Allied Health Specialties Online Learning: Educators and Students Issues and Challenges

Background: Online learning has become a progressively widespread method of education, especially in recent years presenting numerous opportunities. However, this transition has various challenges and barriers, especially for those in professions such as Allied Health Specialties. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify and categorize the challenges and barriers hindering online learning effectiveness for Allied Health Specialties educators and students concentrating on infrastructure, student-related, administrative, and educator-related barriers. Methods: A cross-sectional online-based questionnaire was used. In total, 155 educators and 1,427 students from six different specialties of Allied Health Specialties participated in this study. Results: The findings of this research acknowledged the four major areas of challenges. Challenges related to infrastructure (mean = 3.86; SD = 1.27), challenges related to students (mean = 3.76; SD = 1.18), challenges related to administration (mean = 3.64; SD = 0.77), challenges related to educators (mean = 3.44; SD = 0.72). Conclusion: Shifting to online learning has created numerous challenges for Allied Health Specialties educators and students. This study acknowledged four dimensions that significantly impact the effectiveness of online learning systems: educator-related, student-related, administrative, and infrastructural challenges. These challenges emerged primarily in areas such as culture, course design, institutional support, and technology. This transition presented multifaceted obstacles for Allied Health educators and students, demanding targeted strategies to address these systemic issues.