scholarly journals Effectiveness and Preparedness of Institutions' E-Learning Methods During the COVID-19 Pandemic for Residents' Medical Training in Saudi Arabia: A Pilot Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basim Alsaywid ◽  
Miltiadis D. Lytras ◽  
Maha Abuzenada ◽  
Hara Lytra ◽  
Lama Sultan ◽  
...  

Background: Under the urgent circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions of an international scale have resorted to online education methods, exclusive or not. Among those, medical institutions are under double pressure, fighting the pandemic's effects and, at the same time providing efficient clinical training to their residents. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the preparedness of the educational institutions for the e-learning platform transition for the delivery of medical training and also to evaluate the overall satisfaction level of the participants with their e-learning experience.Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study design. The survey's sample included 300 medical students and residents of multiple training levels and specialties, coming from more than 15 different cities of Saudi Arabia. Filling the questionnaire required specific inclusion criteria and all obtained data were secured by the Saudi Commission of Health specialty. The main objective was to evaluate the quality of e-learning methods provided by medical universities. For the collection of the data, Survey Monkey software was used and the analysis was conducted with SPSS.Results: The study found that the frequency of digital education use increased by ~61% during the coronavirus crisis, while almost 9 out of 10 residents have used some e-learning platform. It was reported that before the pandemic, participants' online training was deemed to be rather ineffective, given the rate of 3.65 out of 10. However, despite the increase in e-learning use after COVID-19, many obstacles arose duringcthe adaptation process. According to our survey: lectures and training sessions were not conducted as per the curriculum (56.33%); both students and instructors' academic behavior and attitude changed (48.33%); engagement, satisfaction, and motivation in class were rated low (5.93, 6.33, and 6.54 out of 10 accordingly), compared to the desired ones. Still, participants accredited e-learning as a potential mandatory tool (77.67%) and pinpointed the qualifications that in their opinion will maximize educational impact.Conclusion: The study concluded that innovative restructuring of online education should be based on defined critical success factors (technical support, content enhancement, pedagogy etc.) and if possible, set priority levels, so that a more permanent e-learning practice is achievable. Also our study confirmed that students were overall satisfied with the e-learning support of the training method.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basim Alsaywid ◽  
Miltiadis D. Lytras ◽  
Maha Abuzenada ◽  
Hara Lytra ◽  
Abdulrahman Housawi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Under the urgent circumstances of COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions of an international scale have resorted to online education methods, exclusive or not. Among those, medical institutions are under double pressure, fighting the pandemic’s effects and, at the same time providing efficient clinical training to their residents.Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study design. The survey’s sample included 300 medical students and residents of multiple training levels and specialties, coming from more than 15 different cities of Saudi Arabia. Filling the questionnaire required specific inclusion criteria and all obtained data were secured by Saudi Commission of Health specialty. Main objective was to evaluate the quality of e-learning methods, provided by medical universities.Results: The study found that the frequency of digital education use increased by approximately 61% during the coronavirus crisis, while almost 9 out of 10 residents have used some e-learning platform. It was reported that before the pandemic, participants’ online training was deemed to be rather ineffective, given the rate of 3.65 out of 10. However, despite the increase in e-learning use after COVID-19, many obstacles arose during adaptation process, according to our survey: lectures and training sessions were not conducted as per curriculum (56.33%); both students and instructors’ academic behavior and attitude changed (48.33%); engagement, satisfaction and motivation in class was rated low (5.93, 6.33 & 6.54 out of 10 accordingly), compared to the desired ones. Still, participants accredited e-learning as a potential mandatory tool (77.67%) and pinpointed the qualifications that in their opinion will maximize educational impact. Conclusions: The study concluded that innovative restructuring of online education should be based on defined critical success factors (technical support, content enhancement, pedagogy etc.) and if possible, set priority levels, so that a more permanent e-learning practice is achievable.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 2157-2160
Author(s):  
Chin-Yen Alice Liu

