Online Professional Development for Teachers: Emerging Models and Methods.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has created the urgent need for online instruction throughout all levels, including teacher professional development. As we move beyond the survival phase of remote teacher professional development, it is critical to well understand teacher acceptance and continued use of online professional development. Digital literacy and social presence (SP) have been widely studied to understand online teaching and learning process. However, there is a dearth of studies that examine the impact of digital literacy and SP on the acceptance of online teacher professional development (OTPD). This study aimed to examine if digital literacy and SP affected secondary school teachers’ acceptance and continued use of OTPD. A quantitative method was employed with two hundred and thirty-two Indonesian secondary school teachers completed a 48-item questionnaire based on an extended technology acceptance model and teacher digital literacy framework. Data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. The findings showed that digital literacy and SP significantly affected teachers’ acceptance of OTPD. Therefore, this study suggests that the proposed model is valid to explain teachers’ engagement in OTPD. The results have implications for educational leaders, designers, and facilitators who want to promote online professional development.

Online professional development (OPD) programs have become increasingly popular. However, participating in professional development does not always lead to profound professional learning. Previous research endeavours have often focussed on measuring user acceptance or on comparing the effectiveness of OPD with a face-to-face delivery, but there is little knowledge of how the process of professional learning actually occurs in OPD. This study explores how professional learning takes place in an OPD program designed according to the principles of authentic e-learning, and how the learning design and technologies used impact on the professional learning experienced by the participants. The context of the study is an international OPD program in vaccine management developed and offered by World Health Organization. A grounded theory approach was employed to develop a theorised model of the professional learning process in an authentic online learning environment. The findings show that professional learning was facilitated in a dynamic web of interactions rather than by covering content: the learner is at the centre of the process, actively engaged in authentic tasks in collaboration with peers, while mentors and content play a supporting role. Technology facilitates and enables the web of interactions. The learning process was found to bear resemblance to the type of professional learning that occurs in authentic workplace settings, which implies that the authentic e-learning principles provide a helpful learning design framework for OPD.

Online professional development should focus on designing web-based learning opportunities that help practicing educators solve the tough problems of practice when working in their schools. Technology, pedagogy and content knowledge can be integrated into the design of online professional development modules to enhance task relevance for maximum learning and transformation. The purpose of this study was to learn which tasks in an online professional development module were ranked by in-service educators as relevant to their work with English-language learners (ELLs). Using Q methodology, the researcher asked participants to rank the relevancy of 36 online tasks from an online professional development module developed at a Midwestern university. Participants used a –5 to +5 forced distribution to rank online activities from ‘Least relevant to my work with ELLs' to ‘Most relevant to my work with ELLs', followed by a semi-structured interview to explain their decisions. After data analysis, two factors emerged indicating that participants' perceptions on task relevance differed by professional roles and educational settings. Results served as the basis for future online professional development design and for planning other relevant activities to be applied to the e-learning environment.

This research quantitatively examines how online professional development (OPD) affects cognitive development in special education instructors. 100 individuals took part in outpatient department activities for six months, undergoing cognitive ability examinations before and after the intervention. Descriptive statistics, paired samples t-tests, multiple regression analysis, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and Pearson correlation coefficients were used to analyze the data. The findings show a significant rise in post-test scores on the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) after taking part in the OPD program. Years of experience and education level were important indicators of cognitive progress, emphasizing the significance of individual traits. Moreover, those with greater expertise and advanced levels of education often had better marks on the post-test. The results highlight the significance of cognitive growth as a crucial result of professional development for special education instructors, adding to the existing knowledge base. The research suggests giving priority to cognitive growth in professional development programs, customizing programs to meet individual requirements, and offering continuous support to educators. Future studies should investigate how OPD impacts cognitive development and analyze its lasting consequences on teacher efficacy and student results.

Teacher professional development and education programs are enhancing job-embedded experiences to address the disparity between theory and implementation. Simultaneously, higher education is now offering online courses to attract geographically distant educators, especially in high-needs fields such as teaching English Learners and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students. There is a need to investigate what online teacher professional development and education programs can do to promote teachers’ application of what they learn. This pilot study utilized the Inventory of Situationally and Culturally Responsive Teaching (ISCRT) to investigate 23 in-service teachers’ culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practices before and after receiving online coursework and coaching. When compared to the control group, treatment teachers’ scores on four of the five ISCRT standards—Joint Productive Activity, Language and Literacy Development, Challenging Activities, and Instructional Conversations—as well as the composite were statistically significant. Findings suggest online CRT coursework with complementary instructional coaching supports teachers’ implementation of new knowledge and pedagogy.

