Abstract

Background: Smart phones have a role in learning the subject effectively. Various surveys revealed that majority of the students and faculty enjoy their smart phones as study tools. Smart phone can be used as a Learning objective e.g.; Pose a question and asking the students to search and think critically for the answers and the information, conducting interactive sessions, group discussions and circulating Audio visual clippings.
Objective: To assess the effectiveness of smart phone plus conventional learning with conventional learning alone.
Materials & Methods: It’s a one year [November 2017 to October 2018] prospective study on 2^nd MBBS students, conducted in the department of Pathology, Government Medial College to the slow learners, who were identified based on the marks secured i.e., < 50%, in the first internal examination.
Students are then subjected to smart phone teaching along with the conventional methodology. Faculty members actively participated in the study. There were more interactive discussions scheduled from 5.00pm to 6.00pm, convenient to both students and faculty, every day using smart phone as a tool. At the end of the 3rd internal examination, the marks are compared with the 1^st internals, using appropriate statistical methods.
Results: Out of 170 students 41 were identified as slow learners. After 10 months of smart phone as a teaching tool along with the conventional method, academically 75% of slow learners showed marked improvement.
Conclusion: Smart phone teaching methodology is an adjuvant to the traditional teaching method and has motivated the students in self-directed learning and the outcome is promising with good results.