Research Article
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Enhancing Teaching Skills of In-service English Teachers through Online Professional Development

Year 2024, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 32 - 39, 05.01.2024
https://doi.org/10.53850/joltida.1248625

Abstract

The present study examined online professional development practices of in-service English teachers. A sample of 184 in-service English teachers from various levels of education in Turkey participated in the study through an online questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS to assess the teachers' utilization of the internet for professional development, classroom activities, and collaboration with others. The results revealed that the participants utilized the internet extensively for professional development and classroom activities, and collaboration with others. Furthermore, significant differences were found between participants' teaching levels and their use of the internet for collaboration, frequency of internet use and internet use for classroom practices, and ICT training experiences and use of the internet for overall professional development, classroom activities and collaboration. The findings suggest that in-service English teachers prioritized and benefited from online professional development practices and ICT training affected their use of the internet for such practices.

References

  • Alhabahba, M. M., & Mahfoodh, O. H. (2016). The use of the Internet for English language teachers’ professional development in Arab countries. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n4.1.
  • Ali, G., Haolader, F. A., & Muhammad, K. (2013). The role of ICT to make teaching-learning effective in higher institutions of learning in Uganda. International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 2(8), 4061-4073.
  • Artman, B., Danner, N., & Crow, S. R. (2020). Teacher-directed professional development: An alternative to conventional professional development. International Journal of Self-Directed Learning, 17(1), 39-50.
  • Babbie, E. (2010). The Practice of Social Research (Twelfth ed.). California: Wadsworth Publishing. Ballıdağ, S., & Dikilitaş, K. (2021). Preparatory school teachers’ self-directed online professional development. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 9(3 (Special Issue)), 25-38.
  • Baran, B., & Cagiltay, K. (2006). Teachers' experiences in online professional development environment. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 7(4).
  • Beach, P. (2017). Self-directed online learning: A theoretical model for understanding elementary teachers' online learning experiences. Teaching and Teacher Education, 61, 60-72.
  • Bekereci-Şahin, M., & Savaş, P. (2022). Professional identity trajectories of rural EFL teachers and their developmental needs. Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), 16(2), 93–112.
  • Callahan, C., Saye, J., & Brush, T. (2013). Designing web-based educative curriculum materials for the social studies. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 13(2), 126-155.
  • Charalambous, K., & Ioannou, I. (2008). The attitudes and opinions of Cypriot primary teachers about the use of the Internet for their professional development and as an educational tool. Learning, Media and Technology, 33(1), 45-57.
  • Chylinski, R., & Hanewald, R. (2011). Creating supportive environments for CALL teacher autonomy. In Instructional Design: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications (pp. 840-860). Hersey, PA: IGI Global.
  • Cook, M. P., & Bissonette, J. D. (2016). Developing preservice teachers’ positionalities in 140 characters or less: Examining microblogging as dialogic space. Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education, 16(2), 82-109.
  • Dean, C., & Silverman, J. (2015). Documenting collective development in online settings. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 15(3), 318-333.
  • Diaz-Maggioli, G. (2004). Teacher-Centered Professional Development. Virginia: ASCD.
  • Ellis, J., McFadden, J., Anwar, T., & Roehrig, G. (2015). Investigating the social interactions of beginning teachers using a video annotation tool. Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education, 15(3), 404-421.
  • Eze, R. I., & Olusola, E. (2013). The teachers and the use of ICT for professional development. Proceedings from: The International Conference on ICT for Africa 2013, Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa.
  • Fang, H., Wang, L., & Zhou, Q. (2023). Can online professional development increase teachers' success in implementing project-based learning in south China?. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 16(1), 100-114.
  • Ganapathy, M., Kabilan, M. K., & Meenakshisundram, S. D. (2020). English Language Teachers' Practices of Online Professional Development using Facebook. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 28(1).
  • Guemide, B., & Benachaiba, C. (2012). Exploiting ICT and E-learning in teacher's professional development in Algeria: The case of English secondary school teachers. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 13(3), 33-49.
