Recent Trends in Physiotherapy Learning Resources and Stakeholder Perceptions – a Case Study

Introduction

Physiotherapy is a healthcare profession concerned with human function and movement and maximizing physical potential. It identifies and maximizes the quality of life and movement potential within the promotion, prevention, treatment/intervention, and rehabilitation. Physiotherapists use their knowledge and skills to improve various conditions associated with different body systems.¹

An institution's Library and Information Center are significant in delivering knowledge to students. There is an increase in the use of web-based information resources, and the thirst for flexible and effective communication is increasing, which depicts the organization's efficiency. The facilities usually are user-centric and accessible to all students with readily available materials. A library is a collection of books, periodicals, and other written and printed materials. It may comprise sections to ease access to resources and a digital library, where the documents are organized in electronic form.²

Digital e-resources

The term e-resources refers to all documents which the library provides through a computer network. Electronic resources are also known as online information resources covering bibliographic databases, electronic reference books, search engines for full textbooks, and digital collections of data.

Benefits of E-resources

Using e-resources is time-saving, there is no cost, and it is cheaper than print materials. One can access content from multiple resources and numerous users can simultaneously access the content at any time. It helps to reduce the burden on library staff, as well as reduces storage space. It provides remote access to the users and can be used where and whenever they need it and proved helpful for users who reside in rural areas. E-resources may be accessed over the Internet, and users need not physically visit the library.³

Information technology in libraries

Information technology has changed the function of the library. University and College libraries are using information technology to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their day-to-day library work and service their students and faculties. Public libraries give service to readers. Library software is used to provide acquisition, cataloging, circulation, or binding by connecting library services, and organization, resulting in the dissemination of information.⁴

Role of the Library in physiotherapy education

Professional physiotherapists require education, training, and specific knowledge and skills in the field of physiotherapy. Nowadays, physiotherapy education has undergone enormous changes. The nature of professional work is also changing, and now physiotherapists must develop different skills to enable lifelong learning to work and respond to the demands of evidence-based practices. The educational institution's response to this development has introduced online e-learning through a virtual environment.⁵ E-learning often encourages students to take more responsibility for their learning to become independent learners.

Materials and Methods

The observational research design was conducted on UG, PG, Ph.D. students, and JSS College of Physiotherapy faculties. Individuals who gave consent were included in the study. Permission was obtained, and ethical clearance was done from JSS Institutional Ethical Committee (IEC) (JSSCPT/IRC/512/2021-2022).

Questionnaire development and validation

A self-administered questionnaire was developed. The content was created by taking references from previous studies. The questionnaire contained twenty one questions with a set of closed-ended questions. The questionnaire was administered in the English language, which was the participants' formal language of education.

Validation process

The questionnaire was validated by four experts who had an experience of more than ten years. Specific instruction was given in the validation form to check the following components for clarity, understandability, grammar, applicability, specificity, and explicitness. Evaluators rated on a four-point linear scale, 1' represents not relevant, and 4' represents highly relevant to the measured domain. Validated questions were analyzed, matched, and the scores three and above were included.

Based on the face validation, the necessary changes were made to the questionnaire and revalidated by the four experts. The feasibility of the questionnaire was assessed based on the ratings. The questionnaire (Appendix-I) was finalized for data collection through pilot testing. The results from the pilot were analyzed, and suitable changes were made.

Procedure

A total of one hundred and twenty-two participants (n=122) were approached, and consent was obtained with a pre-questionnaire filled out by all the participants with the demographic data. The questionnaire was sent to all the participants through email and WhatsApp. A reminder was sent to all through email and phone after ten days to the non-respondents. Some were contacted in person and reminded of the questionnaire.

The data was extracted from Google Forms to the Microsoft Excel sheets and verified for the missing data. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 for frequency distributions and percentages. Descriptive analysis was used to represent the data with the demographic data, including age and gender and knowledge of E-learning resources.

Results

A total of hundred and twenty-two participants (n=122) were identified, out of which ninety-six (n=96) participants responded (75.40%) through Email and WhatsApp. After scrutinizing the data, four (n=4) participants' response was found to have missing data. Ninety-two (n=92) participants' responses were included in the analysis.

