Barriers of online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: To understand the various barriers faced by students of dentistry during online teaching programmed in COVID 19 pandemic. Material and Methods: A questionnaire comprising questions regarding various barriers for online learning was designed in google form which was later sent to the students of one to fourth year dentistry electronically. Respondents were asked to respond on a five-point Likert's scale of strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree. Questions were basically focused on cost and access to the internet, lack of peer collaboration, difficulty contacting faculties, insufficient time etc. Results: Out of 1440 responses, agreed 51.38% of participants strongly agreed that technical problems or issue act as a major barrier in online learning, followed by timing issues (40.2%) and access to internet (25%). Conclusion: Students have faced technical and timing issues and accessibility as major barriers.