Association of Online Learning Tools and Students’ Health: A Case Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the health effects on undergraduate students from online learning and connectivity devices, characterizing the association between significant confounding factors and the prevalence of health symptoms among undergraduates. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from July to August 2021 and involved 219 undergraduates selected by simple random sampling from an academic institute within Thailand. Data were analyzed using Chi-square and Kendall’s tau-c tests. All data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Among participants, (1) tablets and smartphones were the major devices used (97.7% and 77.2%, respectively), (2) the prevalence of nervous-related and mental symptoms was over 80% for headache, dizziness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, stress, tiredness and anxiety, (3) the Chi-square test results for laptop devices revealed an association with anxiety and burnout effects (p-value<0.05 for all), while anxiety presented as a positive correlation coefficient of Kendall rank (0.003), with desktop PC devices, and (4) learning media including video, PowerPoint and academic articles, played a major role in affecting health; especially academic articles, which exhibited a positive relationship in all related effects. Conclusion: The use of learning media during the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an impact on students’ mental health. Decisions regarding implementing mitigation measures and monitoring programs should be reconsidered to reduce risks to students’ health.