Trends of Using Smart Devices and Web Resources Among Dental Students for Educational Purposes

Muhammad Shehroze Khan², Muhammad Hammad^1*, Urooj Shabbir¹, Rida Awan², Omer Sefvan Janjua¹, Malik Muhammad Usama¹
¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Allied Hospital Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan
² Department of Orthodontics, Allied Hospital Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan

*Correspondence to: Muhammad Hammad, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Allied Hospital Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan; Email: malikhammad301@gmail.com
Received date: October 16, 2020; Accepted date: October 28, 2020; Published date: November 4, 2020
Citation: Khan MS, Hammad M, Shabbir U, et al. (2020) Trends of Using Smart Devices and Web Resources Among Dental Students for Educational Purposes. Advanc Dentistry 1(1): pp. 1-4. doi: 10.52916/aid214004
Copyright: ©2020 Khan MS. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Teaching methods are changing with the social environment and also with the development of information technology. Information technology and internet-connected devices have made learning methods accessible, even during a pandemic that has developed due to COVID19. The learning method should consist of both books and media.

Objectives: The basic aim of this study was to see the trend of usage of smart devices among dental undergraduates and their attitude towards e-learning.

Study Design: Observational cross-sectional study.

Setting: Oral and maxillofacial surgery department, PMC Dental Institute Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad.

Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was developed by a team of dental experts and a literature review keeping in mind the trend of internet-connected devices and data was collected on specially designed Performa and submit it to the principal investigator.

Results: The data were collected from 184 participants with a male to female ratio of 1:2.4 and the mean age was 22.5 years. From overall participants 99.5% have internet access, 97.3% use smart devices for education purposes and only 41.8% were comfortable reading e-book. The participants who find mobile phone beneficial are 92% and 28% have daily usage of more than 6-hours. When faced with a challenging scenario 23% said that they web resources and occasionally consult health-related videos.

Conclusion: Within the limits of this study we concluded that students find usage of smart devices and the internet beneficial for study purposes and therefore, the study methods should consist of both books and media.