Perception of E-Resources on the Learning Process among Students in the College of Health Sciences in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, during the (COVID-19) Outbreak

Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Dec 26;10(1):40. doi: 10.3390/healthcare10010040.

Abstract

Aim: to assess the impact of e-learning through different e-resources among health sciences students.

Methodology: A cross-sectional design was conducted among health science students (n = 211; 134 female and 77 male) at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. The data was collected using a previously used structured questionnaire to assess the impact of e-resources on learning.

Results: The four most frequently used e-resources were: Zoom (38%), YouTube (31%), Google applications (29%), and Blackboard (27%). More than one-third of the students (35%) reportedly used e-resources for three or more hours daily. The majority of the students (55.9%) recognized a gender-related and age-related difference among faculty members in terms of e-resources usage. The majority of the students (58.2%) believe that online resources recommended by faculty members were credible. The majority of students believed that their academic performance was primarily influenced by these features of the e-resources: organization/logic of the content (64.5%), the credibility of the video (64.5%), and up to date "look and feel" of the video (60.6%). The study identified the most frequently used e-resources, gender, and age-related differences in faculty members' use of e-resources, students' overwhelming reliance on faculty feedback regarding the credibility of e-resources, and three most important characteristics (organization, credibility, and updated status) of e-resources.

Conclusion: e-learning resources had a significant impact on participating students' education as they were used very frequently during their health sciences' courses.

Keywords: academic performance; credibility; e-learning; e-resources; health sciences education.