COURSERA ONLINE COURSES FOR EFL TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

Arnis Silvia (arnis.silvia@gmail.com)

Faculty of Da’wa and Communication
UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Abstract

EFL teachers are facing growing challenge to foster their professional development. At the
same time, they are occupied by administrative works at school, by initiatives to improve
students’ proficiency and by an urgency to be updated on their field issues. Conventional
professional development programs were commonly costly, centralize on big cities and did
not provide a nature of collaboration. On the other hands, there have been a rapid growth of
MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) provided by big names of world class universities
and open source platforms. Among other courses, these MOOCs provide professional
development programs for teachers which is collaborative in nature and cost free.

This paper presents the attitudes towards professional development program by Coursera
(coursera.org) perceived by teachers/participants of Foundation of Teaching for Learning 1:
Introduction course. The survey reveals that most participants see the course structure is well
organized and effective and the materials learnt help them to improve their teaching practice.
However, the participants feel that the institutions did not commonly support the participants
for such professional development programs.

What does it mean to be a professional TEFL teacher?

Australian Council of Profession (2004) defines profession as:

1) a disciplined group of individuals who adhere ethical standard,
2) who are accepted by the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely
recognized body of learning, research, education, training at a high level, and
3) who are prepared to apply this knowledge and exercise the skills in the interest of
other.
These definitions suggest that a professional teachers are not only knowledgable in delivering
the lesson, conducting research and training, but also abide by the ethical standards and
dedicate themselves for the other’s (students) improvement. There have been growing
evidence demonstrating that—among all educational resources—teachers’ abilities are especially
crucial contributors to students’ learning (Darling-Hammond, 2006).

Teachers need not only to be able to keep order and provide useful information to students
but also to be increasingly effective in enabling a diverse group of students to learn ever more
complex material (Darling-Hammond, 2006). To support this, continuous professional
development programs should be carried out.

Professional development programs are systematic efforts to bring about change in the
lassroom practices of teachers, in their attitudes and beliefs, and in the learning outcomes of
students (Guskey, 2002). Ideally, an effective PD program works flexibly around teachers’
busy schedules, provides sustained follow-up, includes ongoing coaching, engages teachers

1
in active learning experiences with teaching methods, focuses on integration with specific
subject-matter content, involves reflection on instruction and beliefs, fosters collaboration
with colleagues, and examines the impact of instruction on student outcomes (Jaquith,
Mindich, Wei & Darling-Hammond, 2011; Ross, 2011). However, most current PD programs
usually take place in face-to-face settings, by allocating certain period of time outside the
teaching hours and usually one-sided training.

Guskey (2002) proposes a model of teacher change as the result of teachers’ PD programs as
follows.

Fig 1. A Model of Teacher Change (Guskey, 2002)

This model suggests a different sequence among the three major outcomes of professional
development. According to this model, professional development enables teachers to make
change in their teaching practice which results on the students’ learning outcome. Finally, a
teachers’ attitudes and beliefs change after they gain evidence of improvements in student
learning.

Current Face-to-Face Professional Development Programs

Current professional development (PD) often does not effectively support teachers in
transforming their instruction (Crawford, 2011). One-shot workshops—“professional
development” days with little direct connection to classrooms, coaching support, or follow-
up—often have minimal impact on teachers (Jaquith, Mindich, Wei, & Darling-Hammond,
2011). The absence of follow-up PD programs hinders the teachers’ enthusiasm for content
presented in PD workshops. Without continuing encouragement and support [upon the
completion of workshops and courses], the average teacher has a remarkable capacity for
reverting back to old practices (Sprague, 2006). Teachers need time beyond the PD
workshops to (a) build competence in new tasks or strategies, (b) create new structures, (c)
try new roles in safe environment, and (d) engage in discussions regarding beliefs and
assumption about issues related to practice (Garmston, 2003).

PD programs should be followed by: (a) instruction in theory, (b) demonstration, (c) practice,
(d) feedback, and (e) coaching. From these elements, conventional PD programs commonly
provide instruction in theory and demonstration, which needs further follow-ups in the forms
of practice, feedback and coaching. As a consequence, these current PD programs do not
effectively support teachers in transforming their instruction (Crawford, 2011). Whereas,
follow-up programs is an important factor in professional development.

