Engagement Patterns of Participants in an Online Professional Development Programme: An Application of Mixture Modelling

Abstract

Unhindered communication capabilities, in the form of internet, led us to believe that the difficult goal of “Education for All” is within our grasps. Recent studies have shown mixed results for learning over the internet, indicating that we are still far away from our desired goal. Online environments provide freedom to large number of learners, to learn at their own pace. Understanding the various ways in which participants engage with online content could help explain the mixed outcomes. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study on engagement patterns of 4567 elementary school teachers, in an online professional development programme. Using mixture modelling techniques, we identified five latent profiles of online engagement and seven latent classes based on off-platform activities. We present our findings followed by discussion and implications for online courses.