In the era of theInternet, most educators have been supported by powerful tools ranging from e-books and e-learning sites to cloud services, and students’ learning environment has been a mix between traditional study (in class) and e-learning through some kind of online learning platform. Due to the uncertainty of the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation, all colleges and universities have to shutter their physical campuses and move their courses to remote and online formats hastily. This prompted many to wonder if all of the faculty are ready and qualified to teach online courses and/or if all of the students are ready to learn in the comprehensive online environment. If not, what ultimate impact will be to our higher education during this national emergency virus pandemic since there is no choice but depend on where they sit currently, not to mention the negative reviews and concerns regarding the online education. To make this transfer seamlessly and conflict mitigation, this paper applied systems thinking for an e-Learning course and proposed a flexible grading method for an e-learning environment, which will enhance students’ grades by allowing students to control their own study paces and the amount of efforts spent in the course, which can bring a successful online learning experience.


2022 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 105-110
Author(s):  
Ananda Vayaravel Cassinadane ◽  
Monisha Mohan ◽  
Kalaiselvi Rajendiran ◽  
Veeraraghavan Gunasekaran

The lockdown posed a great impact on teaching and learning process which aided in the shift of face to face education to virtual classroom. As the e- learning was newly introduced, it was difficult to execute initially due to prior unpreparedness. We put forth this study to analyse student's perspective and challenges faced in online education during pandemic times.The study was done in medical and allied health science colleges of Chennai and Puducherry. This is cross-sectional study conducted between June and August 2020. This is an online survey conducted through google forms circulated to undergraduates and post graduates of medical and allied health science courses. Frequencies and percentages were used to express the data. Statistical Analyses were done by SPSS software and graphs were made by Microsoft excel. We received response from 419 participants. Mobile phone was the widely used gadget to access online class. Most of the institutes conducted online class daily and assessment twice weekly. In student’s point of view, though e- learning had several disadvantages like poor net connectivity, clinical training inadequacy, difficulty in attending class for longer duration and unfavourable learning environment, it proved constructive at pandemic time. On improvement in the design of the learning environment and teaching system, the online learning platform would better to serve its purpose in future pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8053
Author(s):  
Maram Meccawy ◽  
Zilal Meccawy ◽  
Aisha Alsobhi

(1) This study demonstrates how a Saudi university has responded to the COVID-19 lockdown in order to examine the success factors and highlight any challenges. The main purpose was to determine the perceptions of students and faculty towards emergency online distance learning from a teaching and learning perspective; (2) A cross-faculty study was conducted: two different self-administered questionnaires were developed for students and faculty, respectively. In addition, data was collected from official reports; (3) The results show that students had a more positive perception of e-Learning despite the difficulties that they may have faced, while faculty results leaned slightly towards a negative perception. However, there was not a definite positive or negative perception, depending on the aspect of teaching that was being evaluated. The study also indicated that faculty and students’ gender had no significant effect on their perceptions. Overall results showed that the university performed well in accordance with three of the five pillars of online learning quality framework in terms of student satisfaction, access and scalability. On the other, improvements are needed to achieve better results for faculty satisfaction and learning effectiveness; (4) The findings present a number of suggestions for increasing satisfaction to improve the online learning experience post COVID-19.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (23) ◽  
pp. 8042
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Kremser ◽  
Stefan Kranzinger ◽  
Severin Bernhart

In gesture-aided learning (GAL), learners perform specific body gestures while rehearsing the associated learning content. Although this form of embodiment has been shown to benefit learning outcomes, it has not yet been incorporated into e-learning. This work presents a generic system design for an online GAL platform. It is comprised of five modules for planning, administering, and monitoring remote GAL lessons. To validate the proposed design, a reference implementation for word learning was demonstrated in a field test. 19 participants independently took a predefined online GAL lesson and rated their experience on the System Usability Scale and a supplemental questionnaire. To monitor the correct gesture execution, the reference implementation recorded the participants’ webcam feeds and uploaded them to the instructor for review. The results from the field test show that the reference implementation is capable of delivering an e-learning experience with GAL elements. Designers of e-learning platforms may use the proposed design to include GAL in their applications. Beyond its original purpose in education, the platform is also useful to collect and annotate gesture data.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian M. Herrmann