For this reason, a need for high-quality PD is urgently demanding. Effective PD works
flexibly around teachers’ busy schedules, provides sustained followup, includes ongoing
coaching, engages teachers in active learning experiences with teaching methods,focuses on

2
integration with specific subject matter content, involves reflection on instruction and beliefs,
fosters collaboration with colleagues, and examines the impact of instruction on student
outcomes (Jaquith, Mindich, Wei, & Darling- Hammond, 2011; Larson, 2005; Ross, 2011).

The common challenge for busy teachers to attend professional development programs is the
lack of time for face-to-face meetings where they can engage in extensive collaboration
(Beach, 2012). Teachers are already occupied with daily instructional materials, lesson plans
and assessments thus sparing a blocked time to conduct intensive PD programs is
challenging. Meanwhile, finding substitute teachers can also produce readjustment to the
students.

As classrooms evolve and students bring more digital capabilities than before, today’s PD
programs should also change in a ways that not only promote teachers’ professional
development, but also teachers’ digital literacy (Beach, 2012). This digital literacy is
beneficial for teachers to collaborate, plan with, and learn from other teachers on their school,
other teachers from various countries who have similar questions on their teaching practice.

To address this challenge, online collaboration using digital tools for problem solving,
planning, curriculum development, assessment, and reflection (Dede, 2006; Ross, 2011) can
be utilised. These digital tools can take forms as learning management systems (LMSs) such
as: Blackboard, Moodle, Ning, Edmodo or as social networking tools such as: Facebook or
Google+. The most current trending online digital learning tools are called MOOC which
stands for Massive Open Online Course. Some platforms like Coursera, EdX, Canvas,
Udacity and such are pioneering the trend of MOOC providing various courses from different
fields of study and some world class universities.

There are some advantages of online professional development programs. To begin with, it
allows the teachers to access the program at their own convenience and potentially address
the problem of lack of time (Green & Cifuentes, 2008). Second, it enables teachers to actively
collaborating with teachers around the globe. This surely enriches the teachers’ view and
horizon about different classroom settings or mutual classroom problems. Third, it promotes
coaching and self-reflection elements of an effective PD program. Online PD programs
consists of self-reflection surveys at the beginning and ending of the course for students’
learning reflection. Besides, online PD programs also features peer-assessment where the
participants are criticizing, giving suggestions for improvements, questioning, and also
confirming the submitted tasks.

Coursera Online Professional Development Course

Coursera is an MOOC (massive open online course) platform established by Daphne Koller
and Andrew Ng at Stanford University which provides free online courses of various fields of
study from different world class universities. Established in 2012, Coursera now has 431
courses from 85 partners (universities, colleges, and institution) with over 4,500,000 students.
During 2013, Coursera provides 35 online courses focusing teachers’ professional
development from various fields. Among 35 courses, 19 courses are for TEFL teachers.

Each Coursera course has various time of duration, ranging from 4 weeks to 12 weeks and
commonly requires 4-6 hours workload in a week. Each course contains sequence of
materials as presented in figure 2.

3
 Fig 2. Coursera features

These features can be described as

a) course overview, covering the general description, goals and objectives of the course
b) syllabus, presenting the sequences of materials, quizzes, assignments and peer
c) assessment tasks throughout the study session
d) readings, consisting reading materials which correspond to the subject matter, in the
forms of book chapters, web articles, or published journal articles.
e) Peer Assessment, consisting final assignments which cover all taught material
f) Grading and logistics, mentioning the criteria of assessment, deadlines, and scoring
rubric
g) video modules, consisting 10-15 minute long - professor’s presentation on the subject
matter, equipped with subtitles and slides. The videos can
h) discussion forum, facilitating questions, ideas, suggestions about the course content,
particular technical issues, and thought sharing among the participants, staffs, and
professors.
i) surveys, including pre-survey and post-survey reflecting the learning experience and
attitudes towards the course
j)
Comparing these features to Garmston’s (2003) effective PD programs elements, the
effectiveness of coursera features is presented below.

