FLIPPED PROFESSIONAL MOOC: PROBLEMS AND NEEDS AMONG ESL EDUCATORS

Abstract

Today, the shortcomings of the traditional professional development programs have spurred the idea of a flipped professional development in coping with the current pandemic where almost everything is going online. In most cases, it is mostly held in the form of workshops aimed at delivering pedagogical content to educators; however, they leave no time for the design and implementation of the content. Thus, the idea of flipping the professional development program via integration of technology was emphasized. This research was carried out among 46 ESL educators in a private university in Perak to develop a flipped professional development Massive Open Online Course. This research was carried out to identify the problems faced and the needs by ESL educators in the existing professional development programs and thus, develop suitable training programs for ESL educators that will be essential for educators in coping with the current trend in technology. Mixed mode was the design of this research and it was employed beginning with the needs analysis, design, and development of a MOOC. The pyramidal Train-to-Learn framework for research is adapted from theories namely the (i) Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and (ii) Zone of Proximal Teacher Development (ZPTD) along with Gagne's 9 Events of Instruction. This study adopted Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) instrument. Implications for future research is to look into the experiences and readiness of these educators to attend such type of professional development training, to have wider positive perceptions, same visions and goals about technology integration.