A Conceptual Framework to Guide the Design, Delivery and Evaluation of Quality Mobile Learning Experiences

Abstract

Mobile learning has the pedagogical potential to provide informal, context-based educational experiences that can teach practical and applicable workplace skills and behaviors. The goal of this study was to examine the learning experiences and outcomes of healthcare professionals as they participated in a mobile learning activity designed to teach them the technical and procedural skills for facilitating clinical consultations via videoconference. The primary research question was: How does the use of a curriculum framework to design mobile learning experiences impact the learning experiences and outcomes of healthcare professionals with regards to developing workplace skills and understanding clinical processes? Informed by a systematic review of the mobile learning literature, this dissertation proposed a conceptual framework to guide the implementation and evaluation of mobile learning based on five dimensions of instructional design: content, structure, delivery, usability and communities of practice. Physicians, nurses and healthcare administrators voluntarily participated in this pragmatic, mixed methods study. Their quantitative and qualitative feedback was utilized both to assess the validity of the proposed mobile learning experience conceptual framework as well as its quantitative and qualitative evaluation tools. The study found that informal, contextual mobile learning content can promote communication and collaboration among healthcare professionals, and provide them with hands-on learning experiences that can be easily situated in a specific workplace environment. Delivery was identified as perhaps the most critical element in increasing motivation and interactivity among participants, and communities of practice after the learning activity were found to increase collaboration and provide opportunities for problem-solving. The structure of embedding the informal mobile learning experience within a formal, didactic online learning course was also found by participants to provide the right mix of background knowledge and practical application to produce meaningful learning outcomes. Overall, the mobile learning experience conceptual framework synthesizes best practices in the literature and proposes innovative methods for the design and evaluation of effective mobile learning.