Chapter 9: Use of Mobile Learning to Train Healthcare Workers in Resourcelimited Settings

Mobile learning (m-learning) occurs when the learner uses mobile technology to facilitate a learning experience. As a form of situated learning, m-learning allows learning to occur anytime and anywhere, removing traditional barriers to learning such as distance and access to landline Internet. In medicine, this feature of m-learning has been used to enhance learning amongst healthcare workers. m-learning facilitates learning at the point-of-care, which is any immediate situation where a healthcare worker is delivering patient care, and self-directed learning outside of the clinical setting. A unique aspect of the application of m-learning in healthcare is its position in a space that overlaps both mobile health (m-health) and m-learning, which is embodied in the term mobile health for education that has been used to illustrate this concept.