Nursing and Midwifery Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of Using Blended Learning in Rwanda: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough blended learning (BL) is being adopted in public and private higher learning institutions (HLIs) in Rwanda, little is known about students’ use of BL in their learning activities. This article describes a qualitative descriptive study of students’ perceptions and experiences of BL in Rwanda’s post-secondary nursing and midwifery programs in public and private HLIs.MethodsThirty-three nursing and midwifery students from all public and private HLIs in Rwanda exposed to BL were invited to participate in three online focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted using a developed FGD guide with open-ended questions. Inductive content analysis was used to analyze the transcripts.ResultsThree main themes emerged from the data analysis:(1) BL perceived as a new and effective teaching and learning approach, (2) Contextual challenges to the BL method, and (3) Recommendations to improve the BL method. From students’ experiences, the benefits included but were not limited to the flexibility of the approach, time, and cost-saving. However, several challenges were identified, including technological issues such as lack of ICT skills and poor internet connectivity.ConclusionThis study provides insights into the usefulness of BL in HLIs and offers recommendations on how BL teaching and learning can be improved to strengthen nursing and midwifery pre-service education quality.Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2022;5(2):203-215

The benefits and challenges of the use of digital technology on clinical learning of undergraduate nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic: An integrative literature review

“…This study also revealed several challenges about digital technology utilization for clinical learning (Badowski et al, 2021;Bryan et al, 2022;Flo et al, 2021;Fung et al, 2021;Hu et al, 2022;Jiménez-Rodríguez & Arrogante, 2020;Kim et al, 2021;Mbombi et al, 2022;Ndayisenga et al, 2022;Oducado & Soriano, 2021;Saab et al, 2022;Yi et al, 2022). Technical challenges such as accessibility or usability issues and unavoidable technical difficulties were cited as impediments to the use of digital technology among undergraduate nursing students during the COVID -19 pandemic.…”

“…Four mixed method studies were conducted in the following countries: USA (n = 1) (Schiavenato et al, 2022), Norway (n = 1) (Flo et al, 2021), Spain (n = 1) (Jiménez-Rodríguez & Arrogante, 2020), Canada, England, Scotland and Australia (n = 1) (Goldsworthy et al, 2022). The ten qualitative studies were carried out in the USA (n = 2) (Abram et al, 2021;Badowski et al, 2021 ); Australia (n = 1) (Balante et al, 2023), Canada (n = 1) (Bryan et al, 2022), Hong Kong (n = 1) (Fung et al, 2021), Singapore (n=1) (Hu et al, 2022), Japan (n = 1) (Kazawa et al, 2022), Korea (n = 1) (Kim et al, 2021) and Rwanda (n = 1) (Ndayisenga et al, 2022). Four quantitative studies were conducted as follows: RSA (n = 1) (Mbombi et al, 2022), Philippines (n = 1) (Oducado & Soriano, 2021), Nepal (n = 1) (Thapa et al, 2021) and Spain (n = 1) (Zaragoza-García et al, 2021).…”

“…Mbombi et al (2022) confirmed the challenges such as weak networks and a lack of ICT facilities and skills. Another challenge related to the use of digital technology entailed the knowledge gap among whereby the facilitators and students lacked technology use skills (Ndayisenga et al, 2022;Oducado & Soriano, 2021). Technology in clinical learning was also viewed as a threat to affection and humanity.…”

“…Similarly, lack of knowledge about using digital technology was identified as a problem (Ndayisenga et al, 2022;Oducado & Soriano, 2021). Technologically unskilled nurse lecturers are unable to support their learners.…”