Digital equipment – a game changer for police training?! Experiences of the Bavarian Police training

ABSTRACT

Availability and appropriate use of digital devices are indispensable for modern learning and work environments. Compared to school and university education, however, there is hardly any empirical, scientifically sound knowledge available on this subject for the area of police training and education. The study therefore examined how the use of personally assigned digital devices such as tablet PCs and smartphones, as well as the use of interactive whiteboards, is related to the learning behaviour and academic performance of 99 police trainees during 18 months of police training. The results showed that a frequent use of digital devices was related to an improvement in learning behaviour and interest. The results on academic performance of these 99 police officers trainees compared to the trainees without personally assigned digital devices of the same cohort (N = 629) are mixed. The study points out several practical implications for the further implementation of digital devices, such as the need for training the police personnel, developing new didactic teaching methods as well as new teaching formats.

KEYWORDS:

• Police training
• digital devices
• learning interest
• academic performance

Acknowledgments

The author is thankful for the thoughtful comments and constructive feedback of Prof. Maximilian Pfost and Dr. Albin Muff on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. The understanding and use of m-learning is guided by Crompton’s definition of m-learning as ‘learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices’ (2013, p. 4).

2. The final exam consists of two parts: a) the written exam including four different sub-exams regarding the topics patrol duty, traffic police work, crime prevention and working in a police station and b) a practical examination.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Micha Fuchs

Micha Fuchs, M.A., works at the Department of Training and Further Education of the Headquarters of the Bavarian Riot Police. His main areas of interest include the methodical development of basic police training as well as evaluation of training, especially in the fields of digitalisation, academic performance, and teacher training. He is also a PhD Candidate at the Department of Educational Research at the University of Bamberg. Micha Fuchs can be reached at [email protected].