Outcomes of Introducing a Mobile Interactive Learning Resource in a Large Medical School Course

Mobile devices are an integral part of modern medical education, as convenient platforms for access to online interactive learning resources; students’ use of textbooks has correspondingly declined. We designed an interactive iBook^© for pre-clinical students encompassing the content of the pulmonary segment in an organ-based multidisciplinary course. We found, via a survey-based study, that students preferred the iBook to other faculty-supplied materials (PowerPoints and PDFs), mainly due to its interactive images, animations, and study questions. Students’ test performance did not change significantly after introducing the iBook. This study suggests that expanded use of interactive learning resources may enhance students’ engagement with pre-clinical courses.