Advances in Medical Education and Practice (Jul 2021)
Developing, Validating, and Implementing a Tool for Measuring the Readiness of Medical Teachers for Online Teaching Post-COVID-19: A Multicenter Study
Abstract
Somaya Hosny,1 Mona Ghaly,1 Mona Hmoud AlSheikh,2 Mohamed Hany Shehata,3,4 Abdel Halim Salem,1,3 Hani Atwa1,3 1Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt; 2College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 3College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain; 4Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, Cairo, EgyptCorrespondence: Hani AtwaFaculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, EgyptTel +20 1224576171Email [email protected]: While online education is by no means a new concept, it was recently thrust into the spotlight after school campuses all over the world were forced to close because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sudden need to shift revealed emerging challenges to online teaching, both logistic and personal. One important challenge is the ability to assess the readiness of educators for online teaching, so that appropriate and specific feedback/training can be offered to those in need. This study aims at developing, validating, and implementing a tool to measure the teachers’ readiness for online teaching in three medical schools from three different countries.Methods: This was a multi-center, cross-sectional study that involved developing a survey through review of literature and previous studies, item development and revision, and pilot testing. The survey was then distributed electronically to a convenient sample of 217 teaching faculty members of different academic ranks from three medical schools in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Exploratory factor analysis and reliability study were performed. Descriptive statistics were applied, and the statistical significance level was set at 0.05.Results: Factor analysis produced the following five factors: “Online Teaching and Course Design Skills”, “Digital Communication”, “Basic Computer Skills”, “Advanced Computer Skills” and “Using Learning Management Systems”. The tool showed high reliability (alpha = 0.94). Survey results showed highest mean scores for Basic Computer Skills with lower scores for Online Teaching and Course Design Skills and Using Learning Management Systems. ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences between the three studied schools regarding Digital Communication (F=5.13; p=0.007) and Basic Computer Skills (F=4.47; p=0.012) factors.Conclusion: The tool proved to be reliable and valid. Results indicated an overall acceptable readiness in the three involved schools, with a need for improvement in “Online Teaching and Course Design” and Using Learning Management Systems.Keywords: teacher online readiness, online teaching readiness tools, faculty development
