Applicability and Necessity of E-Learning Courses Based on Participants’ Viewpoints in a Summer School

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability and necessity of e-learning courses based on the participants’ viewpoints in an e-learning Summer School. Methods: The research was conducted in 2017 with a descriptive cross-sectional design. The statistical population consisted of 33 students from universities of medical sciences that attended in the first e-learning Summer School and the research was done on all of them. A researcher-made questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was used that consisted of 40 questions including 25 questions in the knowledge section with five fields (concepts and theories, instructional design, virtual class, multimedia principles, and new approaches in e-learning) and 15 questions in the skills section with two fields (e-content development and learning management system). Content validity of the questionnaire was approved based on five expert’s opinions and reliability was 94% based on Cronbach’s alpha. The data were analyzed by using SPSS 16 with one-sample t-test, independent t-test, and ANOVA test. Student’s individual experiences were also evaluated by one open-ended question. Results All topics significantly were applicable and necessary from the participants’ viewpoints in both knowledge and skills sections (P < 0.001). The dimension of e-content development had the highest mean score (4.46). Conclusions: E-learning can provide better and easier learning experiences by eliminating the time and space constraints and being adapted to learner conditions. Short-term e-learning courses can create new ideas for the use of technology in the educational process.