INVESTIGATING THE OPINIONS OF MoNE STAFF ABOUT INSET PROGRAMS VIA DISTANCE EDUCATION

The aim of this study is to investigate the opinions of the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) staff about in-service training (INSET) programs via distance education. The subjects of this study were the staff (n=15) of the Inservice Training Department of MoNE in 2008. During the study, the qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews held with the (MoNE) staff by the researcher. The results of the interviews revealed the importance of needs assessment, the relationship between INSET program course content and participants’ school curriculum, support mechanism in INSET programs via distance education, the application of what is learned and providing various opportunities to them that lead to their active involvement to the application of these programs, the characteristics of learning environments for these programs, INSET instructors’ teaching competencies and skills to fulfill various roles in online learning environments, of measuring and evaluating the performance of teachers during INSET programs via distance education and of the effectiveness of INSET programs via distance education.