  • Harwell, S. H. (2003). Teacher Professional Development: It’s not an Event, It’s a Process. Waco, Texas: CORD.
  • Hasibuan, S. (2013). A model of continuing professional competency development by using ICT (study at senior high school teachers Padangsidimpuan, north Sumatera). International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, 5(6), 91-101.
  • He, Y., & Bagwell, D. (2023). Collaborative learning through online professional development. The Teacher Educator, 58(1), 15-28.
  • Hinostroza, J. E., Ibieta, A. I., Claro, M., & Labbé, C. (2016). Characterisation of teachers’ use of computers and Internet inside and outside the classroom: The need to focus on the quality. Education and Information Technologies, 21(6), 1595-1610.
  • Hubbard, P. (2008). CALL and the future of language teacher education. Calico Journal, 25(2), 175-188. Ibieta, A., Hinostroza, J. E., Labbé, C., & Claro, M. (2017). The role of the Internet in teachers’ professional practice: activities and factors associated with teacher use of ICT inside and outside the classroom. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 26(4) 425-438.
  • Johnson, L. (2016). Reframing the assignment: Evolutions, not revolutions, in learning to teach writing with digital technologies. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 24(1), 5-35.
  • Korkmazgil, S., & Seferoğlu, G. (2013). Exploring non-native English teachers’ professional development practices. Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Eğitim Dergisi, 30(1), 1-10.
  • Krutka, D. G., & Carpenter, J. P. (2016). Participatory learning through social media: How and why social studies educators use Twitter. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 16(1), 38-59.
  • Macià, M., & García, I. (2016). Informal online communities and networks as a source of teacher professional development: A review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 291-307.
  • Mann, S. (2005). The language teacher’s development. Language Teaching, 38, 103-118.
  • Meneses, J., Fàbregues, S., Rodríguez-Gómez, D., & Ion, G. (2012). Internet in teachers' professional practice outside the classroom: Examining supportive and management uses in primary and secondary schools. Computers & Education, 59(3), 915-924.
  • Mills, M. (2014). Effect of faculty member’s use of Twitter as informal professional development during a preservice teacher internship. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, (4), 451-467.
  • Mushayikwa, E. (2013). Teachers’ self-directed professional development: Science and mathematics teachers’ adoption of ICT as a professional development strategy. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(3), 275-286.
  • OECD (2009). Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environments: First Results from TALIS. Paris: OECD. Retrieved August 07, 2009 from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/51/43023606.pdf
  • Pan, X., & Gan, Z. (2020). Perceiving technology-based professional development practices for teachers: accounts from English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in China. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching (IJCALLT), 10(2), 40-58.
  • Patahuddin, S. M. (2013). Mathematics teacher professional development in and through Internet use: Reflections on an ethnographic study. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 25(4), 503-521.
  • Richter, D., Kunter, M., Klusmann, U., Lüdtke, O., & Baumert, J. (2011). Professional development across the teaching career: Teachers’ uptake of formal and informal learning opportunities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(1), 116-126.
  • Ross, C. R. (2013). The Use of Twitter in the Creation of Educational Professional Learning Opportunities (Doctoral dissertation). Sam Houston State University
  • Saleh, S. S., & Pretorius, F. J. (2006). English as a foreign language: teachers' professional development via the Internet. Progressio, 28(1 & 2), 111-126.
  • Savas, P. (2014). Tablet PCs as instructional tools in English as a foreign language education. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 13(1), 217-222.
  • Schlager, M. S., & Fusco, J. (2003). Teacher professional development, technology, and communities of practice: Are we putting the cart before the horse?. The Information Society, 19(3), 203-220.
  • Shin, H. J., & Son, J. B. (2007). EFL teachers' perceptions and perspectives on Internet-assisted language teaching. CALL-EJ Online, 8(2), 8-2.
  • Tella, A., Tella, A., Toyobo, O. M., Adika, L. O., & Adewuyi, A. A. (2007). An assessment of secondary school teachers’ uses of ICT's: Implications for further development of ICT's use in Nigerian secondary schools. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 6(3).
  • Visser, P. S., Krosnick, J. A., & Lavrakas, P. J. (2000). Survey research. In H. T. Reis & C. M. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology (pp. 223-252). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Year 2024, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 32 - 39, 05.01.2024
https://doi.org/10.53850/joltida.1248625

