Challenges to Online Pharmacy Classes during COVID 19 Pandemic: cross sectional study in Jordan

Abstract

Background: Covid 19 pandemic has had a strong influence on all aspects of life . One of these influence is education. The academic authorities in Jordan as in elsewhere across the world have shifted their method of teaching to online class. After four semester of online teaching it’s important for both teaching staff and students of pharmacy faculties to assess the trends and the preference of students to different methods of online teaching. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of the COVID19 pandemic on online education for pharmacy students in Jordan’s faculties of pharmacy. Methods: We emailed a survey to the majority of students in Jordan’s pharmacy faculties during january and february 2022. Results: We received 230 responses, with 87.2 percent of respondents being female and the majority of the students being pharmacy students. Among the 230 respondents, 75% said they liked combining online and face-to-face training, while 13% said they preferred face-to-face instruction and only 12% said they favored online learning. The major challenges in online teaching during the pandemic are issues with in-person communication (87 percent), student assessment (65 percent) and use of technology tools (35 percent). Conclusion: Due to the fact that the survey was conducted during the fourth semester with the COVID 19 pandemic, and most students have gained confidence in using online technology and the university IT support, one can conclude that pharmacy students have a high level of confidence in the effectiveness of online pharmacy education.