Medical English M-Learning: Positioning a New Paradigm in E-Education

ABSTRACT- This study uses Depth Interview as a research instrument to study users' perceptions and acceptance of the potential use of mobile phones in a prospective design for learning Medical English, a mandatory course in medicine. Almost all the respondents (93%) across graduates and students were unanimous about the need to learn English through M-Learning. When respondents were asked to suggest ideas on how medical English can be taught through mobiles (unaided question), 49% suggested SMS and 27% suggested SMS & Live Calls. The survey indicates that there is a unanimous demand to learn English amongst students and graduates of medicine in a new e-education setting called M-learning. Constraints imposed by one’s occupation and available resources expose the limitations of traditional learning and opens up a huge opportunity for M-English learning. Irrespective of differences, potential learners accepted the credibility of M-learning and displayed willingness to be an active user of an M-learning module. Diversity of responses on potential frequency of usage for SMSs, preferences regarding listening to IVR, speaking to Live Callers, traditional classroom learning, M-learning and testing options will establish at a primary level that the means of ‘engagement’, ‘presence’ and ‘flexibility’ can be significantly different ‘between’ and ‘within’ different educational groups.