Demographic characteristics of the participants:

Most of the respondents (n=78) were 19-29 years old students. Among these, forty-six were women (n=46), forty-six were men (n=32), and the rest 18 were faculty (13 women and 5 men). Most of the participants were undergraduate students. And 12% were of the Master's Degree students and Ph.D. faculties of JSS College of Physiotherapy (Figure 1).

Access to e-resources and their benefits

Sixty-two percent of participants owned a personal computer (PC) or a laptop, and all had access to the internet through smartphones. Twelve participants (n=12) reported never using computers to access e-resources, whereas twenty and twenty-four participants used PC for 6-10 years and 1-5 years, respectively. Fourteen participants did not know about e-learning, and thirty two opined it as online learning.

Most of the respondents (40%) agreed that electronic tools available to enable interactive communication between instructor and student without meeting face-to-face are practical and beneficial. Fifty-eight participants (60%) reported that live lectures over the Internet, as done in the classroom, could be more effective. Still, seventy-six participants (80%) expressed that they were happy with the e-resources available in the current institution. The learning capability and effectiveness increase was reported by around eight percent of participants (n=76), which was achieved through easy access to learning materials that included documents and recorded videos. They also mentioned that e-learning improved their course performance by revising topics by listening to recorded lectures. Eighty-two participants (85%) agreed that using an e-learning system can enable them to accomplish tasks more quickly since they will move at their own pace.

Ease of using e-learning resources

Most participants stayed neutral about user-friendly e-learning platforms, and only twenty-six percent agreed that learning platforms are user-friendly. Twenty-eight decided it would be easy to find the necessary information using an e-learning platform, twenty-six stayed neutral, and only a few (8%) disagreed. Fifty percent indicated they could easily handle attaching files to emails, chatting, and downloading through the internet. The agreement of the outcome of e-learning in frequency is presented in Figure 2.

Most participants agreed that e-learning is innovative and must be encouraged, like submitting assignments and grading online (n=62). Fifty participants (53%) believed e-learning is not suitable for courses that need practical demonstrations. There was mixed opinion on the cost and subscription charges, most of them could not decide, and only twenty-eight participants expressed it was costly.

Participants (n=68) agreed they would use e-learning for future studies, and seventy-two preferred a combination of E-learning and face-to-face learning with an overall likeness (n=85) to online resources.

Discussion

The Internet is a medium of communication and has become an essential means of delivering information to students. The use of the internet is an evolving phenomenon at this point. Its use in the Physiotherapy College is still infancy or early maturation. We have achieved near perfection in using online platforms and are completely dependent on the Internet and Electronic information resources. Implementing an e-learning platform or a library is essential despite the technical and financial challenges in physiotherapy institutes in India. Still, the benefits must always be overlooked and implemented in higher education. This current study opines that most of the students and faculty are positively impacted by e-learning strategies used by the institute, which in turn contributes to their knowledge enhancement.

The student's satisfaction with the e-resources is reasonable, and the learning generation has coped with the current trends in learning systems. Adopting only online classes and ending face-to-face education negatively impacts educational activities,⁶ which is well supported in this study, where most participants expressed that face-to-face classes have some or other benefits. Self-directed learning has been proven to be beneficial in comparison with didactic in professional education. Self-learning is supportive proven by positive results on the self-online study and use of e-resources.⁷ Online learning and documentation were more accessible, and participants felt it was effective and time-saving. However, the present study has limitations in commenting on the effectiveness of e-learning as this was limited only to observing and obtaining feedback on the current resources incorporated by the institute.

A future study is recommended to evaluate the significance of e-learning and the utilization of learning in improving outcomes. Based on the study's findings, E-resources benefit students and faculty the most. It is easy accessibility, and the mode of usage can be based on individual convenience, and even they can have remote access. Future perspectives on e-learning that include the latest trends can be also made available through the e-resources at educational institutes with implementation through thorough research and supported by evidence. Studies to find out the effects of e-learning methods may help in carefully implementing the availability of e-resources methods.

Conclusion

The study concludes that e-learning is effective, satisfactory, and valuable for learners, and the benefits of online live lectures, compared with face-to-face classes, could not be established.

Disclaimers- The presented study is not supported by any institution or funder.

Conflicts of Interest

Nil