Innovative teacher professional development: Findings on the opportunities and challenges of self-study online courses for teachers
Resource type
Conference Paper not in Proceedings
Status
Presented
Recommended form of citation (APA)
Wyss, C., Krattenmacher, S., & Rey, T. (2026, January 18-22). Innovative teacher professional development: Findings on the opportunities and challenges of self-study online courses for teachers [Conference Paper]. International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) “Crossing Boundaries in Education: Fostering Innivative and Sustainable Leraning Environments”, January 18-22 2026, Doha, Katar.
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PHSG Organisation name
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All rights reserved
Topic PHSG
Doppeltes Kompetenzprofil
Fields of Science and Technology (OECD)
Education, general (including training, pedagogy, didactics)
Abstract
Teacher professional development (TPD) is considered to have an important impact on the professionalisation of teachers, helping them to meet different and ever-changing challenges (Johannmeyer & Cramer, 2021), and enabling them to address the current needs of young people. However, teachers often criticize that TPD courses put an additional strain on their already overburdened schedules, or that they have difficulty attending TPD courses due to long travel times, lesson cancellations, or difficulties with lesson substitutions. The need for TPD that meet the teachers' requirements, is compatible with their busy schedules and provides quality learning opportunities has encouraged the creation of online professional development (oTPD) programs for teachers (Dede et al., 2009). However, the research findings to date are fragmented (Dyment & Downing, 2020) and there is still a lack of high-quality research (Lay et al., 2020).
Against this background, self-study online courses for teachers have been designed, produced and comprehensively evaluated in the context of this project. A mixed methods design was employed to gain insights into the development, perceived benefits and learning outcomes. In this paper we focus on the evaluation from the teachers (N=183) who completed the courses. Their responses were collected in three measurement points: the first was before starting the course (T1), the second immediately after completing the course (T2), and the third four to six weeks after completing the course (T3). The questionnaires were designed based on established instruments and scales (e.g. Rzejak et al., 2014).
This paper focuses on the following research questions:
- How do teachers who have completed the online courses rate the usefulness of such courses and the extent to which they have been able to benefit from them?
- Are there differences in the rating of online courses in relation to teachers‘ characteristics?
The results of the T1 survey indicate that the study participants were looking forward to working with the online courses. On a scale from 1 to 5 (5=strongly agree), the mean rating exceeded 4.5 (M=4.56, SD=0.63). Over 38% of the respondents expected the online courses to provide more personal benefit than traditional face-to-face TPD. In the T3 questionnaire, over 72% of the participants indicated that their expectations of the online courses had been met overall. However, certain teacher characteristics appeared to influence their perceptions. Female participants rated this form of TPD more favourably than male participants (p=.049, d=.898). Additionally, participants who reported higher self-regulation skills expressed greater satisfaction with the online courses (p=.017, r=.177), as did participants who have a more positive attitude towards oTPD (p<.001, r=.71). No correlation was found between self-assessed digital skills and participants' satisfaction.
The results of the study show that oTPD can make a valuable contribution to teachers' professional development. They offer an innovative learning environment that teachers can use at any time and in any place to help them develop their teaching in a more goal-oriented way. The findings may improve our understanding of the requirements for oTPD courses, guiding future design and implementation to ensure teachers reap even greater benefits.
Bibliography
Dede, C., Jass Ketelhut, D., Whitehouse, P., Breit, L., & McCloskey, E. M. (2009). A Research Agenda for Online Teacher Professional Development. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(1), 8–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487108327554
Dyment, J. E., & Downing, J. J. (2020). Online initial teacher education: A systematic review of the literature. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 48(3), 316–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2019.1631254
Johannmeyer, K., & Cramer, C. (2021). Nachfrage und Auslastung von Fortbildungen für Lehrerinnen und Lehrer: Effekte struktureller und inhaltlicher Angebotsmerkmale. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 24(5), 1183–1204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-021-01030-7
Lay, C. D., Allman, B., Cutri, R. M., & Kimmons, R. (2020). Examining a Decade of Research in Online Teacher Professional Development. Frontiers in Education, 5. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.573129
Rzejak, D., Künsting, J., Lipowsky, F., Fischer, E., Dezhgahi, U., & Reichardt, A. (2014). Facetten der Lehrerfortbildungsmotivation – eine faktorenanalytische Betrachtung [Facets of teachers’ motivation for professional development – Results of a factorial analysis]. Journal for Educational Research Online / Journal für Bildungsforschung Online, 6(2), 139–159.
