Effectiveness of Technology-based Education on Learning of Dental Students during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Introduction: Due to the widespread use of technology-based training in the Covid 19 era and  application  of  it  in education,  the present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of  technology-based education on the learning of dental students during the Covid 19 pandemic in Arak University of Medical Sciences in 2021. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 170 dental students who were selected by stratified random sampling in 2021. Data was collected by standard questionnaire including students' demographic characteristics, their computer skills and evaluation of technology-based education in six areas of learning (content, leatning-teaching, page design, material education, helper to learning and volum content). Data were analyzed by T-Test, ANOVA and Pearson and Spearman correlation test through SPSS. Results: The mean and standard deviation of the age of students was 23.36 ± 2.7 years, the average evaluation of technology-based education was 42.79 ±15.29 (out of 100) which was the lowest evaluation in the field of helper 36.32± 21.34 and highest in the field of educational materials was 46.26± 18.74. Direct correlation between learning content area and students' grade point average (r = 0.20), computer skills (r = 0.28), learning-teaching activity (r = 0.20) and page design (r = 0.16) significant was observed (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between students' evaluation with gender, educational level, grade point average and indigenous status of students. Conclusion: The lowest evaluation has been reported in the field of help, in other words, the weak communication between the teacher and the student. In order for technology-based education to be more effective, regardless of gender, degree, grade point average and native and non-native students, it is necessary to create opportunities for student-teacher interaction, strengthen students' computer skills, provide homework and provide examples in teaching-learning activities and emphasize the proper design of educational platforms.