Distance Education During COVID-19 Pandemic: A College of Pharmacy Experience

Figures & data

Table 1 Academic Staff’s and Students’ Perception Towards Distance Education

Academic Staff (n = 38)			Students (n = 223)
Statement	Weighted Mean ± SD	Overall Trend	Statement	Weighted Mean ± SD	Overall Trend
The amount of interaction with students.	3.97±0.592	True of me	The amount of interaction with instructors	3.43±0.840	True of me
The quality of interaction with students	3.29±1.183	Neutral	The quality of interaction with instructors	3.21±0.875	Neutral
The distance education provides a reliable means of communication	3.61±0.790	True of me	The amounts of interaction with classmates	3.44±1.029	True of me
Time management during distance education period	3.58±0.919	True of me	The quality of interaction with classmates	3.35±0.936	Neutral
The overall achievement of learning outcomes for knowledge and cognitive skills are comparable to that in the on-site.	3.37±1.025	Neutral	The distance learning process provides a personal experience that can be compared to the experience in the classroom	3.49±0.999	True of me
Comfort to teach online for a longer period	3.71±0.835	True of me	Time management during distances learning period	3.34±1.022	Neutral
			Comfort to conduct homework’s and assignments during distance learning	3.42±1.116	True of me
			Academic achievements satisfaction during the distance education period	3.26±1.093	Neutral
			Comfort to study online for a longer period	3.76±0.888	True of me
Overall mean of the domain	3.59 ± 0.6731	True of me	Overall mean of the domain	3.47±0.64	True of me

Figure 1 Academic staff’s views (mean ± SD) on the readiness for the shift to distance education during the full distance education and blended learning (n = 38).

Notes: Key to readiness items: Readiness #1: The university has a system that supports distance education, Readiness #2: the university has a system that supports e-learning (before the pandemic), Readiness #3: I was able to easily access the Internet for my teaching tasks, Readiness # 4: I had satisfactory computer skills to deal with distance education, Readiness #5: I had good background and experience that facilitate my involvement in distance education, Readiness #6: the co-instructors in the course had sufficient background and experience that facilitate their involvement in distance education, Readiness # 7: An adequate technical support during distance education was provided, to me, by the college/university, Readiness #8: An adequate training was provided, by the college/university, to academic staff to perform their distance educational tasks.

Figure 2 Students’ views (mean ± SD) on the readiness for the shift to distance education during the full distance learning and blended learning (n = 223); n= 223 for responses during full distance learning, and n =172 for responses during blended learning as students on semester 11 were removed from the analysis since they were in the internship year during the first term of the academic year 2020–2021.

Notes: Key to readiness items: Readiness #1: The College of Pharmacy has a system that supports distance education, Readiness #2: The College of Pharmacy provided me with the appropriate technical support during the distance education period, Readiness #3: The faculty members had sufficient knowledge and familiarity with e-learning systems, Readiness # 4: academic staff members’ readiness for distance education was good, Readiness #5: I had adequate computer skills to deal with distance education, Readiness #6: I had a good internet connection that enabled me to study remotely, Readiness # 7: Overall, I was well prepared to complete the semester by distance education.

Figure 3 Academic staff’s views on the perceived barriers against the distance education process (n = 38).

Figure 4 Students’ views (mean ± SD) on the perceived barriers against the distance education process (n = 223).

Table 2 Academic Staff’s and Students’ Perceived Acquisitions Due to the Distance Education

Academic Staff(n = 38)			Students (n= 223)
Statement	Weighted Mean ± SD	Overall Trend	Statement	Weighted Mean ± SD	Overall Trend
Delivery of lectures from anywhere	4.18±0.801	Agree	Attending lectures from anywhere	3.84±1.138	Agree
Improvement of time organization and utilization	3.63±1.101	Agree	Enhancement of time management skills	3.25±1.068	Neutral
Enhancement of computer skills	4.13±0.704	Agree	Enhancement of e-learning skills	3.87±1.057	Agree
Enhancement of teaching skills	3.84±0.855	Agree	Enhancement of independent learning skills	4.07±0.783	Agree
			Enhancement of the acquisition of scientific knowledge	3.12±1.247	Neutral
			Avoid daily transportation	4.39±0.757	Agree
Overall mean of the domain	3.95±0.72	Agree	Overall mean of the domain	3.82±0.49	Agree

Table 3 Main Themes and Supporting Quotes from Focus Group Discussion with Academic Staff (n = 8) and Students (n = 9)

Strengths	Weakness	Opportunities	Challenges
■ Availability of different online platforms ■ Familiarity of staff with online platforms ■ Availability of IT support throughout the day ■ Continuous training ■ Visual aids to support E-Learning ■ Skills enhancement ■ Students support. Overall, make continuation of the education process.	■ Difficulty to handle group sessions online ■ Missing objectives that could not be met during the online process ■ Reduced quality of communication compared to onsite education. ■Internet problems ■ Communication with students need more time ■ Reduced active learning compared to onsite education ■ Difficulty in managing students participation and attendance ■ Online assessment validity issues. Health issues: may affect one’s vision	■ Open the door to the development of new teaching approaches ■ Increase the number of students that can be reached. ■ Time-saving if merging students groups is appropriate. ■ Sessions recording can be used to make the material available ■ Can add online courses Add E- learning courses. ■ Lots can be done online e.g, meetings	■ Maintaining good internet access ■ Enhancement of technology skills to deal with technical issues ■ Maintaining functionality of the online platforms ■ Isolation during online process. ■ How to maintain valid students assessment process. ■ How to effectively communicate with others ■ home may not be the ideal place for having classes
Supporting quotes “….at first I got panic when the shift to full distance education took place … but with the experience I have with some distance educational platforms, with the continuous IT support we were receiving, things went more than I expected … now I feel more comfortable teaching online …” Academic staff 1 “. I feel relaxed with the process of distance education … for the majority of the courses I am taking now. the situation may differ when I move to higher levels of study … ” Student 2	Supporting quotes “ … as a lab instructor, teaching fully online will not allow students to meet some of the learning outcomes, with blended learning feel more relaxed when I think of my students and the lab skills they should acquire … ” Academic staff 3 “… I experienced some technical issue while I was performing an online exam … being under lots of pressure will not allow me to think of distance education as a good option.” Student 4	Supporting quotes “ … I Learn lots of things in a short period of time because of the emergency situation and the shift to distance education, which I could not do in normal time.” Academic staff 2 “I am making full use of the recoded lectures … sometimes during the lecture you cannot follow what is being said … it is very good to have a backup.” Student 1	Supporting quotes “ … a challenging issue is how to make good use of the technology infrastructure that we have. but time constrain, it is difficult … for me distance education is a time consuming process … the course I teach requires lots of preparatory work which is reduced when meeting face to face with students … ” Academic staff 2 “I am a kind of a very social person … I enjoy face-to-face discussions with my classmates and my instructors … I learn a lot from the face-to-face communication. I do not think I can cope with the online communication … ” Student 1