Elements of effective PD programs Coursera features

a) build competence in new tasks or - video modules

strategies - readings
- discussion forums
- quiz
b) create new structure - quiz
- assignments (essay)

4
c) try new roles in safe environment - support student group (through social media
like Facebook)
- peer assessment
d) engage in discussions regarding beliefs - discussion forum (within coursera page)
and assumption about issues related to - support student group (through social media
practice like Facebook)

Table 1. The features of Coursera courses compared to the elements of effective PD programs

At the end of the course completion, each participant will get a statement of accomplishment
(with minimum 70% total grade) or statement of accomplishment with distinction for >80%
achievers. Alternatively, participants who are willing to obtain certified certificate, Coursera
offers a Signature Track which requires a payment for the certificate. This signature track is
verified by the university and coursera and proves that the work is truely the participants’
work, not someone else.

Below is the example of statement of accomplishment.

Fig 3. Statement of Accomplishment

Starting this year, Coursera is offering more professional development courses for teachers,
which is occuring in 2013 and 2014. Here are some of the courses.

Fig 4. Samples of Coursera PD courses for TEFL teachers

5
Some other PD courses are presented in this table
No. Names of courses Institution Date
1 Foundation of Teaching for Learning 1: Commonwealth August 19, 2013
Introduction Education Trust
2 Foundation of Teaching for Learning 2: Commonwealth September 16,
Being a Teacher Education Trust 2013
3 Foundation of Teaching for Learning 3: Commonwealth October 2013
Learners and Learning Education Trust
4 Foundation of Teaching for Learning 4: Commonwealth November 2013
Curriculum Education Trust February 2014
5 Foundation of Teaching for Learning 5: Commonwealth April 2014
Planning for Teaching and Learning Education Trust
6 Foundation of Teaching for Learning 6: Commonwealth June 2014
Introduction to Student Assessment Education Trust
7 Foundation of Teaching for Learning 7: Commonwealth August 2014
Being a Professional Education Trust
8 Foundation of Teaching for Learning 8: Commonwealth November 2014
Developing relationships Education Trust
9 Foundation of Virtual Instruction University of September 30,
California, Irvine 2013
10 Surviving Your Rookie Year of Teaching: Match Education October 2013
3 Key Ideas & High Leverage Techniques
11 Common Core in Action: Literacy Across New Teacher October 2013
Content Areas Center
12 Effective Classroom Interactions: University of October 22, 2013
Supporting Young Children’s Virginia
Development

13 Emerging Trends & Technologies in the UCIrvine November 2013

Virtual K-12 Classroom
14 Coaching Teachers: Promoting Changes Match Education November 2013
that Stick
15 Common Core in Action: Literacy Across New Teacher December 2013
Content Areas Center
16 Student Thinking at the Core Vanderbilt January 2014
University
17 Engaging Students through Cooperative John Hopkins To be Announced
Learning University – (TBA)
School of
Education
18 On the Hunt for Feedback: Self-Directed Match Education To be Announced
Teacher Improvement (TBA)
19 First Year Teaching (Elementary Grades) - New Teacher To be Announced
Success from the Start Center (TBA)
20 First Year Teaching (Secondary Grades) - New Teacher To be Announced
Success from the Start Center (TBA)
21 Teaching Character and Creating Positive Relay Graduate To be Announced
Classrooms School (TBA)
Table 2. Offered PD courses by Coursera

6
Participants’ Attitude towards Coursera Online Professional Development

By conducting a survey to peer participants who are taking a Coursera course entitled
“Foundation of Teaching for Learning 1: Introduction”, attitudes towards PD programs was
investigated. The survey uses Guskey’s (2000) professional development evaluation which
covers: (a) participants’ reactions, (b) participant learning, (c) participants’ use of new skills,
(d) organizational culture, and (e) student outcomes. The survey is presented on the
Appendix.

The survey has 15 items and is conducted online by a free survey tool called Survey Monkey.
The link of the survey is posted on discussion forum on coursera page and on Facebook
participants’ learning group. It is delivered at the last week of the course thus the participants
have already wrapped up the materials and assignments. There are 24 responses collected by
this method. These responses are coming from course takers from different countries (Rusia,
Italia, Brazil, Indonesia, USA, Turkey, and India).