Research Findings: This is an evaluation study of the effectiveness of an online early mathematics professional development program for early childhood teachers. The eight online courses, along with the Math at Home: Early Math Matters website and resources, introduce early childhood teachers to mathematical concepts such as math literacy, number sense, patterns, geometry, measurement, data collection and math processes. Over 9,711 early childhood professionals participated in this professional development program, and a sample of 2,332 participants who gave consent to use their data reported on their course experiences, took quizzes, and provided qualitative feedback. In addition, a subsample of 95 participants took pre- and post-surveys on their attitudes, confidence, beliefs, and knowledge in teaching early math. The descriptive statistics of the participants’ self-reported course experiences, regression analysis of program effectiveness, and the pair wised t-test analysis of the survey data showed that program participants had positive experiences with this online professional development program, and that engagement in the program was effective in positively impacting their attitudes, confidence, beliefs, and knowledge in teaching early math. The participants’ positive experiences were associated with their demographic characteristics and their use and engagement with the course materials. Practice or Policy: Implications for future professional development efforts are identified, including scalability and the use of online professional development to impact early math learning and practice.

In this paper, we present an analysis of the change processes of a Turkish EFL teacher who participated in an Online Professional Development (OPD) program that included online lesson study procedure and webinars. The aim of the study was to uncover the short term and long term changes of this teacher through the use of Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth (IMTPG). As part of the OPD program, this teacher attended six webinars about language teaching methodology and the use of technology in language teaching. In a period of 13 weeks, she also became part of online lesson study procedure with three other teachers. To this end, they met online once a week to do lesson planning for a research lesson and to later discuss about the effectiveness of that lesson by viewing its video recording. In this case study, the data collection tools comprised a background questionnaire, interviews, group meeting extracts, pre-and post-observations, lesson plans prepared by the group, video recordings of the research lessons and group meetings. The findings showed that various short term changes were initiated by different domains including personal domain, the lesson study discussions and webinars in the external domain with various pathways of change. More long-lasting changes, on the other hand, came about when she integrated her learning from the webinars into her classroom teaching and reflected on the student outcomes of these new practices, which promoted changes in her ear lier beliefs and attitudes towards some aspects of teaching. It was also revealed that the changes in her cognition and teaching behavior were related to her increased knowledge and skills about incorporating web 2.0 tools into language classes.

In rural, geographically dispersed school districts, access to high-quality face-to-face professional development (PD) is challenging. Our study developed and compared the effectiveness of an online PD for middle-school science teachers working in remote, rural areas of Kansas with an evidence-based traditional face-to-face PD with the goal of supporting change in teachers’ conceptual understanding and self-efficacy in utilizing Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), change in instructional practices, and overall student content learning. Fifteen rural middle-school science teacher participants were randomly selected to participate in the online or traditional PD, then taught the Toward High School Biology curriculum to their 504 middle-school students. Findings aligned with our hypothesis that online PD is as effective as traditional in improving student content knowledge related to the curriculum. Teachers’ instructional practices in using Next Generation Science Standards improved, as did their use of student-centered instruction and making science relevant to the lives of their students. Our study supports the importance of designing PD that effectively and economically brings teachers in isolated and diverse rural communities together.

During the pandemic, face-to-face training should not be carried out to reduce the spread of the covid outbreak. Therefore, online teacher professional development is an alternative method to replace the face-to-face training. In a program implementation, evaluation is an important component to determine whether the program has been implemented well or not. This evaluation is important to determine the effect of this online training on improving STEM PCK teachers. The evaluation used the CIPP model (Context, Input, Process, and Product), with the embedded mixed method research. This research was conducted on 60 science teachers of SMP alumni online training organized by PPPPTK IPA, from the “Sayangi Bumi” classroom. The results of the context evaluation show that 100% of respondents stated that the program is in accordance with the needs of teachers to strengthen their PCK., while the resources used in the program (Input evaluation) were good. The program implementation process ran 100% as planned and the product evaluation shows an increased teachers' understanding of the STEM approach. Teacher considered that the online professional development is very useful for teachers and can develop their skills in implementing STEM learning during distance learning. Online PD, apart from low-cost, can actually be an alternative way in improving teachers' STEM PCK competence and it also can reach all islands in Indonesia

