Exploring student satisfaction and acceptance of e-learning technologies in Saudi higher education

The COVID-19 pandemic has rekindled interest in online learning as a desirable substitute. In Saudi Arabia’s educational system, technology and online learning are becoming more and more significant. In order to prepare students for the digital age and Saudi Vision 2030, there is an increasing desire for educational institutions to use e-learning. Students and faculty at Saudi institutions now have more opportunities to better grasp the globalized digital age thanks to the integration and acceptance of digital technology into learning and teaching. Therefore, this study aims to analyze and investigate the educational quality, social influence, and TAM Model factors that increase the students’ attitude toward using e-learning;thus, it affects students’ satisfaction and academic performance. The study was conducted at two universities in Saudi Arabia. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and route analysis were used to evaluate the research model and analyze data from e-learning users through a questionnaire. The findings revealed that perceived ease of use (PEU) and perceived usefulness (PU) mediate the effects of educational quality (EDQ), social influence (SOI), and perceived enjoyment (PE), which in turn affect students’ attitude toward use (ATU), and students’ satisfaction with using e-learning systems (SSE). Additionally, the results demonstrated that the mediator factors had favorable “R square (R2)” values for adopting e-learning systems in higher education, with PEU = 0.562, PU = 0.712, ATU = 0.608, and SSE = 0.636. The hypotheses’ findings led to the development of a validated instrument to measure students’ online learning in Saudi Arabia’s higher education.

Cheating Detection in Online Exams during Covid-19 Pandemic Using Data Mining Techniques

Face-to-face learning has been replaced by E-learning due to the closing of academic institutions in the world during the covid-19 pandemic. Educational institutions faced many challenges in the online platforms and the most important of which was assessing students' performance, which resulted in the general problem of cheating detection in the online exams. E-learning has grown significantly every day over the last decade with the growth of the internet and technology. Therefore, an online examination can be beneficial for people to take the exam, but cheating in tests is a common phenomenon around the world. As a consequence, the prevention of cheating can no longer be completely effective. Many researchers discussed online examination cheating without addressing an important point, which is analyzing students' answers to find similar responses between them. This paper proposed a recommendation system for evaluating students' answers and detecting cheating during an online exam utilizing statistical methods, similarity measures, and clustering algorithms by presenting a set of features derived from an online exam based on the Moodle platform. The results showed that the suggested online examination system effectively reduces cheating and provides a reliable online exam. In conclusion, presenting an effective and fair system that maintains academic integrity, which is the most important aspect of education.

Investigating Students' Perceptions of Online Learning Use as a Digital Tool for Educational Sustainability During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Previous research on e-learning in underdeveloped countries has seldom taken a comprehensive approach. A literature review of recent published research in the field of e-learning use during the COVID-19 epidemic is also included in this study. Therefore, the aim of this study is to look at the technology acceptance model (TAM) and information systems (IS) performance models to see how system quality (SYQ), service quality (SEQ), and quality of life (QoL) are related, as well as the mediating impact of perceived ease of use (PEU) and perceived usefulness (PU), affect students' behavioral intention to use (BIU), and actual use of an e-learning system (AUE) as sustainability for education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Path analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to evaluate the research model, using the data from e-learning users obtained through a survey. Participants were e-learning users from two Saudi Arabian public universities. The findings revealed that PU and ease of use were positively correlated and influenced by SYQ, SEQ, and QoL in education, and that PEU and PU were positively influenced by students' BIU and AUE system. In the sense of e-learning in developing countries, previous studies rarely looked at an integrated model. This paper also attempts to provide a recently published study in the area of the use of an e-learning system as sustainability for education during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a lot of ongoing research.

