A VIRTUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL: BRINGING INNOVATION TO LANGUAGE TEACHING PRACTICE

Modern advancements in technologies and further developments in computer-mediated communication have tremendously enhanced social practices. They also empowered individuals in sense of motivation, overcoming psychological barriers, creating the "collective intelligence" (Levy, 1997), providing for temporal and spatial flexibility, and for the synthesis of communication technologies, group and individual forms of communication (Katz & Rice, 2002). Rooted in the belief that professional development has a visible influence on the educational process and eventually leads to students' achievements, this paper discusses in-service professional development in the context of a language institution in the Sultanate of Oman with a particular focus on the benefits of virtual environments on designing and implementing professional development and training programs that will enable teachers to bring innovation and creativity to their teaching practice. It also discusses barriers and challenges to professional development in the virtual context.