Journal of Health Education

IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE OF COVID-19 VOLUNTEER:

COMPARISON BETWEEN ONLINE AND OFFLINE TRAINING

ABSTRACT

Background: With the increasing use of technology and current COVID-19 pandemic situation, online training
has become a common learning method. The effectiveness of online training is influenced by many factors. Some
factors create barriers for online training, such as administrative issues, social interaction, technical skills,
motivation, time, technical problems, cost and access to the internet. Other factors could result in low-quality
online training, for example an ineffective design and arrangement of multimedia materials. The purpose of this
study was to examine comparison between online and offline training in improving knowledge toward COVID-
19 prevention in COVID-19 volunteer. Subjects and Method: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in
Klaten, Central Java. A sample of 55 COVID-19 volunteers was selected for this study. A day offline training
was attended by 21 volunteers, meanwhile 34 volunteers attended online training. The dependent variable was
knowledge. The independent variable was training. Their knowledge toward COVID-19 prevention before and
after training was measured by a questionnaire. The data were analyzed by independent t-test. Results: Mean of
volunteer’s knowledge after offline training (Mean= 8.38; SD= 0.17) was higher than online training group
(Mean= 7.47; SD= 1.19) and it was statistically significant (p= 0.003). Conclusion: Offline training is more
effective than online training to improve knowledge toward COVID-19 prevention in volunteers
KEYWORDS: knowledge; COVID-19 volunteer; training

INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic has had various impacts in the world, including in Indonesia. Indonesia
experienced two peaks of COVID-19 cases in mid-July 2021 and February 2022 (Satuan Tugas, 2022b). This
unstable situation has an impact on the learning process. The government has made a policy that must be carried
out online to prevent the spread of covid (Sari, Rifki and Karmila, 2020).
The Central Java Provincial Government has a high number of COVID-19 cases, ranking 3rd in Indonesia
(Satuan Tugas, 2022a). Klaten Regency is one of the regencies in Central Java Province, one of which has been
affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, and has determined the Extraordinary Event of the COVID-19 Outbreak on
April 1, 2020 after one of the residents was confirmed positive for COVID-19 (Dinkes, 2021). Schools in Klaten
have been closed and an online learning process has been implemented.
Improvement of people’s safety precautions against COVID-19 is important in reducing new cases. One of
the mechanisms is by recruitment of volunteer to educate and advocate people in their community to protect
themselves and their community from COVID-19 (Rani and Safarinda, 2020). With the social restrictions, large
offline gathering if forbidden (Misra and Mazelfi, 2021). Online training has become a proposed solution
With the increasing use of technology and current COVID-19 pandemic situation, online training has
become a common learning method (Misra and Mazelfi, 2021). The effectiveness of online training is influenced
by many factors. Some factors create barriers for online training, such as administrative issues, social interaction,
technical skills, motivation, time, technical problems, cost and access to the internet (Dwiyanti, 2021). Other
factors could result in low-quality online training, for example an ineffective design and arrangement of
multimedia materials. The purpose of this study was to examine comparison between online and offline training
in improving knowledge toward COVID-19 prevention in COVID-19 volunteer.

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Journal of Health Education

METHODS
1. Research design
A randomized controlled trial.
2. Time and place of research
The training was conducted on April 3rd 2021 in Klaten, Central Java
3. Population and research sample
A sample of 55 COVID-19 volunteers was selected for this study. A day offline training was attended by 21
volunteers, meanwhile 34 volunteers attended online training.
4. Sampling method
This research used total sampling method.
5. Study Variables
The dependent variable was knowledge and the independent variable was training. The training was
conducted half day, in which the participants were given information on COVID-19 safety precautions, as
well as procedure for self-quarantine
6. The tools and material used
Their knowledge toward COVID-19 prevention before and after training was measured by a questionnaire. A
set of questions were given to the trainee before and after the training to assess their knowledge on the
materials
7. Data analysis
The data were analyzed by independent t-test.
8. The ethical clearance
Research ethical issues including informed consent, anonymity, and confidentiality, were addressed carefully
during the study process. The research ethical clearance approval letter was obtained from the Research
Ethics Committee at Sebelas Maret University.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Sociodemographic data of respondents can be seen in table 1. There are 55 respondents, 34 respondents
attended online training and 21 participants attended offline training (see Table 1).
Table 1. Sociodemographic of COVID-19 volunteer
Online Offline Total
Variable n = 34 n = 21
% (SE) % (SE)
Gender
Male 26.47 (7.57) 23.81 (9.29) 25.45 (5.87)
Female 73.53 (7.57) 53.39 (9.29) 74.55 (5.87_
Age
10 – 24 91.18 (4.86) 85.71 (7.64) 89.09 (4.20)
25 – 44 5.88 (4.04) 14.29 (7.64) 9.09 (3.88)
44 – 60 2.94 (2.90) 0 1.82 (1.80)
Education
Highschool 91.18 (4.86) 90.48 (6.41) 90.91 (3..88)
Bachelor 2.94 (2.90) 9.52 (6.41) 5.45 (3.06)
Master 5.88 (4.04) 0 3.64 (2.52)

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From 55 trainees, most were females (74.6%), of high school graduates or attending university (90.9%).
There were no significant differences in the baseline score between the trainees attending online and offline (p
>0.05). From two-sample t-test, we found that mean of volunteer’s knowledge after offline training (Mean=
8.38; SD= 0.17) was higher than online training group (Mean= 7.47; SD= 1.19) and it was statistically
significant (p= 0.003) (see Table 2).
Table 2. Comparison between online and offline training
Knowledge Mean SD1 Min2 Max3
Online Training 7.47 1.13 7.07 7.87

Offline Training 8.33 0.80 7.97 8.70

1
SD = Standard Deviation; 2Min = minimum; 3Max = maximum

Online training has become a common learning method. The effectiveness of online training is influenced
by many factors. Some factors create barriers for online training, such as administrative issues, social interaction,
technical skills, motivation, time, technical problems, cost and access to the internet. Other factors could result in
low-quality online training, for example an ineffective design and arrangement of multimedia materials.
Offline training still more effective in improving knowledge of participants. The activeness of the
participants will have a good influence on the number of achievement targets, if participants are more active to
be able to attend and take part in a series of training activities, it will help increase the achievement targets in
training activities (Setiawati and Aji, 2020).
In addition, online training hinders the activeness of participants because there is no direct interaction, so it
is less effective to carry out. The training carried out online causes changes and adjustments in its
implementation, resulting in several obstacles. Information and technology play an important role in
implementing work or learning from home. The problem of facilities and infrastructure is still an obstacle in the
distribution of internet access in Indonesia (Dwiyanti, 2021).
CONCLUSION
For the conclusion, offline training is more effective than online training to improve knowledge toward
COVID-19 prevention in volunteers. The limitation of this study is a minimal sample size, further research with
the larger sample size needs to be conducted.

REFERENCES
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Covid-19’, Ideas: Jurnal Pendidikan, Sosial, dan Budaya, 7(2), p. 67. doi: 10.32884/ideas.v7i2.339.
Misra, F. and Mazelfi, I. (2021) ‘Long-Distance Online Learning During Pandemic: The Role of
Communication, Working in Group, and Self- Directed Learning in Developing Student’s Confidence’,
Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Educational Development and Quality Assurance

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(ICED-QA 2020), 506, pp. 225–234. doi: 10.2991/assehr.k.210202.042.

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