ISRRT_COVID-19_book

dealing with the intricacies of such an environment. Therefore, as a health care worker,
completing the hospital-based training components was essential. After opening the country,
the radiography undergraduates had to acquire their clinical training as quickly as possible to
make up for the time they lost while the country was lockdown. Otherwise, they would be
unable to resume their regular academic schedules and complete their degrees on time.
Delivery of the program - conducting examinations
The Department faced a significant challenge in conducting examinations via online.
Conducting exams online necessitates the use of tools such as a safe exam browser as well as
technical expertise to set up a proctored exam environment. In addition, it is necessary to
ensure that the power failures should not cause the examination process to be disrupted. But
unfortunately, the Department did not have the required facilities, knowledge and training
for conducting exams online. There were few webinars conducted by the Education Unit of
the faculty on this topic. However, they were not sufficient to get the competency of
conducting online exams. Therefore the Department had to wait for the universities to open
to conduct the exams for students. As a result, the students had to face a large number of
exams concurrently, which impacted their academic performance and increased academic
stress.
Summary
The effectiveness of online education is always contingent on its ability to overcome its
limitations. Online learning has had a dramatic impact on students as it prevents them from
participating in in-class interactive education, laboratory training, hospital-based training and
a proper exam schedule. Initial costs of setting up the context, low level of motivation of the
students and the teachers, and the necessity for technical expertise are additional constraints
that need to be considered. However, if these limitations can be overcome through
appropriate stakeholder involvements, online education has emerged as an unexpected
means of achieving various benefits, including time-saving, access to a wide range of global
education events, and the ability to retrieve the digitally recorded lectures and practical
sessions. Furthermore, to promote skill-based online education, it is critical to emphasize the
importance of building and designing simulation laboratories, enhancing simulation
laboratory infrastructure, and making virtual learning and teaching facilities available.
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