The use of Personal Digital Assistants as Tools for Work-Based Learning in Clinical Internships

Though mobile technologies have been studied, their specific value in supporting work-based learning has not yet been investigated. This paper describes a small exploratory study in health care education in which medical students work in clinical practice. The study investigates both the perceived potential as well as the actual role of PDAs in supporting a range of work-based learning activities. Based on the results, the authors claim that PDAs can facilitate work-based learning only when they are deliberately used as a “boundary object” between college and working practices.