Strengths and Weaknesses of Asynchronous E-learning in Nursing Education Throughout the COVID-19 Crisis: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Despite the introduction of e-learning in recent years, it has not been utilized as a major educational method in numerous universities, especially in the area of medical and health sciences, until the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objectives: This study aimed at explaining the strengths and weaknesses of asynchronous e-learning in nursing education throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: In this qualitative descriptive study, a total of 14 nursing faculty members were selected using the purposive sampling method. The interviews were conducted face-to-face with semi-structured questions. The researcher recorded all interviews with the participants' consent. Data analysis was conducted in four phases using the content analysis approach (Graneheim and Lundman). Results: Nursing faculty members cited "low quality of educational content", "cold and soulless education", "low efficiency in clinical education", and "insufficiency in educational assessment process" as the weaknesses and "maintenance of safe education during the COVID-19 crisis" as the strength of asynchronous e-learning in nursing education during the COVID-19 crisis. Conclusion: Asynchronous e-learning was shown to have various weaknesses in nursing theoretical and clinical education. However, the most striking strengths of this method in the COVID-19 pandemic were found to be the protection of the safety and health of individuals, followed by the maintenance of academic activities and education. Therefore, it is worthwhile for all nurse researchers, academic education policy-makers, and faculties to put conscious effort into developing standard protocols for the preparation of educational content, empowering lecturers in the area of online education, and using other methods to promote dynamic interactions.