Sri Lankan dental students' perspective on the effectiveness of e-learning

Introduction: E-learning resulted in a revolution in dental education with continuous educational experiences. General objective of this study was to assess the perspective of undergraduate dental students on effectiveness of e-learning in the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programme. Specific objectives were to identify students' opinion on the factors that promote e-learning, awareness on the effectiveness of using different platforms and social media, barriers imposed and suggestions for the improvement of e-learning in the BDS programme.Methods: This was a cross sectional descriptive study among undergraduate dental students of the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka using a self-administered pre-tested questionnaire administered via a web-based survey form. Frequencies and percentages were obtained for categorical data and Chi-square test was used to determine the association between variables.Results: The majority received the e-learning experience well. Fifty-four percent of the participants felt it was better compared to traditional face-to-face learning and the difference between the semesters (p=0.000) and genders was statistically significant (p=0.000). Difference in overall satisfaction on e-learning material across the different semesters was statistically significant. Students felt that e-learning should be used as a supplementary tool mainly by means of procedural videos during delivery of the skill component. Fifty percent participants felt that conducting assessments online is fair for all the students.Conclusion: A positive learning experience was achieved through the e-learning modalities in comparison to traditional facetoface learning though in terms of skills training, e-learning modalities should only be considered as a supplementary tool.