A practice of e-learning platform in fostering professional development Zenal So ¨zgu ¨n 1 • Zehra Altinay 1 • Muhammet Berigel 2 • Hasal Karal 2 • Fahriye Altinay 1 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2017 Abstract As a result of this study, provided considerable contributions to examine the e-learning practices from the point of views and experiences of academicians who enrolled academic writing course with the support of Adobe Connect Programme during 10 weeks and also research findings revealed that authentic learning environment enriches critical friendship, dialogue however they have faced with barriers during the process. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the impact of e-learning application by using adobe program on fostering academic writing skills of adult learners as regards to their evalua- tion. During 10 weeks academic writing course with the support of e-learning practice, participants were asked to indicate their experiences about each of the ten barriers (1) administrative structure, (2) organizational change, (3) technical expertise, (4) social interaction and quality, (5) faculty compensation and time, (6) threat of technology, (7) legal issues, (8) evaluation/effectiveness, (9) access, and (10) student support services. Qualitative research design was employed and action research approach was implemented in this inductive process. (developed by Muilenburg and Berge). In this research, one of the qualitative research approach, the ‘‘action research’’ carried out within the scope of the pattern, a five-phase collaborative coaching model (FCCM) was developed to awareness regarding teaching and learning processes during the course. The process employed & Zenal So ¨zgu ¨n zenal.sozgun@neu.edu.tr Zehra Altinay zehra.altinaygazi@neu.edu.tr Muhammet Berigel mberigel@gmail.com Hasal Karal karalhasan@gmail.com Fahriye Altinay fahriye.altinay@neu.edu.tr 1 Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus 2 Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey 123 Qual Quant DOI 10.1007/s11135-017-0589-1