Exploring the Digital Divide between Pre-clinical Teachers and Students in an Integrated Medical Curriculum from a Malaysian Private University

Abstract

Background: The effectiveness of the integration of technology within the classroom setting has been well documented, however the use of this technology is still far from reaching its true potential. Although the presence of digital divides between teacher and staff documents, the extent and nature of the divide is not well defined. This could have limited the potential exploitation of technology in teaching and learning, especially in a medical school with an integrated curriculum. Our study intended to identify the student's and teachers' perceptions of benefits of using technology in teaching and learning in a medical school and also investigate the nature of the gap that is present between teachers and students. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted through a census during which we had 212 pre-clinical medical students and 30 lecturers engaged in the teaching of these students in an integrated curriculum. A pre-validated self-administrative questionnaire survey was conducted for Usage of ICT in learning and Perception of the Use of E-education Tools and Implementation of E-courses. The significance of the association between teachers and students was tested using Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: Over 3 hours in a day was spent by teachers and students on desktop and smartphone for TLA, indicating that students are mobile learners engaging in learning activities in their time and place of choice. 60-65% of students preferred using YouTube for their leaning activates, and around 50% of the teacher used this platform in teaching and related activities. Usages of journals as found to be high among teachers (55%) while the use of other popular learning applications. This study also showed that both teachers and students strongly agreed that they enjoy using technology, indicating the acceptance and willingness to explore its potential. Conclusion: The study shows the use of ICT is prevalent between both medical teachers and staff; the difference was only in the degree of usage and also both the groups enjoyed the use of technology. It was also clear that both medical teachers and students viewed the use of ICT to be integral in delivering the curricula.

ICT – a surviving tool for economy in the phase of social distancing: a systematic literature review

“…, 2020; Pérez-Jorge et al. , 2020; Mohanraj et al. , 2019), perception of students and teachers towards ICT integration in the educational sector (Sabiri, 2019; Palacios-Hidalgo et al.…”

“…Talking about behavioural associations, the main focus of researchers is related to cognition, motivation and perception towards ICT tools in different sectors. The authors explored the motivation of users of ICT platforms in the education sector (Hakim, 2021;Chieng and Tan, 2021;Aktas ¸and € Ozmen, 2020;Sikhakhane et al, 2021;Palacios-Hidalgo et al, 2020;P erez-Jorge et al, 2020;Mohanraj et al, 2019), perception of students and teachers towards ICT integration in the educational sector (Sabiri, 2019;Palacios-Hidalgo et al, 2020;P erez-Jorge et al, 2020;Allayarova, 2019). On a similar note, the studies were conducted in the health sector, majorly based on the attitude and perception of users towards the ICT tools (Casilang et al, 2020;Mukhtar et al, 2020;Espino-D ıaz et al, 2020).…”

“…Also, Allayarova (2019) talked about students’ and teachers’ perceptions on the use of ICT in higher education institutions. Past scholars have also investigated the behaviour of students towards ICT (Barahona Mora, 2020; Mohanraj et al. , 2019; Herrador-Alcaide et al ., 2020; Huang et al.…”

“…Also, Allayarova (2019) talked about students' and teachers' perceptions on the use of ICT in higher education institutions. Past scholars have also investigated the behaviour of students towards ICT (Barahona Mora, 2020;Mohanraj et al, 2019;Herrador-Alcaide et al, 2020;Huang et al, 2019;Jin et al, 2019). Barahona Mora (2020) examined the behaviour of students in the class towards the tool named ClassDojo which created an environment of motivation and interest in students.…”

“…;Chieng and Tan, 2021;Aktas ¸and € Ozmen, 2020;Sikhakhane et al, 2021;Palacios-Hidalgo et al, 2020;P erez-Jorge et al, 2020;Mohanraj et al, 2019). On similar lines, Hakim (2021) studied the attitude of EFL teachers for ICT integration in teachinglearning process and analyse the effect on teacher and learner motivation by integration of ICT.…”