Prospects for iPad apps and learning design in medical education

Educators are expected to keep up to date with the variety of new technologies that are available for teaching and learning. However, not all technologies will automatically increase a student’s higher order thinking skills without the teacher carefully planning how the technology will fit into the educational context. It is through ‘designing for learning’ that a teacher conceptualises how emerging educational theories and practices can encourage students to take deep approaches to their learning. Tablet devices are increasingly being used in education, but using stand alone educational apps, which usually focus on a specific educational need, poses a potential limitation to good learning design based on scaffolding of multiple activities. This paper explores a theoretical model of how a learning design system (such as the Learning Activity Management System – LAMS) can be used to create app-based learning designs, specifically in a medical context.