Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted all aspects of our lives, including education and the economy, as we know it. Governments have issued stay-at-home directives, and as a result, colleges and universities have been shut down across the world. Hence, online classes have become a key component in the continuity of education. The present study aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online education at the College of Medicine (COM) of Alfaisal University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Between March and April 2020, we emailed a survey to 1,289 students and faculty members of the COM. We obtained 208 responses (16.1%); 54.8% of the respondents were females, and 66.8% were medical students; 14.9% were master’s students, and 18.3% were faculty. Among the respondents, 41.8% reported having little or no online teaching/learning experience before the pandemic, and 62.5% preferred blending online and face-to-face instruction. The reported challenges to online medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic included issues related to communication (59%), student assessment (57.5%), use of technology tools (56.5%), online experience (55%), pandemic-related anxiety or stress (48%), time management (35%), and technophobia (17%). Despite these challenges, most of the respondents (70.7%) believed that the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted their confidence in the effectiveness of online medical education. Consequently, 76% of participants intended to integrate the online expertise garnered during the pandemic into their practice. In short, the modern study demonstrated a largely positive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online medical education.
Highlights
A growing number of colleges and universities have been implementing a transition from traditional faceto-face teaching methods to online teaching or a combination of online and traditional teaching [1]
The reported challenges to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic at this institution included issues regarding in-person communication (59%), student assessment (57.5%), use of technology tools (56.5%), experience in online education (55.0%), pandemic-related anxiety and stress (48%), learning curve (35.5%), time management (35.0%), students' evaluations of faculty (24.0%), and technophobia (17.0%)
Our study revealed that there has been a positive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online medical education at Alfaisal University
Summary
A growing number of colleges and universities have been implementing a transition from traditional faceto-face teaching methods to online teaching or a combination of online and traditional teaching (blending) [1]. The blended method of teaching involves replacing part of the face-to-face interaction with online instruction [2]. The world is responding to a pandemic of contagious respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus, named COVID-19 [4]. The subsequent implementation of social distancing (i.e., increasing the physical space between people) during the COVID19 pandemic has forced colleges and universities to empty their classrooms and keep the students away from the institutions [7]. There has been a general shift from traditional face-to-face instruction to online teaching [8]. Most institutions, including Alfaisal University, have switched to distance learning in the simplest and most convenient ways possible, including conferencing platforms, email, and phone [8]
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