Abstract: This explorative study aimed to get insight into teachers’ attitude towards using MOOCs for professional development purposes and their respective design preferences. An additional aim was to create awareness for MOOCs as a serious option for professionalization purposes. Quantitative data using surveys and qualitative data via email was collected in March 2020 and March 2021. The results showed that teachers were generally quite positive about the idea of using MOOCs for professional development purposes which was further strengthened by their online teaching and learning experiences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on their design preferences key design recommendations are a) take the xMOOC format as a starting point, b) ensure flexibility in terms of time and pace. This means that a self-paced option should be provided, c) explicitly support instructor and peer interaction and d) choose the topic wisely; MOOCs are not always best suited for teaching certain skills.