F E A T U R E A R T I C L E Using M-Learning on Nursing Courses to Improve Learning LUIS DE MARCOS ORTEGA, PhD ROBERTO BARCHINO PLATA, PhD MARI ´ A LOURDES JIME ´ NEZ RODRI ´ GUEZ, PhD JOSE ´ RAMO ´ N HILERA GONZA ´ LEZ, PhD JOSE ´ JAVIER MARTI ´ NEZ HERRA ´ IZ, PhD JOSE ´ ANTONIO GUTIE ´ RREZ DE MESA, PhD JOSE ´ MARI ´ A GUTIE ´ RREZ MARTI ´ NEZ, PhD SALVADOR OTO ´ N TORTOSA, PhD INTRODUCTION With the new ‘‘anytime, anywhere computing’’ paradigm (ubiquitous computing), a shift from ‘‘electronic’’ to ‘‘mobile’’ services has begun. So, just as e-commerce has extended to m-commerce, e-learning now includes m-learning (mobile learning). 1 In the field of teaching and learning, the ex- pected benefits of this new mobility include, among others, more efficient instruction along with an improvement in the learning outcome. In this framework, it is crucial to create new tools that add value to the teaching-learning process, but it is also important to have tools that allow us to exert some control over the results of the learning process. Within this context, this article presents a new mobile application designed for self-assessment. It allows students to test their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic using question- naires designed by their teachers. Young students use mobile phones as an integral part of their lives and think of them as a crucial communication tool. Therefore, providing them with learning tools that work on these mobile applications is important because this will increase their motivation to learn. However, designing and implementing new tools are not enough; they must form an integral part of learning ac- tivities, and their usefulness must also be measured. For these reasons, this article also describes the actions under- taken to test the new application on a group of nursing students. In Background and Motivation, a brief review of the latest developments in m-learning along with the moti- vation for our research is presented. In the third section, The System, the mobile application and the system that provides the appropriate support for the learning action are presented. In the fourth section, The Experiment, we de- scribe the experiments carried out, and finally, Results and Conclusion include the results, analysis, and conclusions. BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION A number of definitions, covering a wide range of as- pects, have been used to denote the term ‘‘m-learning.’’ CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing & May 2010 311 CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing & Vol. 29, No. 5, 311–317 & Copyright B 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Modern handheld devices and wireless commu- nications foster new kinds of communication and interaction that can define new approaches to teaching and learning. Mobile learning (m-learning) seeks to use them extensively, exactly in the same way in which e-learning uses personal computers and wired communication technologies. In this new mobile environment, new applications and educa- tional models need to be created and tested to confirm (or reject) their validity and usefulness. In this article, we present a mobile tool aimed at self- assessment, which allows students to test their knowledge at any place and at any time. The de- gree to which the students’ achievement improved is also evaluated, and a survey on the students’ opinion of the new tool was also conducted. An experimental group of 20- to 21-year-old nursing students was chosen to test the tool. Results show that this kind of tool improves students’ achieve- ment and does not make necessary to introduce substantial changes in current teaching activities and methodology. KEY WORDS Mobile assessment & Mobile computing & Nursing studies & Online education I N T E R N A T I O N A L Author Affiliation: Computer Science Department, University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain. Corresponding author: Roberto Barchino Plata, PhD, Computer Science Department, University of Alcala, Campus Universitario, Alcal" De Henares, 28871, Madrid, Spain (roberto.barchino@uah.es). DOI: 10.1097/NCN.0b013e3181fcbddb Copyright @ 201 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. 1