e-learning: the scenario during covid-19 pandemic

Background: elearning is essential in health science education, and the covid-19 pandemic has accelerated its utility. objectives: the study aimed to observe the changes in the scenario of elearning in indian medical education during the covid-19 pandemic. methods: a descriptive crosssectional study was conducted on 905 undergraduate health science students who agreed with an online survey. a questionnaire was prepared, including sociodemographic details, utilization of commercially available e-learning programs before the pandemic, and the scenario of teaching-learning activities during the covid-19 pandemic. it was validated and circulated among medical students of various states across india through social media. qualitative data were presented as numbers and percentages and quantitative data as mean (sd). results: of the 905 students surveyed, 69.17% (n = 626) were female students and 30.83% (n = 279) were male students. besides, 85% (n = 395) of the students found commercial programs useful in clarifying concepts. institutional elearning was mandatory for 71.16% (n = 644) during the covid19 pandemic. of the 644 students for whom elearning was mandatory, 69.10% (n = 445) found tools like videoconferencing, google classroom, zoom meetings, etc. useful in flexibility and autonomy. however, 50.47% (n = 325) of the students preferred a combined method of classroom teaching and elearning, whereas only 9.93% (n = 64) of students preferred only e-learning as a method of teaching. they were satisfied with institutional programs for clarifying concepts (n = 386; 60%) and communication skills (n = 320; 50%). conclusions: the utility of elearning has increased during the covid-19 pandemic. however, students preferred e-learning in combination with traditional teaching, especially in health science courses.