Mobile learning in dentistry: challenges and opportunities

Introduction The impact of smartphone technology is changing the approach to learning and teaching in clinical dental education. The aim of this study was to understand the challenges, opportunities and attitudes that both dental undergraduate students in an English dental school and tutors experience when using electronic learning.Materials and methods Six faculty members and 20 students agreed to take part in semi- structured interviews. Topic question guides for the student interviews focused on searching for information and how they used mobile learning. Questions also asked about the barriers encountered when accessing information on the internet, their perspective on the term 'evidence-based' information, and their use of mobile apps. The question topic guide for faculty was similar, with an emphasis on their attitudes to the introduction of such technology in dental education.Results Both groups reported active use of mobile learning tools. However, students are in need of training and further guidance when searching for, evaluating and synthesising evidence-based information online. Likewise, tutors need to become familliar with e-learning tools so that they may better support their students.Conclusion The results from the study show that participants need training workshops to ensure that students are not only accessing evidence-based information, but can differentiate between evidence-based and non-evidence-based information apps. The tutors in this study also require information on how to provide their students with advice on using mobile technology. Institutions involved with clinical dentistry should acknowledge such challenges.