Effects of Using Smartphones as an Educational Tool Among King Faisal University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic | ||||
The Egyptian Journal of Community Medicine | ||||
Article 5, Volume 40, Issue 3, July 2022, Page 188-195 PDF (693.28 K) | ||||
Document Type: Original Article | ||||
DOI: 10.21608/ejcm.2021.102036.1189 | ||||
View on SCiNiTO | ||||
Authors | ||||
Zahra Wasel Alismail1; Mohammed Albarqi2; Abdullah Abdulaziz Almulhim3; Abdullah Almaqhawi 4 | ||||
1Medical interns, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia | ||||
2Assistant Professor Department of Family and Community Medicine College Of Medicine - King Faisal University | ||||
3Family and community medicine department , assistant professor , King Faisal University , Alahsa-Saudi Arabia | ||||
4Assistant Professor Department of Family and Community Medicine College Of Medicine - King Faisal University | ||||
Abstract | ||||
Background: Experts suggested that the best approach for preventing the spread of COVID-19 is to limit face-to-face interaction. Therefore, education is a critical area that has been severely affected by the current COVID-19 outbreak. This study aimed to assess the effects of smartphones’ use as an educational tool during the COVID-19 pandemic among the students at King Faisal University (KFU). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using online questionnaires among students. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 22; P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 498 participants participated in this study, with a mean age of 22.6 years, and 83.3% were female. About 95.2% of participants agreed that smartphones would help them with the current situation for education, and 93.6% stated that they used a smartphone to study. Furthermore, 81.3% of participants preferred to use a smartphone for research rather than a library. This study found that 75.9%, 77.9%, and 48.6% of participants thought that using smartphones would develop a headache, dry eye disease, and depression and anxiety, respectively. Conclusion: This study found that most students preferred e-learning using smartphones over the traditional learning processes, perceiving higher negative effects of smartphones on health and lower negative impacts on learning process. Using e-learning is effective during the pandemic; however, more investigations should be conducted to assess smartphones’ effectiveness on learning. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
COVID-19; Smartphones; Educational tools; Online sessions | ||||
Statistics Article View: 310 PDF Download: 191 |
||||