Effective online professional development: Teacher perceptions, practices, and preferences

Abstract

Never before has the importance of effective online professional development been more prominent than it has during the COVID-19 times with the significant transition to working and teaching online. Effective professional development (PD) is critical in supporting in-service teachers to continue developing professionally, expanding their knowledge, skills, and abilities, and enhancing self-efficacy. The elements of effective face-to-face PD have been researched extensively, but those for online PD remain elusive. This paper reports on the perspectives of in-service teachers who were surveyed on their preferences, practices, and perceptions of effective online PD. The elements of effective online PD were identified: flexibility, human connection, content, savings, and technology. These elements are presented in the context of teachers’ behaviours and preferences, which allows a deeper understanding of how to design and develop effective online PD. These findings support the future development of a framework for effective online PD for in-service teachers.

Moroccan EFL Teachers’ Participation, Preferences, and Perceived Effectiveness of Online Professional Development

“…The statistical results of the current study seem to reveal that teachers tend to show higher preference for traditional forms of professional development (75.73%) than for the online forms (24.27%). These findings are in sharp contrast to a number of studies in which teachers preferred online professional development due to its flexibility and sustainability (Poole et al, 2020;Reeves & Pedulla, 2011). However, in the Moroccan context there are many reasons behind the disfavor of face-to-face forms of professional development as reported by teachers who participated in this study.…”

“…This participation was in the form of using different tools of online professional development such as web-based activities, social networks, and online communities of practice. These findings are supported by previous studies in which teachers reported participating in online professional development using social networks, webinars, and online communities for professional development (Alzahrani & Althaqafi, 2020;Poole et al, 2020). However, the rate of teachers' participation in online professional development activities in this study (58.25%) is not significantly higher than those who did not participate (41.15%).…”

“…This effectiveness is confirmed by the results of many studies in different contexts (Alzahrani & Althaqafi, 2020;Hussein, 2013;Poole et al, 2020). In the present study teachers also perceived that online professional development activities are not effective in fostering active and collaborative participation in professional development which contradicts the results of other studies in which teachers' reported the efficacy of online professional development in promoting active and collaborative participation in professional development (Alzahrani & Althaqafi, 2020;Poole et al, 2020). These contradictory results in the Moroccan context could be attributed to teachers' preference of traditional forms of professional development that keeps the face-to-face contact and interaction, and also to the fact that teachers' in this study participated only in informal forms of online professional development that don't meet all the characteristics of effective professional development.…”

“…In addition, teachers' reported that the efficacy of online professional development is due to its time and space flexibility. This effectiveness is confirmed by the results of many studies in different contexts (Alzahrani & Althaqafi, 2020;Hussein, 2013;Poole et al, 2020). In the present study teachers also perceived that online professional development activities are not effective in fostering active and collaborative participation in professional development which contradicts the results of other studies in which teachers' reported the efficacy of online professional development in promoting active and collaborative participation in professional development (Alzahrani & Althaqafi, 2020;Poole et al, 2020).…”

Teachers' Perspectives towards Online Professional Development Programs during the Period of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Saudi EFL Context

“…On the other hand, teachers who had only taken face-to-face PDs were less eager to experience the online format. Such findings corroborate further research that has found OPDPs to be a highly effective PD tool, particularly during the pandemic (Berndt et al, 2017;Poole et al, 2020;Pradeep, 2021;Turcsányi-Szabó, 2008). Erickson et al (2012) further highlight that OPDP-trained teachers improved their capacity to incorporate research-based methods into their teaching practices.…”