فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: Following the COVID‑19 pandemic, the Government of India announced lockdownfrom March 25, 2020, which included measures such as social distancing, canceling mass gatherings,and closure of schools and colleges. Since the present generation of students spends a lot of timeon social media, especially WhatsApp, the utility of the same to discuss the various public healthdomains of COVID‑19 through multiple‑choice questions (MCQs) was explored.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This longitudinal study was conducted among 154participants (undergraduates, interns, postgraduates, and teaching faculty) for 3 months. MCQs onCOVID‑19 were disseminated through WhatsApp status of the investigator, and feedback regardingthe same was taken at the end of 3 months. The activity log was maintained, and the information wasdownloaded as a comma‑separated value (CSV) file and exported to MS Excel. Descriptive statistics wereapplied. The location of the participants was entered into the Microsoft Excel sheet and converted intoCSV file. The Geographical data were analyzed in the Quantum Geographical information System (QGIS).RESULTS: Among the 154 study participants, 48% were undergraduates, 10.4% were interns,30.6% were postgraduates, and 11% were teaching faculty. Eighty‑nine percent of the participantsfelt that WhatsApp can be used as a platform for discussing MCQs. 89%, 93%, and 89.6% of theparticipants felt that the exercise improved their analytical skills, helped in self‑directed learning, andimproved collaborative learning, respectively.CONCLUSIONS: Majority of the participants responded that WhatsApp can be used as a platformto discuss MCQs and that the exercise helped in collaborative and self‑directed learning.