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.