A Survey of Graduate and Postgraduate Students’ Perspective on the Use of E-learning Technology in Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2017

Background: E-learning is one of the new methods of education that helps to increase people’s knowledge and performance by using new technologies. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitude of graduate and postgraduate students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences toward using e-learning technology. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among graduate and postgraduate students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in autumn 2017. The data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability was verified (α = 0.82). Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical tests (including t-test, ANOVA, and Spearman correlation) to investigate the relationship between the mean score of e-learning usefulness and students’ demographic information in SPSS software. Results: About 80% of e-learning students found it a good tool for the exchange of information and educational content between faculty and students at different universities and more than 40% believed that e-learning could improve the quality of education. About 57% of the participants were interested in using the technology. More than 70% of the students reported e-learning to be useful. Also, there was a significant relationship between the mean score of the usefulness of e-learning with age (P = 0.049), computer use skill (P = 0.025), and mobile use skill (P <0.001). Conclusion: From the students’ perspective, using e-learning technology is useful and it saves time and costs and improves the quality of their education. It also makes it easier for students to answer their questions later. Therefore, it may be better to use this technology besides the traditional method to make it more effective. Keywords: Electronic learning, Online education, Perspective, Students