ASSESSMENT OF MOBILE LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGY AS A COMPLEMENT TO THE ACADEMIC TEACHING BY DENTAL FACULTY AT ULACIT

Introduction:
Technological tools and mobile learning have been successfully introduced in the area of education as part of the teaching-learning process. The advantage of these tools has proved to be highly relevant, and has transformed, significantly, teaching and learning methods. The variety of educational mobile applications and technological tools available can be useful for students, teachers and institutions to support the educational process. The aim of the study was to identify and assess the use of mobile learning and technological tools among pre-clinical and clinical professors of the Dental Faculty at Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología (ULACIT).

Methods:
Data collection was conducted through a questionnaire of seven items, in November 2015. Questions ranged from the usage of mobile learning through applications and technological tools for both teaching and professional aspects, whether or not the usage of applications is useful in dentistry, and if applications should be included as a requisite in their course syllabus. Data was analysed using Tableau software.

Results:
Usage of technological tools was reported by 100% of the faculty, with the most used resource that professors mentioned being YouTube, then BlackBoard both in pre-clinical and clinical settings. The usage of mobile applications in an educational setting was 30%, with 48% of professors using them on a professional level. All faculty members indicated that if they had knowledge of an application for the course being taught, they would include it as a course requisite in their syllabus.

Conclusions:
This study confirmed that technological tools such as Blackboard and YouTube are known and used in both pre-clinical and clinical settings, while mobile learning through applications as part of educational learning is not well known. It is necessary that faculty members are aware of the wide range of mobile applications for education in the area of dentistry to better understand the quality and effectiveness in the educational process of dentistry.