Purpose: One of the major challenges in teacher training programs is the gap between the theory that is presented to pre-service teachers and actual classroom practice. Many researchers, educators, and pre-service teachers have emphasized the difficulty of linking theory and practice in teacher education programs. The purpose of this study is to better understand the impact of online teaching videos on the development of self-efficacy beliefs in pre-service teachers. Design/methodology/approach: Over 400 student teachers participated in this study. Statistical analyses of questionnaires were conducted to assess the impact of online teaching videos. The results reveal that online videos did affect the self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service teachers. Findings: Online videos of teaching practices appear to contribute positively to feelings of self-efficacy in pre-service teachers. Practical implications: Given the importance of self-efficacy for teachers' professional development, online videos could prove highly useful to this end. Apart from the impact of the videos themselves, self-directed learning has the benefit of flexibility in terms of time and space, which is typical of open and distance learning in general. Furthermore, online videos can be readily adapted to individual professional development plans, according to the teacher's needs, in contrast to more formal training programs (either initial or continuing) with their relatively rigid, predetermined contents. Originality/value: This study presents an original self-training online video device that could easily be integrated in teacher training to support effectively their professional development. (Contains 3 figures.)