Attitudes and Practices of Educators towards e-Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The novel coronavirus outbreak is now shifting the way educational institutions operate around the world. This study aims to assess the online learning experience during the pandemic and recognize its perceived barriers according to university professors in Jordan. Methods: This is a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional, and descriptive study. A web-based survey was distributed to all university professors and lecturers in public universities across Jordan. Results: A total of 508 educators responded to this study. Males (67.5%, n=343) dominated the study population compared to females (32.5%, n=165). Educators spent an average of 20.2 ± 15.9 hours/week using the internet for educational purposes during the pandemic. Positive attitudes towards online teaching were seen, as 65.7% reported being prepared for online teaching, while 40.8% were comfortable communicating with students via online platforms. Institutional support for online learning also appears to have increased following the coronavirus outbreak. An overwhelming majority (81.9%, n=416) stated that their universities supported online education during the pandemic, compared to 56.5% (n=287) before. The main recognized barriers for online teaching were poor internet connection (78.3%, n=398), disadvantages in old learning tools (e.g., uploading capacity) (70.9%, n=360), and family atmosphere (69.3%, n=352). Participants also recognized technical (74.0%, n=376) and computer skills (49.2%, n=250) as areas requiring development. Conclusion: Despite the positive attitudes of educators towards online teaching, many barriers need to be overcome before the shift from traditional learning is implemented. Faculty training and inter-departmental communication are warranted for the success of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online learning for undergraduate health professional education during COVID-19: Jordanian medical students' attitudes and perceptions.

BACKGROUND: The popularity of online learning has increased tremendously in response to the needs of students amid outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases. Few studies have concentrated on the learner's perspectives involved with the transition from traditional to online learning. The aim of this study was to assess students' attitudes towards online learning as well as the perceived preparedness and barriers. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational web-based survey design was used to recruit eligible participants from five Jordanian government universities. A Facebook-based campaign and snowball sampling approach were used to recruit potential survey participants. RESULTS: The results show that 1,210 medical college students decided to take part in this online survey. Students' attitudes and perceived preparedness for online learning were moderate, while perceived barriers were high. This study revealed a connection between students' attitudes toward online learning and their gender, major, living area, college level, and prior experience. The main obstacles to online learning were an unstable Internet connection, a lack of motivation, and a lack of instructions. CONCLUSION: The majority of students had mixed feelings about online learning and were largely supportive of conventional classroom learning. Students were pessimistic about their chances of learning professional skills and core competencies online. More research is required to determine whether students are ready and able to make greater use of online education in order to access high-quality learning opportunities.

Online Education for Undergraduate Health Professional Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Attitudes, Barriers, and Ethical Issues.

Background : The online teaching demand has increased tremendously to promote the implementation of online teaching-leaning system to meet the need of students during the outbreaks of emerging infectious disease. This study aims to explore whether the pandemic of COVID-19, which requires universities to rapidly offer online learning, will affect attitudes about online education for undergraduate health sciences students. Also, it investigates the barriers for using online tools. Method : A cross-sectional survey using online social media was used to recruit eligible participants. The data for this study were focused on students' experiences utilizing an online education method offered by the Jordanian government universities. This study is utilizing newly developed measuring tools that are expected to enable students to evaluate online teaching in terms of their own learning progress. Results : A total of 1,210 participants agreed to complete the online survey questionnaire. The mean score preparedness and attitude toward online education was average. The majority of students agreed that online courses helped assign reading and homework time better than on-campus approach (75.0%) and felt comfortable to actively communicate with my classmates and instructors online. Zoom and eLearning were the most common online platforms utilized by students. The geographic locations, lack of past experience on using online tools, and lack of past experience on using online tools were identified by students as the main barrier to online educations. Conclusions : Although the pandemic of COVID-19 appeared as uncommon catalyst for promoting eLearning, further research is needed to assess whether learners are ready and willing to make greater use of online education to obtain high quality teaching and learning opportunities, which could totally change educators' and students' attitudes and impression, and subsequently the general themes of online education.