Online teaching experience of the healthcare faculty during the pandemic: A cross sectional analysis

1 Introduction

WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020 [1]. This worldwide impact of COVID-19 undoubtedly impacted all areas of life, especially the health, financial and educational sectors [2]. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, strict measures were taken to reduce the spread of the virus and its harmful effects on the communities. This resulted in closure of educational institutions worldwide [3] including the schools, colleges, and universities in Pakistan. Subsequently, it changed the education scenario from conventional on-campus to online learning, which activated the remote teaching plan using digital platforms [4]. To maintain social distancing and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in educational settings, online learning was an important decision that protected both students and the general public [5, 6].

About 37.8% of the Pakistani population resides in urban areas while 62.2% lives in rural areas. Pakistan has an internet user rate of about 36.5% of the total population [7]. The two primary obstacles whilst conducting online classes were lack of qualified instructors and the instability of the internet connection. Many students living in remote rural areas could not join online classes or faced severe disruptions due to internet connectivity issues [8]. According to UNESCO reports, more than 1.5 billion students in 165 countries approximately have been impacted by the lockdown of academic institutes [2].

E-learning has been defined as using online information technologies which enhance learning and gave users access to online services [9]. Learning online has many benefits, but there are drawbacks as well [10]. It made the learning process more convenient and easier due to time flexibility for students. Additionally, it made education more student-centered, with instructors serving as supervisors and students actively participating in sessions [11]. The main drawbacks associated with e-learning comprise lack of student engagement during interactive sessions, technical issues, and lack of training [12]. In Pakistan, e-learning is still in its initial stages of implementation, due to issues with the internet facility, resources, cultural and policy-related issues, and infrastructure [13].

Various educational institutes during the pandemic conducted both synchronous and asynchronous teaching methodology during the pandemic [14]. Synchronous teaching comprised of faculty and students meeting at a pre-scheduled time during their interactive session, whereas in asynchronous teaching, faculty delivered the course without interacting with the students. Asynchronous mode of online teaching was beneficial for students as it allowed students to study online courses at their feasibility. In Pakistan, synchronous mode of teaching was conducted, using various online platforms which included Microsoft. Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom. Although conventional tools were available, actual implementation of technology-based teaching for pedagogical reasons during the pandemic was questionable [15]. Instructors were switched to online mode of teaching online within a short span of time, although in various educational institutes, the online teaching facilities were not available, which further burdened the teachers [16]. Hence teachers had limited time to prepare for delivering online sessions for continuing educational teaching.

Some of the students were skilled in taking online sessions [17]. Studies conducted on Information Communication and Technology (ICT) with respect to education, have mostly focused on the students, while teachers played an important role as well [18, 19]. Most of the teachers were digitally literate, implementation of ICT to be used efficiently in the classroom was essential [20, 21]. Study by Schmid et al., reported that teachers felt unprepared to conduct classes online [22].

Faculty’s point of view regarding online education needs to be sought to address their concerns. The effectiveness of e-learning at educational institutions may depend on the faculty’s adoption of new educational technologies [23]. There is limited research available on faculty’s perception regarding conducting online sessions [24]. Research by Dhawan examined e-learning’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). He described the effective role of technology in handling the global crisis and ensured the learning process to continue [25]. Hence, academic institutes should emphasize training students and faculty with the essential IT skills. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine the perception of health science education faculty towards online mode of teaching during the pandemic in Pakistan. We also aimed to identify perceptions of each discipline towards online mode of teaching.

2 Methods

This cross-sectional research was conducted amongst the faculty members from January to April 2022. The data for this study was collected from private educational institutes located in Pakistan. Online survey forms were generated using Google Forms. The links to the forms were shared with the respective faculty members using WhatsApp, Facebook, and emails.

3 Results

The sudden onset of the pandemic switched on-campus learning to the online mode of teaching, which provided opportunities to reshape the educational system, and institutes [27]. This transition from traditional mode to online teaching required urgent training of teachers with respect to digitalization [17]. This study examined the perception of faculty regarding online education during the pandemic, in terms of computer literacy, IT skills, efficiency of online teaching, online teaching experience, technical and internet issues and class preparation.

Findings from the current study revealed that before the pandemic, most of the faculty had no prior experience in online teaching. Similar findings had been reported in a study by Wilson et al, where most of the nursing faculty also had no earlier experience in delivering online sessions [28]. Interestingly, a study conducted in New Zealand following the 2011 earthquakes, reported the significance of providing adequate training and support to faculty and having advanced technology, which enabled them to continue online education during that period of crisis [29]. This study highlighted the importance of providing adequate training to faculty, which could be beneficial in dealing with unforeseen circumstances.

