Nursing students’ attitude on the practice of e-learning: A cross-sectional survey amid COVID-19 in Nepal

Abstract

Introduction In present days, the use of information technology (IT) in education is unquestionable. The mounting advancement of IT has changed the scenario of education. With the emergence of the current COVID-19 situation, it has undoubtedly provided a solution to most of our educational needs when all educational institutions remained closed due to the pandemic. This study aims to identify the nursing students’ attitude towards the practice of e-learning amidst COVID-19. Methods A descriptive web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among nursing students with a sample size of 470. A self-administered validated questionnaire along with a standard tool to measure the attitude was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results The mean ± SD age of the respondents was 20.91± 1.55 years. The majority (76.4%) of the respondents used mobile for their study and 90.4% used Wi-Fi for the internet source. The main advantage of e-learning was stated as the ability to stay at home (72.1%) followed by the reduced cost of accommodation and transport (51.3%) whereas the internet problem (81.7%) was the major disadvantage followed by technical issues (65.5%). Only about 34% of the students found e-learning as effective as traditional face-to-face learning. The mean scores for the domains: perceived usefulness, intention to adapt, distant use of e-learning, ease of learning, technical support, and learning stressors were 3.1, 3.1, 3.8, 2.9, 2.9, and 2.5 respectively. Overall, 58.9% had a favorable attitude regarding e-learning. There was no significant association of overall attitude regarding e-learning with selected socio-demographic variables whereas it was positively associated with all of its six domains. All the domains were positively correlated with each other except for ease of learning with technical support and distant use, and technical support with learning stressor and distant use. Learning stressor versus distant use was negatively correlated with each other. Conclusion Though e-learning was implemented as a substitute during the pandemic, almost half of the nursing students showed a positive attitude regarding e-learning. The majority of the students had internet problems and technological issues. If e-learning can be made user-friendly with reduced technical barriers supplemented with programs that can enhance practical learning abilities, e-learning can be the vital alternative teaching method and learning in the nursing field.

The Effectiveness of the Real-case Online-based Learning on Nursing Care Plan Self-efficacy

“…There are various obstacles in the online learning that cause the learning process to be less than optimal. Some studies reported that the internet connection and facilities owned by the students and, also tutors were the important factors that become a "barrier" in online learning [7], [23]. It was supported by the additional student perspectives findings of this study which reported that internet connection is an "obstacle," thus, our findings indicate a limitation "barrier."…”

Distance Learning and Assessment During the COVID-19 Pandemic—Perspectives of Polish Medical and Healthcare Students

“…Internet bandwidth and connectivity limitations, technical support limitations, and unfamiliarity with online learning systems were also seen against its implementation in the study by Gismalla et al (2021). Similar reports involving Internet problems, poor connectivity, and technical issues were also brought up by Thapa et al (2021), Gupta et al (2021), Olum et al (2020), Elshami et al (2021), Hayat et al (2021), and Bączek et al (2021). Different network issues were also reported by around one-third of respondents of Singh et al (2021), including troubles with sound and video or unexpectedly being logged out from the classes.…”

Prevalence of mental health problems and sleep disturbances in nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…First, educational adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic have included a shift from face-to-face learning to online or flexible learning paradigms (O'Flynn-Magee et al, 2021;Pokhrel and Chhetri, 2021;Sahu, 2020). Studies have found that students face additional learning challenges when adjusting to these different learning modalities (Dewart et al, 2020;Majrashi et al, 2021;Wallace et al, 2021), including internet problems, technological issues, the absence of experimental/practical classes and reduced interactions with peers and educators (W. Li et al, 2021a;Thapa et al, 2021). Faculty members required more time to prepare for online classes and were forced to learn how to navigate and deliver the course content online (Agu et al, 2021;Almahasees et al, 2021).…”