title: Are postgraduate students in distance medical education program ready for e-learning? A survey in Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Appropriate instructional design plays a crucial role in e-learning success, and analyzing learners is the cornerstone for instructional design process. Students' readiness for e-learning was assessed in the present study as an example of learner analysis for a distance course in medical education master program.
  
  
  METHODS
  A census sample of 23 students applied for distance master program on medical education, completed the "Students' E-Learning Readiness Scale" developed by Watkins, via email. The reliability and validity of the scale has been confirmed before. Average scores in total and 6 subscales were calculated. The score range was 1-5 and scores above 3 indicated good readiness. Data was interpreted using descriptive and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Response rate was 100%. The students' readiness scores in total and all subscales ("technology access", "online skills and relationships", "motivation", "online audio/video", "readiness for online discussions", and "importance of e-learning to your success") were above 3. Comparing different subscales, students' mean scores in "motivation" and "internet discussion" subscales were less than others, although the difference was not significant. There were no significant gender differences in the readiness scores. Students who were academic staff had significantly higher scores than others in total and in "motivation" and "online skills and relationship" subscales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Good learners' readiness, observed in the present study, may imply that the instructional designer can rely on e-learning strategies and build the course upon them. However, according to the slightly lower scores in "motivation" and "online discussion" subscales, it is recommended to stress more on strategies that improve these two components. To generalize the results, it is needed to test students' readiness in more different degree programs.
authors: Department of Medical Education, Medical Education Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors: Tahereh
authors: T
authors: Changiz
authors: Department of Medical Education, Medical Education Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors: Fariba
authors: F
authors: Haghani
authors: Department of Medical Education, Medical Education Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors: Nasim
authors: N
authors: Nowroozi
keywords: E-learning; Instructional design; learner analysis; learner readiness