Barriers encountered during online classes among undergraduate nursing students during COVID-19 pandemic in India

ABSTRACT

Background: The advents of new technologies are providing a variety of effective learning environment. However, many adult students still prefer traditional, academic settings and do not want to take online or hybrid classes.Methods: Present study included cross sectional descriptive survey design which was carried out on 394 undergraduate nursing students. Convenient sampling technique was chosen for selection of samples. A five-point Likert self-structured scale was used for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data in SPSS.Results: Study findings showed that there were 209 (53%) female participants. Significant difference (p=0.05) was found among participants’ gender and year of study, area of residence, father education, family income and whether they had ever attended online classes. Lack of control over the group was top perceived barrier with highest score (261 marks). Majority of participants (61%) perceived barriers encountered during online classes. Mann Whitney U test showed the significant differences of participants’ perceived barriers among male and female participants by their age, year of study, fathers’ education and family income (p<0.05).Conclusions: As more students are growing up familiar with internet-based learning, many students were still opposing to go with online classes. Barriers explored in the study can limit the acceptance of online classes among undergraduate nursing students. Higher authorities must find the ways for making online education user friendly.