Relationship between medical students’ perceived instructor role and their approaches to using online learning technologies in a cloud-based virtual classroom

BACKGROUND: Students can take different approaches to using online learning technologies: deep and surface. It is important to understand the relationship between instructor role and student approaches to using online learning technologies in online learning settings supported by cloud computing techniques. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze the relationships between medical students’ perceptions of instructor role (instructor support, instructor-student interaction, and instructor innovation) and students’ approaches to using online learning technologies in cloud-based virtual classrooms. A 25-item online questionnaire along with a sheet with basic demographic was administered to all medical students at Qilu Medical Schools of Shandong University China. Overall, 213 of 4000 medical students (5.34%) at the medical school participated in the survey. RESULTS: The results showed high levels of medical students’ perceived instructor support, instructor-student interaction and instructor innovation. Most students adopted the deep approaches to using online learning technologies. Instructor support, instructor-student interaction and innovation were positively related to students’ deep approaches to using online learning technologies. Instructor support was negatively related to students’ surface approaches to using online learning technologies. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between instructor role (instructor support, instructor-student interaction and instructor innovation) and students’ approaches to using online learning technologies highlight the importance of instructor support and innovation in facilitating students’ adoption of desirable approaches to learning from the application of technologies.