Lifelong self-directed learning in the digital age: An orientation of current software tools supporting experts in maintaining and updating their knowledge

Abstract

To guarantee high-quality services, health professionals are required to successfully maintain their extensive knowledge base. M, health professionals are forced to consistently stay up-to-date in their field in which new knowledge is evolving continuously. Hence, there is a strong need for effective support during their lifelong, self-directed learning processes as a means of maintaining and updating medical-related expert knowledge. From the literature, self-organisation, -management, -assessment, and collaboration activities have been defined to be of high relevance for these learning processes. The increasing speed of technological development has led to the development of a plethora of digital tools with varying features aimed at supporting professionals in their self-directed learning. In light of the increased number of tools available, we aim to give orientation on some of the most popular tools available to support health and other professionals in their self-directed learning. Results show that three main categories of digital tools related to self-directed learning can be identified: reference-management systems, learn-and-test tools, and collaborating tools. Our results further show that within the current landscape, there is no one tool that covers all tasks related to self-directed learning. We conclude that one single digital tool, combining all the features supporting self-directed learning in one simple easy to use manner may better support health and other professionals in maintaining and updating their expert knowledge. Future development should focus in particular on suitable combinations of features supporting self-directed learning, as implemented within one tool.