Mobile phones assist teachers to develop deep learning in continually professional development

The purpose of this paper is to examine mobile phones through a conceptual framework for continued professional development (CPD) to develop deep learning for teachers. Mobile phones have become necessary for teachers to interact professionally with people around them (students or colleagues), and a mobile phone has the potential to be applied to any teachers’ education to support continued teachers’ professional development in developing countries, where access to training or education might be curtailed for some reasons. This study uses a qualitative approach based on a case study with a single-case designed to explore teachers’ knowledge as they work in teacher working groups (TWGs) and their use of mobile phones. This extended research was conducted after twenty teachers completed a national training programme in one single rural area. An in-depth analysis was conducted with seven teachers who continue to share their knowledge in their TWG via the activity dissemination programme (DP) as facilitators. Data have been collected using semi-structured interviews, observation techniques, and digital media records to provide detailed portrayals of teachers’ mobile phone use during extended periods of CPD to look at how deep learning emerges through mobile phones. The findings show that mobile phones contribute to the emerging of deep learning participants in the process of knowledge exchange in a teacher’s working group. This is supported by three nodes that emerge during the analysis of the data, which consist of beliefs, moral values, and visible activities. These node activities were shown through the mobile phone when the facilitators assisted the members of the DP to learn and teach with the topic named “high order thinking skills approach,” as shown by text in the chat group and physical action. Collaboration and cooperation not only take place but also outside the class through mobile phones, where facilitators collaborate to discuss and do practice in a small chat group on WhatsApp and accept calls from their colleagues for consultation. The results show that mobile phones bridge the facilitators beliefs by answering and responding to their members in the DP chat group. Facilitators became more confident in sharing with other members in the DP. Further, mobile phones reveal facilitators actions through their the belief, moral, and value dimensions by showing their activities and knowledge in chat groups or WhatsApp status. Therefore, the result of this paper is contributed into education systems and to the educational community.