Learning Platforms Adopted during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Acceptability, Challenges and Coping Strategies of the Southern Nigerian Dental Students

The COVID-19 pandemic opened the way for innovative medical education since the face-to-face teaching method for orthodontics before the pandemic was impracticable. This study assessed the acceptability of the learning strategies adopted for teaching orthodontics in the Southern Nigerian Dental schools during the COVID-19 pandemic by the students, the associated challenges faced by them, and their coping strategies. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among Southern Nigerian dental students using a semi-structured Google form questionnaire. Information on socio-demographic data, learning platforms adopted for teaching Orthodontics during the COVID-19 pandemic, acceptability of these platforms, possible challenges faced by the students, and their coping strategies were collected. Data was inputted and analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and frequency) and inferential statistics (Z-test). The test of significance was set at P< 0.05. There were 118 participants, 64 (54.2%) males and 54 (45.8%) females with a mean age of 25.738+/- 2.94 yrs. The platforms adopted mostly include Zoom, WhatsApp, and Google Meet. Seventy-two (61.0%) respondents accepted the teaching platforms adopted during the pandemic and the challenges faced by the respondents were mainly lack of hands-on clinical sessions and network problems. Forty-seven (40%) of the participants coped by using self-directed learning, 20 (17.2%) used YouTube videos. Most of the students accepted the innovative teaching platforms adopted for teaching Orthodontics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lack of hands-on clinical sessions was the major challenge faced by the students then and they coped well by using self-directed learning and YouTube videos.