With respect to competency related to IT for online teaching, the majority of faculty responded positively. However, most participants reported that online sessions required more effort, hence needed more expertise. These findings are in line with the study by Almahasees et al. who reported that it is crucial for faculty to have sufficient expertise in conducting online sessions [11]. As mentioned earlier, only a few participants had online teaching experience prior to the pandemic. It was not surprising that online sessions place additional stress on the faculty, unlike the classroom teaching [30]. Another study revealed that extensive preparation was needed by the faculty, to teach online effectively, unlike on-campus teaching [31]. Furthermore, tutors also encouraged the opening of cameras, which further enhanced the interaction between the students among themselves and with the faculty [32]. These findings were in line with study led by Kalman et al, where students were encouraged to open cameras for effective communications and to build rapport with their peers [33]. In addition to improving student engagement, switching on the camera allows the instructor to observe which students aren’t giving enough attention to the lesson.

Synchronous forms of communication, conducted through video conferencing and chat using various digital platforms, improves interaction between teachers and students [34]. For learning to be successful, there must be regular, robust, interaction between the student and the instructor [35]. Moreover, Faculty members concurred that the poor performance of students was caused by lack of interaction between students and teachers during online sessions. This could be attributed to the fact, that during the pandemic, in Pakistan, there were electricity and internet connectivity issues, lack of adequate devices and attitude of the students towards online mode of teaching was another important factor which must be taken into consideration. Furthermore, for faculty members a video analysis session should be arranged. Teachers conducting lessons during these sessions are recorded, so the facilitator could view the recordings and evaluate their teaching [36].

The faculty stated that traditionally educated students outperformed those who had been virtually taught in terms of academic performance. Face-to-face teaching enabled students to discuss, team up, practice role play and take active guidance from their teachers. The main element which impacted the students’ performance during learning was sense of being in the right place and having adequate support from their peers and teachers [37]. This abrupt transition to online teaching could have presented several challenges to the students and facilitators. Therefore, several factors needs be taken into consideration, which includes faculty not having adequate time to prepare and deliver online sessions, some had no or minimal prior experience in teaching online [38]. On the other hand, students could have been highly stressed due to concern regarding the virus, timely completion of courses, and financial situation [39, 40], all these factors may have been responsible for adversely affecting the performance of students during online sessions [41].

Faculty stated that they constantly prodded students to submit their assignments and other tasks on time during online teaching and provided feedback to the students. Research by Elshami et al, showed that engaging students during virtual sessions was one of the major obstacles faced by the tutors [42]. This could be attributed to the lack of seriousness of students towards online sessions. Furthermore, feedback provided by the faculty during online sessions played a crucial role in improving the learning outcomes of the students [43].

Most tutors expressed dissatisfaction with the interactions between students and teachers. These findings are in contrast with the study led by Elshami et al, where faculty and students seemed quite satisfied with their level of communication [42]. Similarly, research by Tennyson and Hsia stated that effective student and tutor communications helped create a supportive environment, which enhanced the performance and satisfaction level of students [44]. However, in Pakistan, internet connectivity, electricity shortage issues, along with lack of devices by students was partly responsible for causing interrupted communication between the faculty and students.

The home environment was not considered suitable for delivering online sessions due to the higher likelihood of family members causing distractions. These findings are consistent with the study led by Sahni, who observed that the participants experiencing higher levels of stress during the pandemic was due to working from home [45]. This could be because during pandemic, everyone was forced to stay indoors and worked from home, performed home schooling for youngsters, cooking, and other routine tasks at home. At the same time, faculty had to conduct online classes, administrative work, and dealing with technology related issues which could have taken a toll on the routine of the facilitators [46, 47]. Therefore, it would have been preferable to work at an institute rather than working from home. Online learning made it possible for students to continue their education during the epidemic, but it was not a long-term, viable option.

5 Conclusion

This study showed that online learning proved less effective as compared to face-to-face learning. Online learning has a few advantages as well as disadvantages, the main disadvantage being the lack of interaction between students and teachers. Main advantages identified were that online education promoted student-centered learning, and learners could access knowledge and resources anytime. Faculty should be provided with continuous training and support to improve their online teaching skills to keep pace with the transition to the new normal in education. Educational institutes in Pakistan should arrange training programs for the faculty as well as the students to prepare both to grow and survive in an increasingly digital world. These measures would help improve online teaching skills and productivity of faculty. Institutes should try hard to provide proper internet connections, an adequate number of electronic devices and data privacy to meet up with the needs. A national strategy should be adopted to modernize the educational system by providing digital tools, financial funding, and physical infrastructure. The most important aspect of e-learning is the technological part that ensures an effective e-learning system.

Ethical approval

The ethical approval for research was obtained from the Institutional ethical committee (ERC 32/2021) which was conducted according to the declaration of Helsinki.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.