November 3, 2010

Division of Nephrology and HypertensionNephrology On-Demand Mobile • www.nephrologyondemand.org

Tejas Desai1, MD; Cynthia Christiano1, MD; Paul Bolin1 MD; Maria de Ferris2, MD MPH PhD1Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, East Carolina University – Brody School of Medicine

2Division of Pediatric Nephrology, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

BACKGROUND RESULTS (continued)

An increasing number of learners are using smart devices to access the Internet for educational purposes. However, educators have no information on the usability or effectiveness of teaching through this specific delivery system.

Our Division has developed a mobile-specific educational website known as Nephrology On-Demand Mobile (ISSN 2155-9813) for smart devices (e.g., Android phones, iPod's, iPad's, iPhones). We used Google Analytics® to collect data on how and where users access Nephrology On-Demand Mobile.

Collecting this data will provide evidence on how information technology resources should be allocated by educators to optimally teach students through mobile devices.

Mobile visits account for no more than 7% of the total visits to Nephrology On-Demand (Figure 1)

Compared to New visitors, Return visitors do not seem to be any more inclined to access Nephrology On-Demand Mobile

Those that utilize Nephrology On-Demand Mobile predominantly use Apple devices (Figure 2)

Unlike the general marketplace, where Blackberry and Android devices have greater market share than Apple devices, the iPhone is the most used device to access our teaching website (Table 1)

Most visits occur through the slower cellular connection than the faster cable modem or T1 connections (Figure 3)

Despite the slower connection speed, users of cellular connections visit the website more and spend greater time on the site than through any other connection speed

METHODS

We programmed Nephrology On-Demand (http://www.nephrologyondemand.org) on a Wordpress-µ platform. The mobile version was developed to complement the full website. It provides access to all teaching content found on the full version. The content is specially displayed for small touch screen devices. Resources are viewed directly online – no downloading is required. Specialized computer code was inserted into the full version to recognize the device used. If the device was recognized as a mobile device, the mobile-specific version of the website was displayed.

Google Analytics® code was entered into the root files of the website. This code allowed for the tracking of device type, connection type, and other parameters. Our analysis of mobile device usage is ongoing, but data is presented from February to September 2010.

RESULTS

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

CONCLUSIONS Educators who wish to teach health care providers using mobile devices must understand there will be a limited number of visits to their website in the initial stages

In our study and despite the marketplace, Apple devices are, overwhelmingly, the most commonly used mobile operating system (OS)

Therefore, any successful mobile teaching website must provide teaching content within the limitations of this particular OS

no flash content content that does not need to be downloaded in order to be viewed

Despite faster internet speeds, most users access Nephrology On-Demand Mobile through a slower cellular connection, suggesting that users do not work in areas offering faster internet connections

Teaching resources must be programmed that allow for quick viewing through cellular connections

must be judicious with bandwidth

Table 1

Mobile Operating Systems for www.ecu.edu

Android: 34%iOS: 49%

iPhone: 25%iPad: 13%iPod: 11%

Blackberry: 16%