Moroccan Teachers of English Acceptance and Readiness to Use MOOCs for Continuing Professional Development

Abstract

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have become a modern concept in education and new meaningful learning environment for technology-enhanced learning, where huge numbers of users worldwide access free, online-based, open content generated by world-renowned institutions. To provide successful MOOC environments requires recognizing the learners' motivations to utilize MOOCs programs. Because of the scarcity of research on MOOCs' use for teacher's professional development, it makes use of information technologies to enhance the learning experience for teachers and students. The present study seeks to investigate acceptance and readiness towards MOOCs' use for continuing professional development besides the degree to which teachers benefit from MOOCs. A survey questionnaire based on TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) [8] is employed as a data collection instrument regarding Usefulness(U), Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), User Satisfaction and Attribute of Usability (USAU) of MOOCs in professional development. The population is senior high secondary school teachers of English from different regions of Morocco. The analysis of the results obtained from various statistical tests revealed that teachers accepted MOOCs programs for continuing professional development with an objective of developing, acquiring and consolidating the necessary insight, skills and competencies required in modern teaching for 21-century education. Most teachers attending MOOCs' programs for continuing professional development were satisfied with the results they obtained from their participation. They also reported that MOOCs programs had an unequivocal and effective impact on their professional and career development.

The Role of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Teacher Professional Development during COVID-19: A Systematic Review

“…These internal personal factors include self-motivation and willingness to use this learning style, interest, and prior knowledge of MOOCs. Also, a study byHilali and Moubtassime (2021) confirmed that thorough knowledge of MOOCs on the part of the teacher can impact their awareness of the importance of MOOCs in continuous professional development and their attitudes toward them. The external personal factors consist of authenticated certificates, authenticated universities, course quality, career…”

“…Although MOOCs hold a range of untapped potential and resources for professional development in general and teachers in particular, the use of MOOCs for this purpose faces some challenges that may represent obstacles to their use (Wambugu, 2018). Challenges of MOOCs for teachers vary according to their willingness and proficiency level with using technology (Hilali & Moubtassime, 2021). Previous literature has not highlighted many critical challenges related to MOOCs in teacher professional development.…”