1. Educator Perceptions and Motivations of Virtual Professional Development during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: A Qualitative Case Study
- Author
-
Amanda J. Rios
- Abstract
In this qualitative study, the researcher analyzed how secondary educators perceived virtual professional development (PD) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Furthermore, the researcher explored educators' viewpoints on mental health and whether there were additional implications as it pertained to in-person PD. When school districts started to transition back into a brick-and-mortar setting, while still having some students continue to attend school online, educators were on the educational forefront for continuous changes that required an extensive amount of PD. In this study, the researcher examined the connectivism learning theory, which was established in 2004 by George Siemens. The results in this study demonstrated significant concepts that are paramount for educators. Results revealed that secondary educators feel that they have a lack of autonomy as it pertains to PD. However, the secondary educators in this research also stated that they were pleased with virtual PD during the time of COVID-19. Results in this research also revealed that the educators would still prefer to have the opportunity to attend in-person PDs. Lastly, there were several additional major themes, such as networking with other professionals; the need for relevant PD content; getting the choice to choose which format of PD educators need; having more effective PD outcomes; and there were discussions about distractions that come along with a virtual PD experience. Although implications of COVID-19 are still ongoing, educators returning to in-person instruction prompted the need for this study. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
- Published
- 2022