Medical Students' Technology Use for Learning: Contributing Factors and Self-Regulation

• In Event: Social Media and Digital Technology in Professions Education

Abstract

With medical education shifting towards student-centered models, medical students are expected to be self-regulated learners. Advancement in technologies has been suggested to be supportive of students’ self-regulated learning. There is an urgent need to understand what factors contributed to students’ self-initiated technology use, and how does students’ technology use influence their SRL. Though interviewing 26 medical students, this study identified four types of technologies that students used for learning: video resources (supporting rehearsal, elaboration and planning), review resources (supporting rehearsal, effort control, and self-assessment), management tools (supporting organization, elaboration, goal-setting, and time management), and social media (supporting help-seeking and effort regulation). Three key determinants of students’ self-initiated technology use were identified, which were: perceived usefulness, subjective norms, and educational compatibility.

Author

• Binbin Zheng, University of Hong Kong