Use of Mobile Devices to Access Resources Among Health Professions Students: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objectives: This systematic review examines types of mobile devices implemented in health professions education, kinds of resources and tools accessed by health professions students via mobile devices, and reasons for using mobile devices to access the resources and tools. Methods:The review included studies published in English between January 2010 and April 2015 with empirical data retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL and eight other databases..Data extracted included participants characteristics, study design, mobile devices used, mobile resources/apps accessed, outcome measures, outcomes, and advantages of and barriers to using mobile devices to access resources. Results:The authors identified 20 articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria. There was significant variability across the studies in terms of research methods, types of mobile programs implemented, resources accessed, and outcomes. The majority of the studies show higher acceptability and usability of mobile devices for activities pertaining to resources utilization, learning, and patient care. Conclusions:Beneficial effects of using mobile devices to access a wide range of knowledgebased resources and mobile apps were evidenced through the synthesis. The findings of the studies also reveal conspicuous challenges or barriers faced by students in using mobile devices. Implications:The findings suggest immediate implications for health sciences libraries and imply new opportunities for librarians to launch innovative initiatives to develop mobile programs to facilitate access to mobile resources and accelerate integration of mobile technologies into teaching, learning, and clinical practice. Funding:Research was performed with no external funding.2

Use of Mobile Devices by Library and Information Science Students in Central Universities of Uttar Pradesh

“…Other benefits range from 57-68% includes, tool for recall (67.32%), portability (66.01%), multiple functionalities (65.35%), saves time (58.82%) and foster collaboration and easy communication (57.52%). Similar findings in varying degrees are reported by: Mi 23…”

“…Portability is a great advantage of using a mobile device. Instant and quick access to a variety of resources via mobile was another benefit and availability of specially designed mobile applications 23,24 . Mobile devices can also serve as a powerful data collection tools and also facilitate the capture of user created content 25 .…”

“…There is no doubt that mobile devices offer innovative ways to students for learning and enhancing their learning experience through m-learning. Like any other technology, mobile devices are also prone to certain issues and technical difficulties, such as problematic Wi-Fi or Internet connectivity, slow processing of data, short battery life, small screen, limited storage capacities and safety/security and consequences associated with a stolen or lost mobile device 23 .…”

A Study of the Impact of an Educational Intervention on Nurse Attitudes and Behaviours toward Mobile Device Use in Hospital Settings

“…These obstacles have been discussed in previous studies of mobile device utilization by healthcare workers [1,5,8,14,27]. Nurse participants were also mindful of their image and worried that device use would decrease nurse professionalism by posing a source of distraction.…”

Usability of Mobile Assisted Language Learning App

“…Nonetheless, in recent studies, large numbers were employed to study the functionality of mobile apps in light of the diversity of mobile devices and platforms. Twelve participants, for example, were requested to check the functionality of their website [40], [53], [18], 12 more were willingly hired to evaluate the usability of another related website [55], [36] and to a re-designed mobile portal of the library of Health Sciences was reclassified to 10 participants [44], [35].…”