Learner behaviors in synchronous online prosthodontic education during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Synchronous online prosthodontic courses became a popular learning mode during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Nonetheless, the extent of learner participation and completion of these courses remains unknown. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess learner behaviors in synchronous online prosthodontic continuing education lectures in China during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All live online prosthodontic courses held by an online dental school in China from February to May 2020 were retrieved. The no-cost lectures could be accessed anonymously and viewed repeatedly on the day of broadcast. Learning behavior data (teacher speaking time, audience total, timing of first visit to the online classroom, viewing time, and completion rate) were obtained. Learning progress was calculated by dividing viewing time by teacher speaking time. When a learner progressed through 95% of a lecture, the lecture was considered completed. RESULTS: A total of 41 781 learners participated in 18 online prosthodontic courses, which had a mean duration of 77.2 ±15.8 minutes. For each lecture, 2321 ±1454 participants attended, with 510 ±404 participants completing each session. There were 13 098 participants (31.35%) who viewed the lectures for less than 1 minute. Approximately half of the participants viewed the lectures for less than 10 minutes, with their learning progress failing to pass 10%. The average completion rate was 21.97%, with variation in completion rate dependent on when a learner first visited the online classroom. Significant differences were found among the lecture completion rates and the timing of the first visit to the online classroom (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Synchronous online prosthodontic education courses in China had a high number of participants but low learning progress and completion rates during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.