Self-Directed Online Learning: A Theoretical Model for Understanding Elementary Teachers' Online Learning Experiences

• In Event: Emerging Teacher Professional Development Models Using Technology

Abstract

This study involves an in-depth investigation into elementary teachers’ self-directed learning in an online environment. The virtual revisit think aloud, a methodology combining a retrospective procedure with screen recording technology, was used to capture cognitive processes from 15 elementary teachers as they used a professional development website. Resulting think aloud protocols and two other data sources (questionnaire and post-task interview) were analyzed using qualitative methods. Three phases of coding—open, axial, and selective—led to a theoretical model describing: (1) conditions that affect how elementary teachers use and learn from a professional development website, (2) the central phenomenon, navigating a professional development website, as influenced by the conditions, (3) navigational strategies, and (4) potential learning outcomes. Implications are discussed.

Author

• Pamela Beach, University of Toronto - OISE