Medical students’ attitudes and perceptions towards the effectiveness of mobile learning: A comparative information-need perspective

Abstract

The rapid development of information and communication technologies has revolutionized the lifestyles and learning practices of the younger population worldwide. Various new mobile platforms and forms of social media have been so pervasive and influential in the world of higher education that they have contributed much to the training of the next generation of medical professionals. As such, the current study aimed to compare the adoption of mobile learning amongst three groups of medical science students at the University of Hong Kong – namely, students majoring in Clinical Science, Chinese Medicine and Nursing. For this study, the authors used a questionnaire survey to collect a total of 150 responses. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation test and multiple regression analysis. The results from the study revealed that the students in the three different medical majors at the University of Hong Kong engaged with their mobile devices at slightly different levels. Although a few significant differences were found, Clinical Science students tended to have more diverse information needs and use their mobile devices for a variety of learning-related activities. In comparison, Chinese Medicine students indicated that they were less active users of mobile devices in terms of both learning and non-learning activities.

The Role of Quality Measurements in Enhancing the Usability of Mobile Learning Applications during COVID-19

“…Some studies have started to investigate the effect of quality measurements on the usability of mobile learning, specifically during COVID-19. These studies confirmed that quality measurements might support the discovery of quality aspects important to ensuring the actual usage of mobile learning applications [59][60][61][62][63]. As a result, these studies have recommended that quality measurements play a critical role in improving the quality of numerous kinds of educational applications, such as learning management systems, e-learning systems and mobile learning applications [59][60][61][62][63].…”

Students' Characteristics Influence Readiness to Use Mobile Technology in Higher Education

“…Students' responses to the four themes' items explained that the road of benefitting from mobile technology in their university study is almost paved which consistent with Huang (2014). Moreover, Zhang et al (2020) confirmed that university students tend to have more diverse information needs and use their mobiles in various learning related activities. Students in the study showed their capabilities to use this technology, as they could learn new applications on individual bases, they are willing to follow-up technology updates and they continued using mobile applications independently which is partially consistent with the study of Lai and Hong (2015).…”

Motivation for Mobile Learning: Teacher Engagement and Built-In Mechanisms

“…Notably, clinical science and nursing students had similar perceptions and behavior, and tended to have more varied information needs. On the other hand, Chinese respondents studying medicine were not as active in their use of mobile devices for learning as the other two majors [14].…”

“…Research shows that the majority of students used mobile devices for accessing various social networks, recreation and entertainment [14]. The small screen size, entertainment, and privacy aspect prevented them from participating in formal learning activities with the same frequency as they did for entertainment purposes.…”