Teaching and Learning during COVID-19 Crisis: Faculty Preparedness and Factors Influencing the Use of E-learning Platform at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda

Abstract

Background Towards the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread worldwide and caused many schools to close. Many educational institutions transitioned from traditional face-to-face or blended to a total e-learning approach. The University of Rwanda rapidly shifted from a blended teaching and learning approach to a total e-learning approach. Thus,this study assessed the faculty preparedness and the factors influencing the use of e-learningplatforms at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Methods The study used a cross-sectional design. A web self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 450 CMHS faculty from June to July 2020, with a response rate of 34.4% (n=155). SPSS was used to describe nominal variables with frequencies and percentages. Similarly, continuous variables were analyzed by calculating median and interquartile ranges. The Chi-Square and Man-Whitney tests were also computed using SPSS. Results The majority of participants (93.7%) started using the e-learning approach, and 92.4% attended e-learning training. The top motivator for e-learning use was a personal interest in technology use (93.3%) and the leading barrier to using e-learning was the concern about access to students (77.1%). Conclusion This study found that faculty preparedness was significantly associated with e-learning use. The leading motivator and barriers were a personal interest in technology use and concern about access to students, respectively.