This article describes the ideas behind and the experiences with the experimental e-learning platform SHRIMP. Developed and deployed at American Studies Leipzig, the platform is used for the introductory Literature and Culture I seminar in the American Studies Bachelor of Arts program, and it serves as the main medium of instruction for around 80 students per year. It breaks up the linear form of the original seminar reader and instead offers students a hypertext of interconnected, short segments, enriched with social media and gamification elements, as well as a learning analytics component that invites students to take control of their own study and learning experience. It is driven by a dual assumption about digitization: that the digital age changes how students interact with text, and that digital textuality offers rich affordances beyond linear reading. Both can be harnessed to improve learning outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-194
Author(s):  
Grażyna Rembielak ◽  
Renata Marciniak

Abstract The quality of online education is of interest to universities around the world. Only high quality and cyclical evaluation are the conditions for obtaining students’ satisfaction with this form of education. In the pandemic era, digital dissemination and open education have become a special obligation of academic education. This paper aims to present the opinions of postgraduate students on the quality of e-learning forced by the Covid-19 pandemic. The study was conducted using an online survey questionnaire sent to all 173 MBA and Executive MBA (EMBA) students studying during the pandemic era in Poland's leading Business School, 40% of whom returned completed valid surveys. Students assessed aspects of e-learning such as teaching materials, communication with lecturers, the attractiveness of online classes, networking, strategies, and criteria for evaluating didactic activities, e-learning platform, and support received from the university. The results showed that although most examined aspects are perceived very well or well by the students, there is always some space for improvement. Despite the fact that the study was conducted on a small sample of students, their opinions obtained during the survey provide valuable information to universities about the quality of postgraduate e-learning from its main actors, that is, students. Based on this, the paper presents clear recommendations to universities on how the quality of online education could be managed and improved.


2021 ◽  
pp. 11-12
Author(s):  
Arijit Majumdar ◽  
Soumali Biswas ◽  
Tanushree Mondal

Aim And Objective: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption in medical education and healthcare systems worldwide. In India, responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in medical education resulted in closures of medical colleges and adoption of online teaching-learning methods, which is challenging for both faculty and students. Rising concerns among students urged to evaluate strength and weakness of ongoing online teaching and learning methods. The objective of the study was to nd out the perceptions of students regarding E-learning during lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at IPGME & R Kolkata. A sample size of 600 was calculated. MBBS students of all levels participated in this study. A Google questionnaire was developed and was validated by Medical education unit of the college. The Google questionnaire was mailed to the students. The data was transferred to excel sheet and analysis was done on various parameters to derive descriptive statistics between classroom teaching and online teaching Results: Total 600responses were received. 340 (56.7%) males and 260(43.3%) females participated in the study. 41.7% students use mobile phones as their gadgets for E- learning and 33.3% use laptops followed by desktop (16.7%) and tablet (8.3%) Overall only 10 % students preferred to use only E- learning. 50% students preferred classical didactic learning. And 40% preferred a combination of classical ofine and E - learning as useful method of learning. Conclusions: Students did not prefer E- learning over classroom learning. They admit the usefulness of E -learning. But, classroom learning with rational use of E -learning is preferred by the students.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Liang ◽  
Yiying Zhang ◽  
Yeshen He ◽  
Yilin Zhou ◽  
Wei Tan ◽  
...  

With the development of mobile platform, such as smart cellphone and pad, the E-Learning model has been rapidly developed. However, due to the low completion rate for E-Learning platform, it is very necessary to analyze the behavior characteristics of online learners to intelligently adjust online education strategy and enhance the quality of learning. In this paper, we analyzed the relation indicators of E-Learning to build the student profile and gave countermeasures. Adopting the similarity computation and Jaccard coefficient algorithm, we designed a system model to clean and dig into the educational data and also the students’ learning attitude and the duration of learning behavior to establish student profile. According to the E-Learning resources and learner behaviors, we also present the intelligent guide model to guide both E-Learning platform and learners to improve learning things. The study on student profile can help the E-Learning platform to meet and guide the students’ learning behavior deeply and also to provide personalized learning situation and promote the optimization of the E-Learning.


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