Against this background, self-study online courses for teachers have been designed, produced and comprehensively evaluated in the context of this project. A mixed methods design was employed to gain insights into the development, perceived benefits and learning outcomes. In this paper we focus on the evaluation from the teachers (N=183) who completed the courses. Their responses were collected in three measurement points: the first was before starting the course (T1), the second immediately after completing the course (T2), and the third four to six weeks after completing the course (T3). The questionnaires were designed based on established instruments and scales (e.g. Rzejak et al., 2014).
This paper focuses on the following research questions:
- How do teachers who have completed the online courses rate the usefulness of such courses and the extent to which they have been able to benefit from them?
- Are there differences in the rating of online courses in relation to teachers‘ characteristics?
The results of the T1 survey indicate that the study participants were looking forward to working with the online courses. On a scale from 1 to 5 (5=strongly agree), the mean rating exceeded 4.5 (M=4.56, SD=0.63). Over 38% of the respondents expected the online courses to provide more personal benefit than traditional face-to-face TPD. In the T3 questionnaire, over 72% of the participants indicated that their expectations of the online courses had been met overall. However, certain teacher characteristics appeared to influence their perceptions. Female participants rated this form of TPD more favourably than male participants (p=.049, d=.898). Additionally, participants who reported higher self-regulation skills expressed greater satisfaction with the online courses (p=.017, r=.177), as did participants who have a more positive attitude towards oTPD (p<.001, r=.71). No correlation was found between self-assessed digital skills and participants' satisfaction.
The results of the study show that oTPD can make a valuable contribution to teachers' professional development. They offer an innovative learning environment that teachers can use at any time and in any place to help them develop their teaching in a more goal-oriented way. The findings may improve our understanding of the requirements for oTPD courses, guiding future design and implementation to ensure teachers reap even greater benefits.
Bibliography
Dede, C., Jass Ketelhut, D., Whitehouse, P., Breit, L., & McCloskey, E. M. (2009). A Research Agenda for Online Teacher Professional Development. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(1), 8–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487108327554
Dyment, J. E., & Downing, J. J. (2020). Online initial teacher education: A systematic review of the literature. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 48(3), 316–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2019.1631254
Johannmeyer, K., & Cramer, C. (2021). Nachfrage und Auslastung von Fortbildungen für Lehrerinnen und Lehrer: Effekte struktureller und inhaltlicher Angebotsmerkmale. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 24(5), 1183–1204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-021-01030-7
Lay, C. D., Allman, B., Cutri, R. M., & Kimmons, R. (2020). Examining a Decade of Research in Online Teacher Professional Development. Frontiers in Education, 5. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.573129
Rzejak, D., Künsting, J., Lipowsky, F., Fischer, E., Dezhgahi, U., & Reichardt, A. (2014). Facetten der Lehrerfortbildungsmotivation – eine faktorenanalytische Betrachtung [Facets of teachers’ motivation for professional development – Results of a factorial analysis]. Journal for Educational Research Online / Journal für Bildungsforschung Online, 6(2), 139–159.
| Name of the event | Conference Host | Place of the event | Start date of the event | End date of the event |
Crossing Boundaries in Education: Fostering Innivative and Sustainable Leraning Environments | International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) | Doha, Katar | January 18, 2026 | January 22, 2026 |
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