Indonesian teachers’ perceptions of MOOCs for digital professional development

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are increasingly used to support teachers’ continuing professional development, yet evidence on teachers’ perceptions of MOOC-based learning remains limited. This study examined perceived MOOC effectiveness, professional competence and confidence, and opportunities and challenges among 2531 Indonesian in-service teachers recruited through the e-Guru.id professional learning network. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, Welch’s independent-samples t-tests and Welch’s one-way analyses of variance, Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate corrections, effect sizes, and Games–Howell post hoc tests. Teachers generally viewed MOOCs positively, particularly for accessing teaching resources, enhancing pedagogical knowledge, increasing professional motivation, and supporting collaboration. However, institutional support received the lowest ratings, while workload and the effort required to sustain participation remained notable concerns. After correction for multiple testing, age, educational attainment, and teaching experience showed no robust differences. Only small gender differences and a small difference in perceived content relevance across MOOC-use-duration groups remained. The findings direct attention to content relevance, manageable learning demands, continued participation, and institutional support as priorities for MOOC-based teacher professional development.