Teachers' Professional Development through Online Learning Environment: A Phenomenological Study

Online learning environment (OLE) has provided teachers with excellent opportunities for professional development. The present study attempted to investigate how Iranian teachers used this for their professional development. In this study qualitative research approach was used. The participants consist of 25 teachers who actively promote the educational applications of the virtual environment. They were selected from among the teachers of Hamedan Province and were invited to a semi-structured interview. Snowball sampling technique was used, and the number of participants was decided to be 25 according to the principle of theoretical saturation. The findings suggested that teachers mostly use information retrieval, production and presentation of contents, and interactive tools for their professional development. By using information retrieval tools, they can access their required information in various fields, become informed about conferences and educational workshops, rethink their experience as well as improve their selfconfidence in responding to students’ questions. By using content production and presentation tools, they can produce high-quality multimedia contents, design various learning activities, encourage students to participate in activities, and adopt active teaching methods. teachers can use online learning environment (OLE) for their self-directed professional development through searching, interactive and content production tools.