devices, smartphones have the advantage of being able to cross formal and informal education; they differ from other mobile devices as, for example, people may not bring tablet computers with them except for formal learning
The present study only considered the international journals with two or more papers on medical education published on smartphones from 2007 to 2016
Summary
The advancements in wireless Internet, sensing technology, and mobile technology have brought about innovative changes for instructors and learners; the development of wireless communication and sensor technologies in smartphones provides new perspectives of research in the field of digital learning and education (Hwang, Wu, & Chen, 2007). Compared with general mobile devices, smartphones have the advantage of being able to cross formal and informal education; they differ from other mobile devices as, for example, people may not bring tablet computers with them except for formal learning. The current study aimed to review the literature on smartphones in education. By examining the current literature, it was found that more research was relevant to smartphone-supported formal learning than informal learning. Smartphones can offer better opportunities for delivering health and medical knowledge to patients and their families. It might be impractical to expect patients and their family members to bring a tablet computer with them for learning; on the other hand, smartphones are almost always with them
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