Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal Volume 2 | Page 24

APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2018, Vol. 2
How Might Online Distance
Learning Contribute to Coach
Development?
Prof Ben Oakley and Dr Alex Twitchen
The Open University
Abstract
The UK wide Future of Coaching Strategy (2016-
2025) and the Coaching Plan for England (Sport
England, 2016) identified the need to embrace
technology and to foster an improvement culture
which provides accessible digital learning to better
support the development of coaches. This article
reports data on 19,100 unique visitors to a free
open access course targeted at active coaches over
an eleven-month period in 2017/18. It examines
their online behaviour and their responses to
course surveys and other online feedback spaces.
The research focuses on an analysis of: i) the
demographic profile of those motivated to enrol
on the course, ii) evidence of the topics and
online functions that most engaged participants,
and iii) how the participant’s learning experience
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contributed to their development. The evidence
from this study indicates how carefully structured
digital forms of learning can benefit the continuous
development of coaches, when blended with a
wider range of learning opportunities.
Introduction
“The best coaches do not know it all. In fact…they
never stop learning, never stop asking questions,
and always are looking for ways to improve”
(O’Sullivan, 2013).
Traditional models and systems of coach education
have focused almost entirely on formal coaching
qualifications at different levels (eg Level 1, 2
or 3) and most ignore the value and importance