Introducing Handheld Computing for Interactive Medical Education

Abstract

The goals of this project were: (1) development of an interactive multimedia medical education tool (CO-ED) utilizing modern features of handheld computing (PDA) and major constructs of adult learning theories, and (2) pilot testing of the computer-assisted education in residents and clinicians. Comparison of the knowledge scores using paired t-test demonstrated statistically significant increase in subject knowledge (p<0.01) after using CO-ED. Attitudinal surveys were analyzed by total score (TS) calculation represented as a percentage of a maximal possible score. The mean TS was 74.5±7.1%. None of the subjects (N=10) had TS less than 65% and in half of the subjects (N=5) TS was higher than 75%. Analysis of the semi-structured in-depth interviews showed strong support of the study subjects in using PDA as an educational tool, and high acceptance of CO-ED user interface. We concluded that PDA have a significant potential as a tool for clinician education.

Keywords

• computer-assisted education
• handheld computing