Real needs, tailored solutions: Developing customized online professional development programs for teachers—A case study

Abstract

This instrumental case study explored 10 English as a foreign language (EFL) instructors’ perceptions and experiences of participating in an asynchronous online professional development (OPD) program. The study aimed to explore instructors’ professional development (PD) needs, the factors influencing their participation in OPD, and the perceived effective characteristics of the OPD program. Data gathered through individual interviews, reflective reports, and a focus group were analyzed using a reflective thematic analysis approach. The study revealed that the EFL instructors’ limited engagement in reflective practice and continuous PD could potentially result in overconfidence and a lack of awareness regarding their PD needs. Furthermore, the article highlights perceived effective characteristics of the OPD program: flexibility, collaboration, facilitation and organization, reflection, relevance, and practicality. Findings suggest that these characteristics not only contributed to its effectiveness but also promoted instructors’ participation and engagement in the OPD.

Keywords:

• Online professional development (OPD)
• teacher perceptions
• asynchronous learning
• needs assessment
• community of inquiry framework

Acknowledgments

This article reports the partial findings of a Ph.D. dissertation written by the first author under the supervision of the second author at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. We want to thank the dissertation committee members for their feedback on the conceptualization of the research design. We would also like to thank the participants for giving their time and providing a detailed account of their experiences and ideas.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

OPD program syllabus, tasks, discussion questions, videos, and interview protocols are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The data that has been used is confidential.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no specific financial support or grant from any funding agency for this research project.

Notes on contributors

Gökhan Hınız

Gökhan Hınız (PhD) is an English as a Foreign Language instructor at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Türkiye. He has extensive experience in teaching, curriculum and material development, testing, departmental leadership, and coordinating professional development events at universities in Türkiye. He is currently working in the foreign languages department at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. His research focuses on student engagement and teacher professional development within the field of ELT. Please address correspondence regarding this article to Gökhan Hınız, Foreign Languages Department, School of Foreign Languages, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, 17020, Turkey. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Aysun Yavuz

Aysun Yavuz (PhD) is an English Language Teaching (ELT) professor at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Türkiye. Her research focuses on teacher education, reflective teaching, global issues in language education, and active learning. She has published numerous articles and book chapters, served on editorial boards for academic journals, and presented at international conferences. She has also held administrative roles, including director of the School of Foreign Languages and head of the Department of English Language Teaching.