Page 22 - IJSA, Vol. 7, No 1, 2024

International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2024
рrint ISSN: 2617-2682; online ISSN: 2707-3637; DOI:10.26697/ijsa

United Arab Emirates (4.49%), Qatar (4.49%), India content data accessible and analysable for social science
(3.37%), Lebanon (2.25%), Kuwait (2.25%), Iran scholars. The qualitative data from these e-groups
(1.12%), Sri Lanka (1.12%), Tunisia (1.12%). permit a comprehensive mapping of how the CPD
One noticeable trend in both populations is the process is undertaken, identifying the interlinked
significant presence of Egyptian participants, elements that first, made this educational journey have
accounting for 38.05% in the first WhatsApp group and such broad reach, and second, uncover the guidelines
41.57% in the second. This can be attributed to the fact used to fulfil their mission.
that the entity monitoring the CPD program is the British
Embassy of Egypt. Therefore, it is logical that the Results
majority of instructors taking part in these CPD trainings The results of the study revolve around three main
are Egyptians. Another point worth emphasizing is that elements namely the meeting schedules and topics,
a small fraction of instructors do not belong to the group dynamic and interaction in both WhatsApp
MENA region. This is understandable, as invitations groups and lastly, the overall process of CPD-infused
sent to invite instructors can be referred to other WhatsApp-based e-training.
colleagues outside the immediate region. Meeting Schedules and Topics
Procedure The “Secondary Teachers” group appears to be targeted
After extracting chat-transcript from both WhatsApp at educators operating with secondary-level students,
groups “MENA English Teachers Community” and discussing a wide variety of teaching techniques in this
“Secondary teachers” over a 40-days period (10th of niche. During this 40-day period, they held about eight
January to 20th of February 2024), a meticulous meetings, equating to two regular meetings per 10 days,
protocol of cleaning the data was followed to enhance to discuss a broad spectrum of topics ranging from
the analysis on a later stage. Initially, we removed social-emotional learning in education, developing
irrelevant information including automated messages speaking skills, role play strategy, teaching writing, to
from WhatsApp, greetings, and notifications about enhancing reading and writing skills. Conversely, the
members joining or leaving the group. This was done “MENA English Teachers Community” is more
both semi-automatically meaning the process was partly encompassing for English language teachers in the
manual and partly automated. It was also essential to Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, sharing
organize the conversational threads in certain themes the same vision as the former. This vision is equipping
that would ease up the analysis process. Additionally, educators with pertinent language teaching techniques,
non-English content was translated for future use. regardless of the educational level they operate in, be it
Because regular meetings were held, Key Discussions primary, secondary, or tertiary. It is noteworthy to
were highlighted along with their respective dates that mention that, despite serving the same goal, the meeting
aligned with the analysis goals. This step-by-step format is different as this e-space is used more for
procedure prepared the data for a comprehensive announcing CPD-oriented seminars via Zoom, for
thematic analysis which is “a method for identifying, instance. In these 40 days, only two post webinar
analyzing, and interpreting patterns of meaning meetings were held. Similar to the Secondary Teachers
(“themes”) within qualitative data” (Clarke & Braun, WhatsApp group, many interesting topics were tackled,
2017, p. 297). including how to efficiently use technology in language
Data Collection Tools teaching, teach grammar more creatively, and how to
This CPD-focused journey began with an email practically implement group activities. Two post-
invitation to participate in a live ZOOM webinar during webinar meetings were held, and this group seems to
the COVID-19 crisis, which one of the researchers group mainly MENA educators to inform them about
attended and received a certificate. In late 2023, an upcoming events that may be of interest to them. So, it
invitation from the British Embassy in Egypt was sent is another way to reach a broader audience the same way
via email to join various WhatsApp groups, two of one can send an email reminder, one can send a text via
which were selected for an in-depth study using a WhatsApp.
descriptive multiple case study research design. To Group Dynamic and Interaction
realize this research, participant observation was the Because there were eight online CPD-focused meeting
initial data collection tool, as the researcher engaged in in the secondary teachers WhatsApp group, a noticeable
these groups and participated in WhatsApp-directed level of interaction has been noticed but both groups
professional continuous development conversations. To displayed an active participation and a considerable
thoroughly understand the dynamics of both WhatsApp level of engagement through sharing their ideas and
groups, “Secondary Teachers “, and “MENA English experiences on the discussed topic whilst upholding the
Teachers Community”, recorded transcripts were group rules.
extracted into a file for careful analysis. This digital An emphasis has been put on sharing their best practices
trace data, as defined by Howison et al. (2011), is and savoir-faire on the domain, which means not only
automatically stored by the social media platform and they discuss the theory but also the practice as well as
encompasses records of activity often through online the various case scenarios to which this pedagogical
information systems. Ohme et al. (2024) assert that it concept apply. This can immensely enlarge and extend
enables the analysis of content usage at an individual teachers’ repertoire of pedagogical methods and
level and those methods and tools are available to make techniques.

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