Evaluating webinar‐based training: a mixed methods study of trainee reactions toward digital web conferencing

Abstract

What are the reactions of training participants toward digital webinar‐based training programs? Webinars are digital tools to deliver training and education through synchronous audiovisual communication among remotely located training instructors and participants. A webinar is a special case of web conferencing that serves the educational function of learning and teaching. Because the previous literature underemphasized the webinar process and qualitative learner experiences, the present study aimed to explore the reactions of 419 trainees toward 48 webinars in the four content areas supply chain management, industrial management, early childhood education and mathematics, the present study used a sequential mixed methods research design. The quantitative part of the study employed a multi‐item online questionnaire to measure satisfaction and reactions toward the webinar trainer; survey responses were analyzed to estimate mean differences across webinars. The qualitative part of the study employed narrative interviews with 23 trainees; interview transcripts were analyzed with qualitative content analysis to identify how the instructional design, webinar content and implementation can be improved for future web conferences. The findings indicate that early childhood education trainees had the highest satisfaction levels. Trainees preferred greater levels of learner‐teacher interaction, less time spent on discussing task solutions collaboratively and digital webinar recordings as a follow‐up possibility at home or in the workplace. Trainees also liked the fact that webinars afforded the possibility to deepen the content, to prepare for upcoming exams and to have virtual consultation hours with the facilitator. Furthermore, trainees preferred webinars no longer than 90 min and webinars on weekdays after work rather than at weekends. Optimal internet/broadband connections were perceived as a requirement across web conferencing and virtual classroom programs for effective digital education. Implications of the findings for educational technology, human resource development and professional learning are discussed.

Learning and Satisfaction in Webinar, Online, and Face-to-Face Instruction: A Meta-Analysis

“…The increasing use of webinars in educational contexts was followed by studies that have examined the effectiveness of webinars in higher education and professional training under various circumstances (e.g., Nelson, 2010;Stout et al, 2012;Nicklen et al, 2016;Goe et al, 2018;Gegenfurtner et al, 2019c). According to Phipps and Merisotis (1999), research on the effectiveness of distance education typically includes measures of student outcomes (e.g., grades and test scores) and overall satisfaction.…”

Web-based Seminar - New Source of Qualitative Study: Data Collection during the Pandemic of COVID-19

“…Furthermore, the use of webinar as the marketing and sales tool in internet marketing can manifest in knowledge sharing and demonstrations, further stimulate interactivity, personalization, and engagement with customers (Voskamp, 2012), as well as a useful educational tool to address management and industry issues related to equestrian practice (Pulec et al, 2016). Despite the abundant use of webinars in teaching, empirical research examining webinars in training contexts, human resource development, and adult education remains scarce (Gegenfurtner et al, 2020).…”

“…The use of webinars has been discussed as a useful tool for training, learning, and teaching purposes (Gegenfurtner & Ebner, 2019;Wang & Hsu, 2008). The empirical research examining webinars in training contexts, human resource development and adult education remains scarce (Gegenfurtner et al, 2020). No study has addressed the use of webinar as a tool for data collection.…”

Digital technologies in training and adult education

“…The increasing use of technology‐mediated environments affords flexible, ubiquitous and on‐demand access to learning material. For example, employees can develop their knowledge and skills in the learning management systems (LMS; Dowling‐Hetherington et al ., ; Testers et al ., in press), in webinars (Ebner & Gegenfurtner, ; Gegenfurtner & Ebner, ; Gegenfurtner et al ., ), or with digital video‐based scenarios (Dowling‐Hetherington et al ., ; Kraiger et al ., ). Nevertheless, despite the advantages of technology‐mediated learning environments, human resource developers and trainers would benefit from having more knowledge about how trainees benefit when they learn digitally, what they experience and how they perceive online training.…”

“…What these contributions also reveal is that simple solutions -such as no additional prompts (Kraiger et al, 2020) or traditional face-to-face scenarios (Dowling-Hetherington et al, 2020) -have their values, too, and should be considered alongside more elaborate digital alternatives. Finally, the studies highlight how affective and cognitive aspects of learning in technology-mediated settings are intertwined (Bonnes et al, 2020;Gegenfurtner et al, 2020). It is important to continue these lines of research using the qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods to further our understanding of digital technologies in training and adult education.…”