Athletic Training Students' Perspectives and Performance When Learning Online

Abstract

Context Technology continues to change throughout the world, and higher education is not absent from the adjustment. Athletic training educators should adapt to online learning opportunities that enhance the curriculum for their students. Objective To explore athletic training students' thoughts and knowledge when learning through a distance education platform. Design Cross-sectional, mixed-methods survey. Setting Six professional postbaccalaureate athletic training programs. Patients or Other Participants A total of 55 second-year athletic training students. Intervention(s) One-week asynchronous eLearning module focused on the background and use of telemedicine in health care. Main Outcome Measure(s) Participants completed the technology acceptance model tool before and after the module to gather their perspectives about online learning. During the eLearning module, knowledge acquisition was assessed with quizzes. Finally, a transactional distance theory tool including 2 open-ended response items was delivered at the end of the eLearning module. Results We identified that participants had a low acceptance for technology at the onset of the study that improved after the eLearning intervention for the constructs of self-efficacy (P = .010) and perceived ease of use (P ≤ .001) of eLearning technologies. The transactional distance tool highlighted that the facilitator and readings were helpful, which was also indicative of the scores on the module quizzes. We also identified benefits to eLearning from the student perspective, which included previous experiences, learning on their own time, and feelings that the module was productive to their growth as students. Some participants stated that the eLearning module presented too much work and was missing interaction, whereas others were neutral relative to the comparison between traditional and online learning. Conclusions Overall, the results of this study identified that technology acceptance and transactional distance are important components of online learning. Athletic training educators should educate learners regarding the differences in online education requirements.