Purpose While it is particularly important that professional programs help teachers become members of a community of practice, especially in crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lack of research about strategies to effectively encourage the development of a community of practice and to support teachers’ transformation of their way of teaching. Thus, this paper aims to report on lessons learned from a blended professional development (PD) program for elementary and middle school teachers in Japan focused on computer programming education. In particular, the authors explored how application of the creative learning principles in the blended teacher PD may have helped to nurture a community of practice among teachers in Japan, and how the creative learning principles may be a valuable framework for designing online or blended teacher PD to support teachers’ transition into emergency remote education. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on the lessons learned from two iterations of blended teacher PD situated within a larger design-based research project on applying creative learning pedagogy in teacher PD. Creative learning is a learning approach focused on engagement in personally meaningful projects by tinkering with materials and learning from peers. A total of 26 teachers and coaches participated, all of whom work in elementary or middle schools across Nagano prefecture in Japan. Participant experiences were evaluated based on a pre-survey and a post-survey conducted before and after the in-person kick-off camp; observation notes taken; a final report submitted by each teacher; a debrief meeting at the end of the program; and semi-structured interviews with three selected participants after the program concluded. For this paper, the authors focus on two participants who fully and actively engaged in the program, and they introduce their stories to highlight the outcomes from the PD. Findings The results highlight how a blended PD designed to support creative learning of teachers provided teachers with opportunities to gain help from other teachers and cultivate their expertise. The results also illustrated that how a community of practice emerged from the PD program, providing teachers with moral support when they tried new lesson designs. This paper offers several recommendations for designing professional learning experiences for instructional designers and professional developers that incorporate remote learning technologies. Originality/value While an increased number of studies have shown the values of online and blended communities of practice for teacher PD, there are still limited insights on different strategies to support teachers in transforming their teaching practices. They generally do not provide teachers with opportunities to continue learning with and from one another beyond the program itself. This study examined the teachers’ experiences in a unique PD that implemented a creative learning approach into a blended learning environment for teachers.

A grand challenge of the computer science (CS) for all education movement is the preparation of thousands of teachers with high quality, accessible professional development (PD) that has evidence of improving teacher knowledge and pedagogical practices necessary to support the learning needs of diverse groups of students. While regional PD programs can provide in-person learning opportunities, geographic and time constraints often inhibit participation. This article shares findings from an online PD program modified from the existing in-person exploring computer science PD program to provide teachers a facilitated online learning community model to support their first year teaching the course. The findings from this study have implications for future directions in the CS education field, indicating that this model of online PD, heavily based on shared experience among participants, can increase CS teachers' confidence in adapting and delivering lessons designed to be engaging and accessible to all students.

High-quality family childcare (FCC) can positively influence all areas of a child's growth and development. Thus, it is important to invest in efforts to increase quality, including providing professional development to enhance the skills of those caring for children in their homes. This study explores the characteristics of FCC providers who engage in an online professional development program. Findings show that a majority of these providers are female, had at least a high school diploma, and are licensed or registered. Content areas most frequently selected for professional development include ways to support children's social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development. The frequency of access and range of coursework completed implies that online learning is accessible for the FCC workforce audience and has the capacity to meet state requirements for professional development. Future directions to extend this research are discussed.

Professional development (PD) designed to accompany curriculum materials prepares teachers for specific classroom practices, guides them during practice, and creates opportunities for reflection. We present the theoretical underpinnings for our model of curriculum-linked PD and describe a hybrid (face-to-face and online) professional development program for curriculum materials that make use of the My World™ Geographic Information System software. Research-derived design principles for curriculum-aligned PD include the following: (1) identify goals for the professional development, (2) adopt a learning theory and use it, and (3) evaluate whether learning goals were met and then revise PD practices according to this feedback. We do not intend our design to be the model for online PD, but rather an example of an approach successfully applying our design principles.

This study examined the relationship between Teacher professional development (TPD) and the quality of teaching methods used in science education. The major forms of professional development considered the major contributors to enhancing teaching methods included formal, collaborative and self-directed/ online TPD. A cross-sectional research design was used to collect data from 150 Science Teachers and 10 Head teachers from 10 secondary schools of Fort Portal City. Quantitative data was analysed using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis, while qualitative data was grouped into themes and analysed descriptively according to the study objectives. The study revealed significantly significant and positive correlation across all three forms of teacher professional development with teaching methods improvement. However, results from multiple regression show that Formal TPD Participation is the strongest contributor to teaching methods improvement. Formalise and institutionalise teacher professional development as a core function within Uganda’s education system

Professional development (PD) has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. Despite research findings, the development of many PD programmes often rests on faulty assumptions of such research or even no research at all. The purpose of this article is threefold: to explain why some PD programmes have been unsuccessful; to outline key factors that may influence the effective implementation of PD and to explain the importance of contextual factors like environment, internal conditions and individual considerations as the major sources of momentum for PD in schools. Specific categories that are high-lighted include the following: learning styles of educators, educator commitment, transformational leadership, out-of-school conditions, in-school conditions and requirements of PD programmes. The design of PD requires a new way of thinking and interacting and, most importantly, should be a step towards improved learner performance.