Knowledge assessment of medical students' college regarding the suitability of e-learning application in medical education

Abstract

Background: E-learning (electronic-learning) usually means the introduction of electronic media and other useful communicative technologies in the undergraduate and postgraduate education. E-learning is a wide term including all forms of modern educational technology in learning process and teaching, which is more appropriate for both distance and flexible learning. Objective: This study aimed to determine the students' knowledge regarding the suitability of e-learning application in the medical education. Materials and Methods: A study was done on the students of the second and fifth medical stage at Tikrit Medical College during the period from April 1, 2021, to the end of June 2021, and 520 medical students were included in the study (260 students from both stages). The data were collected through a special questionnaire sheet that contains four main items about the e-learning, and the electronic distribution of the form was conducted after receiving their verbal consent before participation in the study after full, detailed information about the study was given. The statistical test, Chi-square test, was used to estimate the relation between the current variables, and P 0.05 was regarded significant. Results: The current study shows that 53.1% of the studied students were female, 65.4% within the age group 23-24 years, and 85.3% living in the rural area. There is a statistically significant among 39.7% of male study students from the second stage that the main difficulty is the disagreement of medical staff in comparison to 54.6% of students from the fifth stage that the main difficulty is the financial problems. On the other hand, 37.2% of study students from the second stage disagree that e-learning is affected by good trainer skills compared with 15.1% of study students from the fifth stage. Conclusion: For female students of both stages, the main problem affecting e-learning is the current administrative instruction. The study recommended that e-learning introduction into the graduate and undergraduate education will promote a direct shift toward future adult learning in all branches and aspects of educational cycle.