Meeting the professional development needs of online adult learners drawn from culturally and geographically diverse backgrounds

© 2010 Dr. Andrew MeyennThe International Baccalaureate (IB) is a worldwide education body. Computer Science, a subject offered in the pre-university Diploma Programme, has experienced declining enrolments and difficulty attracting qualified teachers. In 2006 the IB’s online Professional Development (PD) section embarked on an online programme to augment standard face-to-face workshops. Computer Science was the pilot subject and the researcher, in conjunction with a colleague, developed and conducted a number of online courses between 2006 and 2009. This research focuses on the attitudes of teachers to the online environment, in particular considering whether differences based on cultural, gender or stated learning preferences were present. Additionally, the role of the online teacher in maintaining motivation to complete the course was investigated, and the characteristics of the online environment were assessed against good practice and the aims of the IB’s online PD policy. A small voluntary sample drawn from the overall course participants completed an online survey. The survey questions enabled a mix of quantitative and qualitative responses to be collected and analysed using a mixed methodology. Given the small sample size of 41 teachers, limited use was made of non-parametric statistics to compare responses controlled for gender, cultural group or learning preference. Frequency distributions were inspected to compare these sub-groups in relation to attitudes. Qualitative responses were coded to allow cross comparison between quantitative and qualitative responses. The key findings were that for this specialist group there did not appear to be major differences in attitudes to the online environment based on gender, cultural grouping or stated learning preference. The assessment of the online environment indicated that it was flexible and met the majority of best practice principles, which enabled teachers with difference experiences of and attitudes to online learning to successfully engage with the courses. Additionally, the empathetic, flexible and encouraging nature of the online teachers was seen as an important characteristic of the online environment in terms of assisting teachers to manage the competing demands of the courses with their personal and professional time pressures, and hence maintain their motivation to successfully complete the PD