Effectiveness of exclusive E-learning during COVID-19 in a medical school in India - A student perspective

Purpose: India went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the closure of all the educational institutes. We had to adapt to the new system of complete online teaching and learning in a short span of time. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of exclusive E-learning during the present COVID-19 pandemic through student feedback. Methods: A 21-item validated questionnaire on three independent elements - technology and resources (6 questions), content and design (7 questions) and opinion on E-learning (8 questions) - was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the E-learning programme. The questionnaire was e-mailed to 400 students across the four batches out of which 227 responded. Results: E-learning design was thought to be vital for attracting users by 74.2% though 83.8% opined that E-learning needs self-motivation and 81.9% felt that it needs more commitment when compared to conventional teaching and learning. Several (36.7%) perceived that they could not correlate the lectures without clinical or practical training; however, 60.3% felt that abstract concepts were well explained with images. Despite 69.6% of the participants having access to a dependable computer or laptop, only 55.5% had uninterrupted internet access. The mean effectiveness of E-learning was significantly lower for the final year (69.9 ± 9.48) when compared to 1st-year (75.1 ± 11.33) and 2nd-year (76.7 ± 10.15) medical students. Conclusions: The students rapidly adapted to exclusive E-learning, but it was seen that it only has a complementary role and it is perceived as less effective when compared to traditional teaching.