Means of each item will be described as strongly positive (4 - 5), positive (3,5-3,9), neutral
(3,0 – 3,4), mildly negative (2,5-2,9) and strongly negative (0-2,4). The means of attitude
survey items are presented below.
a) Participants’ Reactions

5
4,23
3,88 4 3,88
3,77 3,58
4
3,08
3

0
Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5 Item 6 Item 7

Means

Fig 6. Participant Reaction (item 1-7)

The above table suggests that the participants have mostly positive attitudes towards the
content and nature of the PD programs. Participants strongly think that the online PD
program is relevant to their field (item 2) and think that the required time allocation by the
course developer is adequate (item 2). Later, they positively agree that the content of the PD
program (clear objectives, good organizaation) is satisfying to them (item 1, 3, 5, 6).
However, most participants feel neutral that working together with their faculty colleagues
will result better (item 7) therefore they do not involve their colleagues to construct teaching
plans based on the online course.

7
b) Participants’ Learning (item 8-11)

4 3,96 3,96

3,9
3,8 3,76

3,7 3,65
3,6
3,5
3,4
Item 8 Item 9 Item 10 Item 11

Means

Fig 7. Means of Participants’ Learning

In responding to their learning, most participants positively believe that professional

development program helped them developing a greater understanding of evidence-based
practice for teaching (item 8), integrating evidence-based practice material into their situation
(item 9), acquiring the intended knowledge and skills to create their teaching plan (item 10),
and enhancing their contributions to the school community (item 11).

c) Participant Use of New Skills (item 12-13)

5
4 4
4

0
Item 12 Item 13

Means

Fig 8. Means of Participant Use of New Skills

When asked about the use of new skills, participants strongly consider that they will put the
assignment and plan from the course to support achievement in their school (item 12) and
they will communicate the knowledge gained in the course to various stakeholders in their
school community (item 13)

8
d) Organizational Culture (item 14)

3,5
2,88
3
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
Item 14

Means

Fig 9. Means of Organizational Culture

Dealing with organizational culture/ support, participants negatively think that follow up plan
from the course was supported their campus/ institutions. This means that there is no support
system from the workplace to foster the teachers develop their professionalism through online
course.

e) Outcomes (item 15)

5 4,35
4

0
Item 15

Means

Fig 10. Means of Outcome

The means of outcome points out that participants strongly think that the course have positive
impact on their teaching thus it positively affects the students’ achievement.

To sum up, participants commonly have positive attitudes towards the nature and the content
of the course and their independent learning. They also positively think that the course bring
good impact on their teaching philosophy and practice. However, they do not think positively
about the institution and colleague supports in succeeding their online PD programs. Despite
this thought, participants positively believe that the online PD programs have positive impact
on their teaching practice and students’ achievement.

9
Where to go from here: Research Agenda

This paper has highlighted the nature of TEFL teachers’ professional development in online
setting by revisiting the theory of professional development, proposing some free online
courses, and decribing the result of a simple survey study on online course for professional
development. It can be summed up that online PD courses have positive impact and seen
positively by the participants for their independent learning. As a moving forward towards
attending the online PD courses, EFL teachers can make use of their online courses for
research purposes.

Online PD courses are rich research fields as there are so many aspects that worth to study.
There have been a big number of researches in the last decade focusing on some aspects of
online courses, namely: the effectiveness of the programs, the comparative effect between
online course and face-to-face course, the pattern of participants’ interactions during the
course and so forth (Dede et al., 2009).

Below are some previous researches on online courses

Mackey, J., & Evans, T. (2011). Interconnecting networks of practice for professional
learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(3).
Masters, J., De Kramer, R. M., O’Dwyer, L. M., Dash, S., & Russell, M. (2010). The effects
of online professional development on fourth-grade English language arts teachers’
knowledge and instructional practices. Journal of Educational Computing Research,
43, 355–375.
Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. (2008). A review of research on the impact of
professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning. Teaching
and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 80-91

Being professional is indeed a life-long learning which requires hours of learning, reflecting,
reproducing, delivering, investigating and reporting. It is about time that EFL teachers will be
both active learners in their professional development programs and productive researchers in
their fields.

10
 REFERENCES

Beach, R. (2012) Can Online Learning Communities Foster Professional Development?

