RESEARCH QUESTION – Student name and number

Advantages, Limitations and Recommendations for online

learning during COVID-19 pandemic era
Khadijah Mukhtar,1 Kainat Javed,2 Mahwish Arooj,3 and Ahsan Sethi4

Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Abstract
Go to:

INTRODUCTION
The spread of COVID-19 has led to the closure of educational institutions all over the world.
This tested the preparedness of universities to deal with a crisis that requires the help of
advanced technology including hardware and software to enable effective online learning.
Such closure accelerated the development of the online learning environments so that
learning would not be disrupted.1 Many institutions have become interested in how to best
deliver course content online, engage learners and conduct assessments. Hence, COVID-19
while being a hazard to humanity, has evolved institutions to invest in online learning.
Online learning systems are web-based software for distributing, tracking, and managing
courses over the Internet.2 It involves the implementation of advancements in technology to
direct, design and deliver the learning content, and to facilitate two-way communication
between students and faculty.3 They contain features such as whiteboards, chat rooms, polls,
quizzes, discussion forums and surveys that allow instructors and students to communicate
online and share course content side by side. These can offer productive and convenient ways
to achieve learning goals. In Pakistan, the institutions are using Microsoft Teams, Google
meet, Edmodo and Moodle as learning management systems along with their applications for
video conferencing.4 Other commonly used video conferencing solutions include Zoom,
Skype for business, WebEx and Adobe connect etc.
Advanced technology was implemented and was able to provide convenient education
According to our literature review, three previous studies were found,5-7 supporting online
learning from Pakistan. The two studies at Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi and
Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore reported high student satisfaction with online
learning modalities. The study from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assessed the feasibility of online
learning among students, trainees and faculty members. They reported good technology
access, online skills, and preparedness for online discussions among participants across the
medical education continuum.
With the increase in use of online modalities during COVID-19, it is necessary to assess their
effectiveness with regards to teaching and learning from various stakeholders.8 Therefore,
the current study explores the perception of faculty members and students regarding the
advantages, limitations and recommendations for online learning in Pakistan. The study is
timely as Higher Education Commission (HEC) is in the process of implementing online
learning across all the universities in Pakistan. The findings will help identify the required
changes on priority basis to make it more practical and worthwhile.
Assessments were challenging

METHODS
This qualitative case study was conducted from March to April 2020 in two medical and
dental institutes. Ethical approval for this study was taken from ethical review board of
University of Lahore (Ref No. ERC/02/20/02, dated February 25, 2020). Using maximum
variation sampling 12 faculty members and 12 students from University College of Medicine
and University College of Dentistry, Lahore were invited to participate. In addition to
learning management system ‘Moodle’, these colleges have recently adopted ‘Zoom’ for
interactive teaching in small and large group formats. The participants were also involved in
online Problem-Based Learning sessions, along with regular online assessments during
COVID-19 pandemic.
An interview guide was developed to explore faculty and students’ perception about online
learning modalities, its advantages, limitations and recommendations. The interview guide
was piloted to ensure comprehensiveness and then also validated by two medical education
experts.9 Two interviewers who were not involved in teaching and assessment of students
conducted four focus group interviews (n=6 in each group) with faculty members (n=12) and
students (n=12) of medicine and dentistry. The faculty and students were from both basic
sciences (1st and 2nd year) and clinical sciences (3rd, 4th and final year). All interviews were
recorded through ‘Zoom’ and subsequently transcribed verbatim. The data were thematically
analyzed: compiling, disassembling, reassembling and interpretation by all the authors
independently and then corroborated to ensure analytical triangulation.
The article will present the advantages, limitations and recommendations.
Notes for Advantages, Limitations and Recommendations for online learning during
COVID-19 pandemic era.

Author: Khadijah Mukhtar,1 Kainat Javed,2 Mahwish Arooj,3 and Ahsan Sethi4

Publication: Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7306967/

Date: May 2020

Reference – Mukhtar. K, Javed. k, Arooj. M, and Sethi. A, Pakistan Journal of Medical
Sciences. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7306967/
Main Points
1. The Universities were prepared to deal with the new circumstances of the pandemic
and implemented advanced technology in online learning.

2. Authors believe that it was necessary not to disrupt education

3. They started thinking of the best quality and content along with assessments, a new
way of investments.
4. The universities tried to offer all the necessary tools, gadgets, and strategies to make
the online approach successful.

5. The online learning is feasible for the students and staff according to the study from
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

6. The study dealt with many points:

a- The benefits, limitations, and recommendations for online learning in Pakistan

b- The higher education commission intends to implement online learning in all
universities.
c- The study was carried on medical and dental institutes and involved all the
necessities of online teaching (applications, sessions, assessments.)
d- An interview was made to identify the advantages, limitations and what should be
recommended.
 7. E-learning advantages, limitations and recommendations by Students and Faculty:
Advantages:
a. More self-motivated and cantered students, it is easy, and they feel
comfortable.
b. Flexible, accessible, asynchronous, all students could manage it and accessed
the teachers and teaching materials.
c. It reduced the costs of traveling and other expenses.
d. It is easy to record lessons and classes, it fostered students' autonomy and
responsibility.
e. They are Self-directed.

Limitations:
a. It is Inefficient when it can't teach skills and there is no feedback.
b. The lack of attentiveness and plagiarism.
c. students were unable to teach and learn practical and clinical work.
d. only theory or knowledge because there is no instant feedback.
e. Assessment of understanding and acquisition wasn't.
f. misbehaviour and use of online materials while sitting for evaluations or doing
assignments.

Recommendations:
a. Reduce the load of tests
b. Increase interactive activities and debates.
c. more development is needed.
d. should reduce cognitive load.
e. more interaction(clinical)
f. more revision with psychomotor hands after the pandemic is over.
g. ways to detect cheating and plagiarism.
h. New online modalities

Conclusion – Author sates the benefits of the use of online learning in medical and dental
institutes as it promotes student-centered learning as they managed to start it during the
online learning is at a nascent stage in Pakistan. They tried to overcome the emergency, but
still more investments are needed.
 Annotated bibliography

Mukhtar. K, Javed. k, Arooj. M, and Sethi. A,(2020) Advantages, Limitations and

Recommendations for online learning during COVID-19 pandemic era. Pakistan Journal of Medical

Sciences. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7306967/

In their article for the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, Mukhtar, Javed, Arooj, and

Sethi. (2020) write about the advantages, limitations, and recommendations for online learning in

Pakistani universities and institutes. They believe new technologies were implemented in online

education in order not to disrupt education. They seriously devoted attention and interest to the

content, quality, assessments, tools, and strategies to overcome the conditions of the pandemic. the

study from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa revealed that online learning helped both teachers and students for

the continuity of education and the intention that online learning is to be implemented in all

universities. the article determines the advantages, limitations and recommendations for online

learning, which made it important because it explained the three points clearly with examples and

good analysis. Online education enhanced students' autonomy, centeredness, responsibility. It made

the students at the core of the learning proceed and helped them develop their skills and potentials

significantly. The way lessons and lectures are given is also flexible and all students have access to it.

They can even record lessons if missed or if they want to remember some points mentioned by the

teacher. Another point is the decrease in travel costs for both teacher and students. On the other hand,

some limitations were mentioned by the article such as the lack of feedback, lack of attentiveness of

some students and the problem of plagiarism. Besides, there is no way to learn practically mainly with

clinical work which is really challenging. That is why it was highly recommended that interactive

activities and debates amount should be increased, the cognitive load should be reduced, more

interactional activities with clinical studies are also required. They also suggested a revise or recap

when students are back to schools after the pandemic and the need to find ways to detect cheating.