Evaluation of Factors Affecting the Quality of Virtual Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The prevalence of Corona virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the university education system. Due to the development of technology in recent decades and the need for social distance to prevent the spread of the disease and to prevent interruptions in student education, education has changed to virtual. Considering the importance of education and its decisive role in improving the academic level of students, we tried to review the challenges of virtual education and the factors affecting its quality. This review study was performed by searching databases such: as Pubmed, Scopus, SID, and Magiran using keywords including virtual teaching, virtual learning, COVID-19, and Medical Sciences and limiting the search to the keywords in the title and abstract and also according to PRISMA guidelines. In the present study, the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning were investigated. Findings showed that the factors affecting the quality of e-learning are classified into four main sections, which include: the existence of appropriate infrastructure, Class control and administration, Necessary training for using software for professors and students, and the Proportion of the volume of taught content with its evaluation. One of the most important disadvantages of e-learning in the past year is the lack of proper infrastructure for training and exams, high internet interruption, the impossibility of student interaction, and the large volume of content. Due to the existence of barriers to the formation of classes in person, it is possible to help increase the educational quality of students and advance learning by using the necessary and appropriate measures in the correct use of virtual education and increasing the quality of the required infrastructure.