Abstract

References

  • Alhabahba, M. M., & Mahfoodh, O. H. (2016). The use of the Internet for English language teachers’ professional development in Arab countries. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n4.1.
  • Ali, G., Haolader, F. A., & Muhammad, K. (2013). The role of ICT to make teaching-learning effective in higher institutions of learning in Uganda. International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 2(8), 4061-4073.
  • Artman, B., Danner, N., & Crow, S. R. (2020). Teacher-directed professional development: An alternative to conventional professional development. International Journal of Self-Directed Learning, 17(1), 39-50.
  • Babbie, E. (2010). The Practice of Social Research (Twelfth ed.). California: Wadsworth Publishing. Ballıdağ, S., & Dikilitaş, K. (2021). Preparatory school teachers’ self-directed online professional development. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 9(3 (Special Issue)), 25-38.
  • Baran, B., & Cagiltay, K. (2006). Teachers' experiences in online professional development environment. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 7(4).
  • Beach, P. (2017). Self-directed online learning: A theoretical model for understanding elementary teachers' online learning experiences. Teaching and Teacher Education, 61, 60-72.
  • Bekereci-Şahin, M., & Savaş, P. (2022). Professional identity trajectories of rural EFL teachers and their developmental needs. Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), 16(2), 93–112.
  • Callahan, C., Saye, J., & Brush, T. (2013). Designing web-based educative curriculum materials for the social studies. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 13(2), 126-155.
  • Charalambous, K., & Ioannou, I. (2008). The attitudes and opinions of Cypriot primary teachers about the use of the Internet for their professional development and as an educational tool. Learning, Media and Technology, 33(1), 45-57.
  • Chylinski, R., & Hanewald, R. (2011). Creating supportive environments for CALL teacher autonomy. In Instructional Design: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications (pp. 840-860). Hersey, PA: IGI Global.
  • Cook, M. P., & Bissonette, J. D. (2016). Developing preservice teachers’ positionalities in 140 characters or less: Examining microblogging as dialogic space. Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education, 16(2), 82-109.
  • Dean, C., & Silverman, J. (2015). Documenting collective development in online settings. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 15(3), 318-333.
  • Diaz-Maggioli, G. (2004). Teacher-Centered Professional Development. Virginia: ASCD.
  • Ellis, J., McFadden, J., Anwar, T., & Roehrig, G. (2015). Investigating the social interactions of beginning teachers using a video annotation tool. Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education, 15(3), 404-421.
  • Eze, R. I., & Olusola, E. (2013). The teachers and the use of ICT for professional development. Proceedings from: The International Conference on ICT for Africa 2013, Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa.
  • Fang, H., Wang, L., & Zhou, Q. (2023). Can online professional development increase teachers' success in implementing project-based learning in south China?. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 16(1), 100-114.
  • Ganapathy, M., Kabilan, M. K., & Meenakshisundram, S. D. (2020). English Language Teachers' Practices of Online Professional Development using Facebook. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 28(1).
  • Guemide, B., & Benachaiba, C. (2012). Exploiting ICT and E-learning in teacher's professional development in Algeria: The case of English secondary school teachers. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 13(3), 33-49.
  • Harwell, S. H. (2003). Teacher Professional Development: It’s not an Event, It’s a Process. Waco, Texas: CORD.
  • Hasibuan, S. (2013). A model of continuing professional competency development by using ICT (study at senior high school teachers Padangsidimpuan, north Sumatera). International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, 5(6), 91-101.
  • He, Y., & Bagwell, D. (2023). Collaborative learning through online professional development. The Teacher Educator, 58(1), 15-28.
  • Hinostroza, J. E., Ibieta, A. I., Claro, M., & Labbé, C. (2016). Characterisation of teachers’ use of computers and Internet inside and outside the classroom: The need to focus on the quality. Education and Information Technologies, 21(6), 1595-1610.
  • Hubbard, P. (2008). CALL and the future of language teacher education. Calico Journal, 25(2), 175-188. Ibieta, A., Hinostroza, J. E., Labbé, C., & Claro, M. (2017). The role of the Internet in teachers’ professional practice: activities and factors associated with teacher use of ICT inside and outside the classroom. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 26(4) 425-438.