Investigating Students’ Adoption of MOOCs during COVID-19 Pandemic: Students’ Academic Self-Efficacy, Learning Engagement, and Learning Persistence

Students’ learning environments are significantly influenced by massive open online courses (MOOCs). To better understand how students could implement learning technology for educational purposes, this study creates a structural equation model and tests confirmatory factor analysis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a model through investigating observability (OB), complexity (CO), trialability (TR), and perceived usefulness (PU) with perceived ease-of-use (PEU) of MOOCs adoption by university students to measure their academic self-efficacy (ASE), learning engagement (LE), and learning persistence (LP). As a result, the study used an expanded variant of the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) as the research model. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Smart-PLS was applied to quantitative data collection and analysis of 540 university students as respondents. Student responses were grouped into nine factors and evaluated to decide the students’ ASE, LE, and LP. The findings revealed a clear correlation between OB, CO, and TR, all of which were important predictors of PU and PEU. Students’ ASE, LE, and LP were affected by PEU and PU. This study’s established model was effective in explaining students’ ASE, LE, and LP on MOOC adoption. These findings suggest implications for designing and developing effective instructional and learning strategies in MOOCs in terms of learners’ perceptions of themselves, their instructors, and learning support systems.

Cardiac Arrhythmias and COVID-19: Correlation With Disease Severity.

Background Cardiac arrhythmia is one of the life-threatening cardiovascular complications commonly reported in patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to evaluate the association between cardiac arrhythmias and disease severity based on oxygen requirement. Methods In this retrospective observational chart review-based study we recruited 396 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from March 2020 to May 2020 from two regional medical centers in New Jersey, USA. Patients' baseline characteristics, secondary diagnoses, and laboratory findings were manually extracted and compared among two groups: patients with cardiac arrhythmias and those without. Poisson regression analysis was used to evaluate the correlation of cardiac arrhythmias and increased oxygen requirement, which are: room air (RA), nasal cannula (NC), high flow nasal cannula (HFNC), and bi-level positive airway pressure ventilation or invasive mechanical ventilation (BIPAP/MV). Results The demographic characteristics of the patients were: aged 61 +/- 18.7 years (mean +/- standard deviation); with 56% being male, and 44.9% of African American race. There were 16% patients on RA, 40% on NC, 15% on HFNC, and 29% on BIPAP/MV. The incidence of cardiac arrhythmias was 36.7% (20% pulseless electrical activity (PEA), 13.5% atrial fibrillation (AF). 56% of AF was new-onset arrhythmia. Compared to the RA group, the risk of cardiac arrhythmias was significantly higher in BIPAP/MV (OR 3.3; 95% CI 1.8 - 6.2, p <0.001) and HFNC (OR 2.9; 95% CI 1.5-5.7, p0.001), but not in NC group (OR 0.95; 95% CI 0.4-1.8, p0.89). Compared to patients without arrhythmias, patients with arrhythmias were older (mean age 71 vs. 56 years, p <0.001) and had more comorbidities (Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), 4.7 vs. 2.9, p <0.001). The continued therapy of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin-II receptor blockers did not seem to be associated with increased or decreased risk of cardiac arrhythmias. Conclusion The incidence of cardiac arrhythmias among hospitalized COVID-19 patients was 36.7% with PEA being common in patients who succumbed to death, and AF in those patients who survived. The incidence of cardiac arrhythmias positively correlated with disease severity based on oxygen requirement and was higher among patients requiring HFNC or BIPAP/MV.

Effectiveness and safety of Ivermectin in COVID-19 patients: A prospective study at a safety-net hospital.

Ivermectin has been found to inhibit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication in vitro. It is unknown whether this inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication correlates with improved clinical outcomes. To assess the effectiveness and safety of ivermectin in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. A total of 286 patients with COVID-19 were included in the study. Univariate analysis of the primary mortality outcome and comparisons between treatment groups were determined. Logistic regression and propensity score matching (PSM) was used to adjust for confounders. Patients in the ivermectin group received 2 doses of Ivermectin at 200 µg/kg in addition to usual clinical care on hospital Days 1 and 3. The ivermectin group had a significantly higher length of hospital stay than the control group; however, this significance did not maintain on multivariable logistic regression analysis. The length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay and duration of mechanical ventilation were longer in the control group. However, a mortality benefit was not seen with ivermectin treatment before and after PSM (p values = 0.07 and 0.11, respectively). ICU admission, and intubation rate were not significantly different between the groups (p = 0.49, and p = 1.0, respectively). No differences were found between groups regarding the length of hospital stay, ICU admission, intubation rate, and in-hospital mortality.

