Identify Factors Influencing the Smart Schools in Order to Protect Public Health Against Epidemics: A Qualitative Study Content Analysis

 The role of information technology in smart schools in recent years with the prevalence of epidemics is one of the most controversial and challenging study topics. The aim of this study was to Identify factors influencing the smart schools in order to protect public health against epidemics diseases. 

The present study was conducted following the interpretive paradigm and with a qualitative approach. The statistical population of the study included senior managers and implementers of projects related to information technology, experts and smart managers of Tehran schools in 2020-2021. 16 of the above individuals were purposefully selected and participated in the study.Interviews were used to collect data using open and semi-structured questions. Acceptability, transferability and confirmability were confirmed for the validity of the study. For reliability, the validity of the encodings was checked and verified. Finally, the data were analyzed by content analysis method and using coding method. 

221 open codes were extracted and after aggregating the codes, 43 sub-themes and 5 main themes were identified as effective factors on school intelligence.

The findings indicate that the factors affecting the intelligence of schools in order to maintain community health include learning and teaching materials, processes, users, information technology and digital literacy. It is suggested that these factors be used as a framework for smartening schools, to maintain the health of a compatible community to address the challenges in the country's education system.