E-Learning; Barriers and Opportunities; Nursing Students Perspectives

Background: E-learning is the use of the internet and its related devices for educational
purposes. Teaching and learning via the internet is a novel experience for most teachers and
students especially after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Aim: was to assess barriers and
opportunities faced by nursing students during applying e-learning. Design: A descriptive research
design was utilized to conduct the aim of this study. Setting: This study was conducted in the
Faculty of Nursing, Benha University, Egypt. Subjects: A stratified random sample technique was
employed for the selection of 10 % from the students in each of the four academic years enrolled in
Faculty of Nursing, Benha University during the academic year 2019/2020. Tools: Interviewing
questionnaire including demographic characteristics and background on utilizing technology,
opportunities and Barriers of e-learning questionnaires. Results: The majority of the studied
students was females and was living in rural area. Also There were a highly statistical significant
difference between students live in rural areas and students live in urban areas regarding presence of
internet facility at home and qualification in using computer and internet, more than half of students
choose U tube application as the most effective tool for e- learning and preferred the use of mobile
devices in e-learning activities. The majority of the nursing students had positive perception ranging
from neutral to agree regarding e-learning opportunities items. Majority of nursing students of the
three academic years from second to forth academic years had neutral agreement with the presence
e-learning barriers While, the first year students had the highest level of agreement with the
presence e-learning barriers. Conclusion: There were a highly statistically significant and the
majority of the nursing students had positive perception ranging from neutral to agree regarding e-
learning opportunities items. Majority of nursing students of the three academic years from second
to forth academic years had neutral agreement with the presence e-learning barriers While, the first
year students had the highest level of agreement with the presence e-learning barriers.
Recommendations: there is a need for providing training for students on e-learning tools and
computer skills. Also, a systematic strategy should be followed to implement e-learning since it is a
new experience for Benha University