Webinars for teacher professional development: perceptions of members of a virtual professional community of practice

Abstract

This study explores the significance of webinars as tools for supporting teachers’ professional development and growth beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, as perceived by the teachers themselves. The study employs a mixed methods approach, involving 394 teachers registered on a popular virtual community of practice (vCoP) who completed a survey, with twenty of them participating in focus group interviews. Quantitative data from the survey were statistically analysed using SPSS 25.0, while qualitative data from the focus group interviews underwent theme-based analysis. The findings suggest that teachers highly regard webinars as effective tools for professional development and believe that webinars should be an integral part of future teacher development programmes within the framework of blended learning models. The key strengths and weaknesses of webinars as tools for supporting teacher professional development are thoroughly addressed.