Characteristics and outcomes of cancer patients with covid-19 at a safety-net hospital.

Patients with cancer are a vulnerable population during the COVID-19 pandemic due to underlying immunosuppression, pre-existing comorbidities, and poor nutrition. There is a lack of data describing the disease course of cancer patients with COVID-19 disease. Therefore, we analyzed data from cancer patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to our hospital. Cancer patients were categorized into two groups as survivors and non-survivors of COVID-19. Among 68 cancer patients with COVID-19, 27% of patients were admitted to ICU, and 37% of the patients died. The median age was 72, and non-survivors were older than survivors (p = 0.001). Non-survivors had higher comorbidity scores, late-stage cancer, and worse ECOG performance status than survivors (all p values<0.005). Non-survivors also had significantly lower lymphocyte count and albumin level but higher lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, troponin, and ferritin levels than survivors. On multivariable analysis, increased age and mechanical ventilation were associated with increased odds of death. We report no association between anti-cancer treatments and mortality from COVID-19 disease. In summary, cancer patients have higher mortality of COVID-19 infection than the general population. In addition to generally known risk factors, the high mortality rate in cancer patients with COVID-19 is associated with several cancer-specific factors.

Massive biventricular thrombi complicating new-onset heart failure in a patient with suspected COVID-19.

The World Health Organization nominated SARS-CoV-2 as the cause of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and has been granted as a pandemic. COVID-19 is an emerging threat due to the risk of microvascular, venous, and arterial thrombosis, thereby exacerbating organ injury and mortality. Although the exact mechanism of extensive thromboembolism and myocardial injury caused by SARS-CoV-2 is not illuminated, it is clear that COVID-19 related hypercoagulation increasing the fatality of the disease. Herein, we reported a patient with extensive biventricular thrombi along with the new-onset severe systolic dysfunction as an unusual catastrophic presentation of COVID-19. In our patient, there was both a right atrial "clot in transit" from his DVT as well as extensive muralized biventricular thrombus from severe global hypokinesis. We believe that the hypercoagulable state of his COVID-19 infection, along with severe systolic dysfunction, caused this unusual presentation. Although the hypercoagulable state of COVID-19 is well recognized, there have not been any reported cases of extensive de-novo intracardiac thrombus as of yet. We urge awareness of severe and potentially fatal extensive thrombosis and cardiac failure as the initial clinical presentation of possible SARS-CoV-2. .

A Review on Epidemiology, Emergence, Spread, Clinical Aspects, Avoidance and Management Of COVID-19 Outbreak

Background: COVID-19 or corona virus outbreak is a major source of disaster in the year 2020 which has distraught about 220 countries around the globe. The source of the outbreak was first identified in the province of Wuhan, China in December 2019. As of now, there are about 52,00,000 positive cases of the virus by the last week of May 2020 causing approx. 3,42,000 deaths worldwide. Methods: The objective of this review paper is to methodically analyse the reasons, findings, deterrence, and control of this virus. The secondary sources applied in this analysis have been taken from the data and information available on a public domain. Results: Testing in a laboratory for the identification of the virus comprises of the usual or decreased counts of white cells with lofty protein C-reactive. The tomographic chest scan is typically anomalous yet in patients having no indications. Preclusion in this deadly ailment include entails isolation of suspected numbers. Strict precautionary measures are required with suspects. Conclusion: This paper attempts to review the structure, cause of infection, direction of diffusion, pathogenesis, quantifiable attributes, management, and avoidance of virus.