Perception of Students about E-learning: A Single-center Experience from Saudi Arabia

DOI

10.2991/dsahmj.k.200327.001How to use a DOI?

Keywords

E-learning; teaching; medical education; Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: E-learning is the use of the internet and associated devices for educational purposes without geographical constraints. This study aims to assess the perception of students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, about E-learning as a teaching modality.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2017 and June 2018. The inclusion criteria consisted of healthcare students (medicine, nursing, and college of sciences and health professions). A 40-item closed-ended questionnaire was distributed to the participants and was divided into six main parts: perception, diversity, implications, efficiency, acceptability, and accessibility of E-learning.

Results: The response rate was 94.4% (total = 410, retrieved = 387), of which 61.8% (n = 239) stated that they had heard something about E-learning. Meanwhile, 52.2% (n = 202) of students had no idea about virtual patients. Notably, 73.1% (n = 283) agreed that cell phones can be used as a teaching modality, whereas 52.2% (n = 202) opined that cell phones can play a role in stimulating critical thinking among medical students. Sixty percent (n = 232) of students believed that E-learning has the potential to expand educational opportunities. Compared to male students, female students had a higher perception of cheating and fraud (p = 0.039) during E-learning as well as perception of a decline in personal efforts in quest of knowledge (p = 0.032).

Conclusion: There is a growing positive perception of E-learning, but the level of acceptance remains low. Further research is required on how to enhance and maximize the confident utilization of ever-increasing opportunities in E-learning. Establishing well-developed E-learning facilities in Saudi educational institutions will tremendously enhance educational opportunities for its students.

Copyright

© 2020 Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hussein Algahtani
AU  - Bader Shirah
AU  - Ahmad Subahi
AU  - Ahmed Aldarmahi
AU  - Sabina Nisar Ahmed
AU  - Muhammad Anwar Khan
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/04/06
TI  - Perception of Students about E-learning: A Single-center Experience from Saudi Arabia
JO  - Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Journal
SP  - 65
EP  - 71
VL  - 2
IS  - 2
SN  - 2590-3349
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/dsahmj.k.200327.001
DO  - 10.2991/dsahmj.k.200327.001
ID  - Algahtani2020
ER  -