Purpose This paper aims to report on a study concerning a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), designed to support Greek-language teachers in secondary-education schools in implementing collaborative writing activities with Google Docs (GDs) in their classrooms. Data recorded from a post-survey were used to investigate teachers’ views and perceptions about MOOC design features, their personal achievements and the overall outcomes for their professional work and development. Design/methodology/approach The design framework of the particular teacher professional development MOOC was determined by the connectivist principles and addressed three main dimensions of teachers’ active participation: a) individual engagement; b) peer interaction and mutual support; and c) collaborative creation of educational scenarios and artefacts. The analysis used a mixed method that combines data from teachers’ active engagement through the MOOC platform records and quantitative and qualitative data from their responses to a post-survey questionnaire. Findings The analysis of the research data provided supportive evidence that the design framework was effective towards promoting teachers’ active engagement, peer interaction and support and development of learning design abilities to integrate collaborative writing with GDs in their classrooms. The findings showed that the majority of participants conceptualized this MOOC as an efficient environment to enhance their pedagogical knowledge and classroom practices and to support continuous professional development. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study may be limited by the specific sample and the context of implementation. Future research is expected to critically analyse existing results in combination with qualitative data from detailed interviews of participants in this teacher professional development MOOC. Practical implications The results provided supportive evidence that successful MOOCs for teacher professional development are determined by four key design features: a) connecting course content and teacher learning practices to the educational reality of the classroom; b) defining concrete learning objectives of the course; c) promoting teachers’ collaborative learning; and d) creating a learning community among peers. Originality/value This paper presents a systematic analysis of teachers’ engagement in a teacher professional development MOOC, designed to support collaborative and self-directed learning. The results are expected to be significant and valuable for wider educational contexts, as MOOCs for teacher professional development is a new, ambitious topic for both research and educational policies.

During schools' closure, due to the pandemic of COVID-19, teachers around the globe were forced to transfer their instruction on-line. They were facing a range of barriers and difficulties to plan and provide online remote teaching to their students. This paper reports on a study exploring Greek primary and secondary education teachers' views about emergency remote teaching and elearning. The survey conducted in May 2020, just after schools' reopening in Greece. A total of 694 K-12 teachers responded to an online questionnaire. The preliminary findings of data analysis showed that the majority of the participants perceived the pandemic as a turning point with regards to the role of digital technologies and e-learning in the schools. On the other hand, we identified teachers' needs for professional development and support, in terms of learning design abilities necessary to integrate synchronous and asynchronous learning in both, online and physical, classrooms.

The pandemic of COVID-19 forced K-12 schools worldwide to transfer their educational programs from in-person instruction to remote online teaching. Teachers faced a range of difficulties towards providing remote teaching and integrating e-learning tools in their practices. This paper reports on a study concerning the rapid design and implementation of a MOOC to support primary and secondary education teachers in Greece towards using online tools in their remote instruction during the pandemic of COVID-19. The design framework and the implementation procedure of this particular MOOC are presented. The preliminary findings of a survey concerning 171 teachers who responded to an online questionnaire after completing this MOOC, are also presented. The results revealed teachers' satisfaction with regards to their personal outcomes and achievements, in terms of abilities to apply online instructional practices in their remote classrooms. The majority of the participants considered that this MOOC was an efficient environment to enhance their pedagogical knowledge and e-learning design skills necessary to provide remote instruction during the pandemic.

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