The Acceptance of E-Learning during Covid-19 Pandemic amongst Dental Students of Islamabad

Abstract

Background: The worldwide COVID 19 pandemic coerced all organizations including educational facilities to embrace online teaching methodologies. The present study was done to assess the acceptance of e-learning during COVID 19 among dental students in the metropolitan city of Islamabad using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Methods: This was a cross sectional study involving all dental colleges of Islamabad, was conducted between August 2020 – October 2020. The complete enumeration technique was employed for sampling. A structured self-reported questionnaire of the Technology acceptance model (TAM) was used for data collection. It consisted of four constructs, perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), attitude towards use (ATT) and intention to use (INT). The questionnaire was shared online with 600 dental undergraduate students in Islamabad. To analyze the data SPSS (version 22) was used. Results: The total number of complete responses received were 274 (RR 45%).The overall mean scores for PEOU, INT, PU and ATT were 3.38, 3.21, 3.1 and 2.92 respectively. Lower mean value showed that the respondents disagreed/strongly disagreed, whereas higher mean value showed that they were inclined to agree/strongly agree with the idea of e-learning. Based on TAM model, six hypotheses were formulated and tested for significance based on the regression statistics. Larger beta and t values and P value of 0.05 using regression analysis showed existence of significant relationship between all the factors. Conclusion: The present study explored the acceptance of e-learning by dental students and concluded that in order to motivate students to use technology for educational purposes it is necessary for them to perceive technology to be useful and easy to use. This in turn would help them develop a positive attitude towards using it and consequently motivate greater participation.