Research on efficacy of webinars organized for faculty during lockdown of covid-19

Abstract

Online Faculty Development Programs/Webinars are the two buzzing words, which have become viral next to corona among the teaching fraternity during the lockdown period of pandemic situation caused by COVID-19. This work intends to throw light on, the reason for the outbreak of FDPs/ Webinars, their efficiency and the attitude of the participating faculty during the lockdown period from 16th March to 15th June 20. Information is gathered through an online survey having 31 research questions answered by 683 participants across India. The new found tool of online teaching has become the accepted norm and the urge to lead the bandwagon by each and every stakeholder in the education sector resulted in a sudden spurt of webinars and FDPs in such a short period. Study observed that global reach at no cost plus freedom of working from home spurred many faculty to experiment this mode and 40% from them have been found to be juggling with many courses simultaneously for certificate sake only, 45.1% attended on mandatory instructions and 38% have not even initiated the work. Quizzes and Polls during sessions besides assignments were found to be suitable active learning mechanisms to improve the efficacy of the online knowledge transfer methods.