e Learning among first year medical students, Kap study

To find out the knowledge, attitude and practice of computer and internet based learning, computer skills in using e-learning modalities among FYMS in one medical college in Ahmadabad

Questionnaire and personal interview

Among the 150 FYMS,80 were males and 70 were females, mean age was 18.3 years. Significant females students have to rely on sharing computer &/or internet if they wish to access e learning. 63.5% of students are using web based learning weekly or occasionally and 5.3% of students have not explored to internet themselves independently. An average of 52.5% males versus 35.8% of females feel e learning experience enjoyable while equally 40% of both the groups indicated to be e leaning beneficial. By self assessed confession, the computer and web base skills are inadequate among 31.4% of overall students.

Use and benefit of e learning medical modalities and resources amongst FYMS is not cent percentage and literacy and skills related to computer and internet based technologies is not adequate to get maximum benefit of e learning a model of adult leaning of incoming future. Based on the findings medical educators should act intensively in order to maximize the use of available internet-based sources of e learning. Special measures should be taken to achieve satisfactory literacy of computer and web based technologies to get maximum benefit of e learning recourses to FYMS. In context to Computer literacy among medical students medical education should take necessary intervention for first year medical students to keep ready for the foreseeable omnipresence of computers in the future medical education and profession. The results indicate teaching of basic information technology needs to be integrated into medical studies, and that this need does not seem likely to disappear in the near future. Special measures should be taken to prevent students who lack computer skills to get benefited from e learning recourses and future demand of e learning. It is recommended that the e learning content and resources should be peerreviewed. The e learning process should achieve learner satisfaction, content usability, and demonstration of learning. Faculty' skill in creating digital-learning materials is also incoming demand in era of e learning. The integration of e-learning into undergraduate, graduate, and continuing,medical education will promote an adult learning in medical education, where as the original philosophy of education the educators no longer serve solely as distributors of content, but become facilitators of learning and assessors of competency.