Beliefs and expectations on digital learning and examinations among adult learners of a tertiary level health-care institution

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) constrained the regular teaching in educational institutions and hampered the teaching–learning process across the globe. E‑learning method is widely used in higher education in the current situation. the objective is to assess the beliefs and expectations of the students on e‑learning among adult learners of a tertiary level health‑care institution.

A single group pre‑post design was adopted. Microsoft Go two‑in‑one devices were used to find the effectiveness of e‑learning, including digital exam solution. Depending on the availability of device, 25 participants were selected for the study from three different steams. A 5‑point Likert scale was used for assessing the quality, adoptability, and acceptance of digital education developed by the researchers. Chi‑square/Fisher’s exact or McNemar’s test was used to test the association between independent or related categorical variables. Comparison of the average score between different courses was performed using the Kruskal–Wallis test.

Twenty‑two participants who completed the final assessment were retained for the analysis. Majority of the participants believed that e‑learning helps to achieve personal learning goals or objectives and bridge skill or knowledge gaps and caters to learning preferences. However, the overall quality score across the study groups was found to be statistically insignificant (Kruskal–Wallis statistic: 1.26; P value: 0.533).

The findings show that the adult learners in higher education, irrespective of their age differences, believe that intense e‑learning support with Microsoft Go two‑in‑one device has a complementary effect on their learning outcome.