Measuring Google Classroom's Usability Level from an Expert Perspective

The demand for the use of distance learning media, especially at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, led to the high use of one of the long-known distance learning media, namely Google Classroom. This study aims to provide empirical evidence of the effect of perceived usability on the use of Google Classroom recently. We use heuristic evaluation method to evaluate user interface of e-Learning with four expert participants who are also instructor/teacher in some courses, the data is presented in form of quantitative and in-depth in the form of qualitative. Result of the study showed that the highest severity level was 1 (cosmetic usability problem) in the first heuristic (visibility of system status): 2 from 4 expert said that Google Classroom does not provide visuals that help the user understand in which screen they are standing;and sixth heuristic (recognition rather than recall): 2 from 4 expert said that Google Classroom does not indicate which controls are currently inactive in clear visual way. This study introduces a new approach, risk opportunity measurement which is based on risk-based thinking of ISO 9001:2015 (standard of quality management system), to provide recommendations for improvement of problems found by evaluators to stakeholders based on principles/heuristics that have the highest to lowest risk opportunities for improvement and further development. © 2022 IEEE.

E-learning in pathology courses in the times of COVID-19

Introduction: Distance learning (DL) is a promising educational approach for teaching medical courses. Our Pathology College was faced with the difficulty of a complete online transition of the classes because of the public health measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective is to evaluate this teaching method of the Pathology College with reference to the learner's point of view. Methods: After attending DL sessions in the Pathology College, pathology residents completed the questionnaire using Google Forms. Twenty-six out of 33 initially enrolled in the pathology course returned fully filled out, valid questionnaires. Results: Twenty-four residents (92.3%) had already an E-learning experience. Almost 70% of participants were satisfied with their DL experience. Thirty percent of the participants thought that DL should replace face-to-face courses. Technical difficulties were encountered in 42% of cases with the most common one related to internet connection (66.7%). Interaction with teachers during DL courses was considered more difficult than face-to-face courses by 61.5% of participants. Participants found that learning via the virtual slide websites was better than learning in the histology workshop in 53.8% of cases. The main weaknesses of DL were the dependence on technical means (42.3%), the lack of interactivity with colleagues (26.9%) and teachers (26.9%). Conclusion: Pathology lessons were successfully taught via DL, which was highly embraced by the students. Our findings shed light on a variety of areas of the students' DL experiences, and we strongly urge the faculty to take the students' opinions into account when formulating guidelines for higher-quality medical education. © 2022 The Authors

Perceived Level of Usability as an Evaluation Metric in Adaptive E-learning: A Case Study with Dyslexic Children.

The global spread of COVID-19 has shifted the learning process towards e-learning. In this context, a critical challenge for researchers is to understand and evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning, especially when the learning is adapted to the needs of individual users. In this work we argue that the learner's perception of the level of usability of a system is a valuable metric that gives an insight into the learners' engagement and motivation to learn. Little attention has been paid to this metric. In this paper we explore why this is important and valuable. We present a case study which uses the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire to measure the user's perception of usability as an indirect (proxy) measure of engagement. A between-subject experiment was conducted with 41 learners with dyslexia. The intervention group used the adaptive version of the e-learning system that matched the material to the needs of the learner. The control group used a standard version. At the end, learning gain and SUS scores were assessed. The correlation between learning performance and the perceived level of usability was positive and moderate (0.517, p < 0.05) among participants in the intervention group. However, learning performance and perceived level of usability were unrelated in the control group (- 0.364, p > 0.05). From this, and other work, it appears that using a learner's assessment of the usability of a system is an effective way to measure their attitude to their learning. It reflects their perception of its suitability to their needs and this, in turn, is likely to affect their engagement and motivation. As such, this provides an effective instrument to judge whether adaptation based on learner needs has been successful.

Evaluating e-Learning in the Pathology Course During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: Synchronous and asynchronous e-learning is a promising and effective educational method for the delivery of medical lessons. Due to the public health measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, our Pathology Department faced the challenge of a total online transition of the lessons. Therefore, the aim is to evaluate the aspects of the applied e-learning method they received. Materials and Methods: At the end of the semester when e-learning was applied, we designed a structured questionnaire consisting of 17 items via Google Forms, which took the students between 5 and 7 minutes to complete. Of the 257 students registered on the Pathology course in the fifth semester, 207 students (80.5%) returned completed valid questionnaires. Results: Fifteen of the seventeen components of the e-learning Pathology questionnaire were evaluated highly by the vast majority of the students. The two remaining items, the HIPON platform and the Microlabs e-lessons, were evaluated highly by almost half the students. Approximately 93% of medical students answered that e-learning could be integrated with real class lessons in the medical curriculum: 62.8% (N = 130) of students answered to a great extent, and 30.4% (N = 63) answered to a small extent. Statistically significant differences were found between the demographic characteristics of the participants (gender, permanent residence, working status) and their evaluation of the e-learning items. Conclusion: E-learning was successfully implemented for the delivery of the pathology lessons and was widely accepted by the students, providing evidence for its future integration into the medical curriculum. Our findings illuminate various aspects of the students' experience with e-learning, and we strongly recommend that the students' evaluation and perspective be taken into consideration by the faculty in the development of policies for higher-quality medical education.