Abstract

• The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the teachers’ perceptions of online teaching. The open-ended questionnaire survey method and qualitative research design were applied in this study. A total of 100 teacher educators from Yangon University of Education and senior assistant teachers who are currently post graduate students in Yangon University of Education participated in this study. The open-ended questionnaire consisted of 7 open-ended questions about teachers’ perception of online teaching. Through the thematic analysis, four key themes such as efficiency of online teaching, benefits of online teaching, barriers to online teaching and needy support for online teaching were identified and each of these themes included three sub-themes. Under the efficiency of online teaching, three sub-themes emerged from the main theme: (i) digital literacy, (ii) engagement and (iii) restricted practical exposure. Under the benefits of online teaching, three sub themes emerged from the main theme: (i) international cooperation & communication, (ii) flexibility and (iii) professional development. Under the barriers to online teaching, three sub-themes emerged from the main theme: (i) teacher-student relationship, (ii) technical issues & technological illiteracy and (iii) health issues. Under the needy support for online teaching, three sub-themes emerged from the main theme: (i) technical support, (ii) time, financial support and (iii) training programs. The findings of this study provided information for concerned authorities to reflect on, with the goal of implementing adjustments to their existing practices in light of the fact that online teaching continues to be an area of development in education.