  • Johnson, L. (2016). Reframing the assignment: Evolutions, not revolutions, in learning to teach writing with digital technologies. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 24(1), 5-35.
  • Korkmazgil, S., & Seferoğlu, G. (2013). Exploring non-native English teachers’ professional development practices. Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Eğitim Dergisi, 30(1), 1-10.
  • Krutka, D. G., & Carpenter, J. P. (2016). Participatory learning through social media: How and why social studies educators use Twitter. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 16(1), 38-59.
  • Macià, M., & García, I. (2016). Informal online communities and networks as a source of teacher professional development: A review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 291-307.
  • Mann, S. (2005). The language teacher’s development. Language Teaching, 38, 103-118.
  • Meneses, J., Fàbregues, S., Rodríguez-Gómez, D., & Ion, G. (2012). Internet in teachers' professional practice outside the classroom: Examining supportive and management uses in primary and secondary schools. Computers & Education, 59(3), 915-924.
  • Mills, M. (2014). Effect of faculty member’s use of Twitter as informal professional development during a preservice teacher internship. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, (4), 451-467.
  • Mushayikwa, E. (2013). Teachers’ self-directed professional development: Science and mathematics teachers’ adoption of ICT as a professional development strategy. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 17(3), 275-286.
  • OECD (2009). Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environments: First Results from TALIS. Paris: OECD. Retrieved August 07, 2009 from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/51/43023606.pdf
  • Pan, X., & Gan, Z. (2020). Perceiving technology-based professional development practices for teachers: accounts from English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in China. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching (IJCALLT), 10(2), 40-58.
  • Patahuddin, S. M. (2013). Mathematics teacher professional development in and through Internet use: Reflections on an ethnographic study. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 25(4), 503-521.
  • Richter, D., Kunter, M., Klusmann, U., Lüdtke, O., & Baumert, J. (2011). Professional development across the teaching career: Teachers’ uptake of formal and informal learning opportunities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(1), 116-126.
  • Ross, C. R. (2013). The Use of Twitter in the Creation of Educational Professional Learning Opportunities (Doctoral dissertation). Sam Houston State University
  • Saleh, S. S., & Pretorius, F. J. (2006). English as a foreign language: teachers' professional development via the Internet. Progressio, 28(1 & 2), 111-126.
  • Savas, P. (2014). Tablet PCs as instructional tools in English as a foreign language education. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 13(1), 217-222.
  • Schlager, M. S., & Fusco, J. (2003). Teacher professional development, technology, and communities of practice: Are we putting the cart before the horse?. The Information Society, 19(3), 203-220.
  • Shin, H. J., & Son, J. B. (2007). EFL teachers' perceptions and perspectives on Internet-assisted language teaching. CALL-EJ Online, 8(2), 8-2.
  • Tella, A., Tella, A., Toyobo, O. M., Adika, L. O., & Adewuyi, A. A. (2007). An assessment of secondary school teachers’ uses of ICT's: Implications for further development of ICT's use in Nigerian secondary schools. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 6(3).
  • Visser, P. S., Krosnick, J. A., & Lavrakas, P. J. (2000). Survey research. In H. T. Reis & C. M. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology (pp. 223-252). New York: Cambridge University Press.
There are 42 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Other Fields of Education
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Gamze Erdem Coşgun 0000-0003-4598-8799

Perihan Savaş 0000-0001-9839-3081

Publication Date January 5, 2024
Submission Date February 7, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2024 Volume: 9 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Erdem Coşgun, G., & Savaş, P. (2024). Enhancing Teaching Skills of In-service English Teachers through Online Professional Development. Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age, 9(1), 32-39. https://doi.org/10.53850/joltida.1248625

Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age 2023. © 2023. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. 19195

Journal of Learning and Teaching in Digital Age. All rights reserved, 2023. ISSN:2458-8350