Language Arts, Volume 89, March 2012, 256-262
Crawford, A. H. (2011). Bringing professional development into the 21st century. Education
Week. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/3hhpes3 on September 2011
Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Constructing 21st-Century Teacher Education. Journal of
Teacher Education, Vol. 57, No. 3, May/June 2006
Dede, C. (Ed.). (2006). Online professional development for teachers: Emerging models and
methods. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education.
Dede, C. et al. (2009). A Research Agenda for Online Teacher Professional Development.
Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 60 Number 1, 2009, 8-19
Garmston, R.J. (2003). Group wise. Journal of Staff Development, 24(4), 65-66
Green, M. & Cifuentes, L. (2008) An Exploration of Online Environments Supporting
Follow-Up to Face-to-face Professional Development. Journal of Technology and
Teacher Education (2008), 16(3), 283-306
Guskey, T.R. (2000). Evaluating Professional Development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
Press
Guskey, T.R. (2002). Professional Development and Teacher Change. Teachers and
Teaching: theory and practice, Vol. 8, No. 3/4, 2002, 381-391
Jaquith, A., Mindich, D., Wei, R. C., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2011). Teacher professional
learning in the United States: Case studies of state policies and strategies.
Larson, M. (2005). Professional development models: A review of the literature. Charleston,
WV: Edvantia.
Mackey, J., & Evans, T. (2011). Interconnecting networks of practice for professional
learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(3).
Masters, J., De Kramer, R. M., O’Dwyer, L. M., Dash, S., & Russell, M. (2010). The effects
of online professional development on fourth-grade English language arts teachers’
knowledge and instructional practices. Journal of Educational Computing Research,
43, 355–375.
Ross, J. D. (2011). Online professional development: Design, deliver, succeed! Los Angeles:
Corwin Press.
Sprague, D. (2006) Research Agenda for Online Teacher Professional Development. Journal
of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(4), 657-661
Vescio, V., Ross, D., & Adams, A. (2008). A review of research on the impact of
professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning. Teaching
and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 80-91

11
Attitudes towards Online Professional Development Program
Introduction

Dear respected peers,

Thank you for sparing your time to fill out this questionnaire. This questionnaire is reflecting your attitude towards the
most current Coursera course "Foundation of Teaching for Learning (1): Introduction".

Your response will be kept anonymous.

I do appreaciate your response.

P.S.
The questionnaire consists of two parts and this is the first part.
Please proceed to the second part after finishing this first part.

Regards,

Arnis Silvia
English Department
State Islamic University of Jakarta

1. Goals and objectives of the professional program were clear

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

2. The professional development program content was relevant and consistent with overall objectives

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

3. The professional Program was well organized

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

4. The time required for professional development was appropriate

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

5. Setting my own schedule for involvement in professional development worked well for me

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

6. The Foundation of Teaching for Learning 1 (Introduction) support plan was appropriate in length and format

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

7. Working with other faculty at my institution/ school helped me create a more meaningful plan

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

12
8. The professional development program helped me develop a greater understanding of evidence-based
practice for teaching

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

9. The professional development activities helped me integrate evidence-based practice material into my
situation

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

10. This professional development program helped me acquire the intended knowledge and skills to create my
teaching plan

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

11. The professional development program enhanced my contributions to the school community

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

12. I will put the assignment and plan in my course into use to support achievement in my school

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

13. I will communicate the knowledge I gain in this course to various stakeholders in my school community

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

14. Creating follow up plan from this course was supported by my campus/ institutions

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

15. I believe my new learning is likely to increase student performance

Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

Where to go from here? – Research Agenda

a) Impact of Online Professional Development on Teacher Quality and Student
Achievement (Dash, et al : 2012)
b) Learning to teach online or learning to become an online teacher: an exploration of
teachers’ experiences in a blended learning course (Quinn : 2011)
c) The effects of online professional development on fourth-grade English language arts
teachers’ knowledge and instructional practices (Masters, et.al: 2010)
d) Measuring oral proficiency in distance, face-to-face, and blended classrooms (Blake,
et.al : 2008)

13
Crawford, A. H. (2011). Bringing professional development into the 21st century. Education
Week. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/3hhpes3.

Jaquith, A., Mindich, D., Wei, R. C., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2011). Teacher professional
learning in the United States: Case studies of state policies and strategies.

14