Effectiveness of an Online Faculty Development Programme for Dental Educators about Remote Teaching during COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Background: Teaching online has become a new normal during the pandemic. The increased access to the Internet and availability of digital technology led to revolution in online learning. Online delivery of contents provides an opportunity to provide flexibility in learning and to reach distant learners. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of an online faculty development programme on nurse educators' perceived competency in creating and delivering e-content using Google Classroom and other freely available digital tools. Description A pre-experimental design was adopted for the study. A six-module online course on effective use of Google classrooms and digital tools was conducted on request for 26 faculty members of a Dental college. Total duration of the course was of eight days. A debriefing session was held on ninth day after the completion of the course. A 10-item rating scale was used to assess the participants' perceptions of their competency in using Google Classroom and other digital tools for remote teaching before and after the online course Outcome: Out of 26-trained participants, 20 completed the post-evaluation rating scale, giving a response rate of 76%. In the post-evaluation phase, a high level of competency was perceived by 90% of participants for using Google Classroom and 70.2% for creating video lectures and using an online grade book. A statistically significant difference (p<0.001) between pre- and post-course evaluations was observed. Conclusion: This study showed that the indigenous online developed and conducted through simple platforms enhanced the remote teaching skills of faculty members.