Using Twitter to Form Professional Learning Communities

2022 ◽  
pp. 510-525
Author(s):  
Mete Akcaoglu ◽  
Charles B. Hodges ◽  
Lucas John Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
State Level ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Synchronous Chat ◽  
The Social ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Teacher Professional

Social media has become an important tool for informal teacher professional development. Although there is a growing body of research investigating issues across the US, there is a lack of research on teacher professional development taking place on Twitter in Georgia, USA. In this research, the authors applied digital methods to analyze 5,425 entries from educators participating in a state-level, weekly, synchronous chat about educational technology (#TECHTalkGA) on the social media platform Twitter. Findings include that participants utilized the chat for organization, planning, and classroom technologies, with a predilection toward specific hardware and software topics. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Online Professional Learning in Response to COVID-19—Towards Robust Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Alireza Ahadi ◽  
Matt Bower ◽  
Abhay Singh ◽  
Michael Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Evaluation Approach ◽  
Online Mode ◽  
Evaluation Models ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Workshop Evaluation

As COVID-19 continues to impact upon education worldwide, systems and organizations are rapidly transiting their professional learning to online mode. This raises concerns, not simply about whether online professional learning can result in equivalent outcomes to face-to-face learning, but more importantly about how to best evaluate online professional learning so we can iteratively improve our approaches. This case study analyses the evaluation of an online teacher professional development workshop for the purpose of critically reflecting upon the efficacy of workshop evaluation techniques. The evaluation approach was theoretically based in a synthesis of six seminal workshop evaluation models, and structured around eight critical dimensions of educational technology evaluation. The approach involving collection of pre-workshop participant background information, pre-/post-teacher perceptions data, and post-workshop focus group perceptions, enabled the changes in teacher knowledge, skills, and beliefs to be objectively evaluated, at the same time as providing qualitative information to effectively improve future iterations of the workshops along a broad range of dimensions. The evaluation approach demonstrated that the professional learning that was shifted into online mode in response to COVID-19 could unequivocally result in significant improvements to professional learning outcomes. More importantly, the evaluation approach is critically contrasted with previous evaluation models, and a series of recommendations for the evaluation of technology-enhanced teacher professional development workshops are proposed.

scholarly journals Professional Learning in a Digital Age / L’apprentissage professionnel à l’ère numérique

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charmaine Brooks ◽  
Susan Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Formation Professionnelle ◽  
De Re ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Online Teacher

While professional development (PD) has always been central to the teaching profession, increasingly traditional models of PD are out of step with contemporary ways of learning. Commiserate with the literature, we see the field moving along a continuum which reflects changes in what, how and when teachers learn. Following a brief sketch of the online teacher professional development (oTPD) field, we identify important considerations of emerging models of technology-mediated professional learning (TMPL). We posit the catalyst for the transformation of education, as envisioned by countless educational leaders, may lie in reimaging professional development as professional learning in a networked age. Alors que le perfectionnement professionnel (« PP ») a toujours été au cœur de la profession d’enseignant, les modèles traditionnels de PP sont de plus en plus décalés par rapport aux méthodes contemporaines d’apprentissage. Nous voyons ce domaine progresser dans un continuum qui reflète les changements dans ce que les enseignants apprennent, dans la façon et le moment où ils l’apprennent, et cette progression correspond à la littérature. Après un survol du domaine du perfectionnement professionnel en ligne pour les enseignants, nous cernons des considérations importantes sur les modèles émergents de la formation professionnelle assistée par ordinateur. Nous postulons que le catalyseur de la transformation de l’éducation, comme conçue par d’innombrables chefs de file de la pédagogie, pourrait être de ré-imaginer le perfectionnement professionnel comme une formation professionnelle à l’ère des réseaux.

scholarly journals Designing teacher professional development programs to support a rapid shift to digital

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Heap ◽  
Ruthanne Thompson ◽  
Adam Fein
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
The Impact

AbstractFrom a design perspective, this paper offers a response to the impact, value, and application of a manuscript published by Philipsen et al. (Improving teacher professional development for online and blended learning: A systematic meta-aggregative review. Educational Technology and Research Development, 67, 1145–1174. 10.1007/s11423-019-09645-8, 2019). Philipsen et al. (2019) reviewed what constitutes an effective teacher professional development program (TPD) for online and blended learning (OBL), with our response focusing on its value and application in light of an emergency shift to digital to address a global pandemic. This paper also proceeds to examine limitations in previous research into the subject and future research opportunities to investigate important components that inform the design of a resilient and scalable TPD for OBL.

scholarly journals Factors That Influence Curricular Adoption in a Sustainability Focused Marine Science Professional Development for In-Service Teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Goodale
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Science ◽  
Marine Science ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

The focus of this article is on the evaluation and outcomes of a professional learning opportunity that focused on 13 current K–12 public school science educators in the United States. This teacher training concentrated on sustainability education that utilized marine sciences as a unifying concept. Findings from this training helped to identify models within teacher professional development in marine science that lead to comprehensive adoption of presented curricula. Four established models/frameworks of professional development were identified and their subsequent classroom implementation was evaluated. Results include adoption rates of the various session materials, the impact and effect size of differing variables (such as deliverables or standards alignment) among the four models and their frameworks and changes in perceptions towards sustainability initiatives. These outcomes underscore several methods and strategies for successful science teacher professional development implementation in regard to marine sciences.

scholarly journals Augmented Reality in Lower Secondary Education: A Teacher Professional Development Program in Cyprus and Greece

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Ilona-Elefteryja Lasica ◽  
Maria Meletiou-Mavrotheris ◽  
Konstantinos Katzis
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
First Century ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
The Impact

The current article provides an overview of a Teacher Professional Development (TPD) program that has been designed, pilot tested, and implemented to investigate the impact of augmented reality (AR) on: (a) Teachers’ level of technology (AR) acceptance, adoption of inquiry-based instructional approaches, and confidence towards teaching twentieth-first century skills in STEM-related courses; and (b) students’ potential enhancement of specific twentieth-first century skills and motivation and interest during a STEM- (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)-related course supported with AR. This article focuses on the teachers’ points of view concerning the impact of their STEM-related interventions on their students’ motivation and learning, as well as the factors that influence the teachers’ technology acceptance. The TPD program has been implemented in Cyprus and Greece with twenty-five lower secondary school teachers (20 in Cyprus and 5 in Greece). The research methodology applied is Educational Design Research (EDR), including an initial phase of the TPD program and a second (improved) phase. The data collection tools consisted of questionnaires, interviews, and observation of classroom interventions. Initial findings and their implications for teaching and future research are discussed, indicating the potential benefits and challenges surrounding the integration of AR within the educational process.

“Digital buddies”: parasocial interactions in social media

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mujde Yuksel ◽  
Lauren I. Labrecque
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Personal Accounts ◽  
Parasocial Interactions

Purpose This paper aims to focus its inquiries on the parasocial interactions (PSI) and relationships (PSR) consumers form with personae in online social media communities. The authors extend the marketing literature on parasocial interaction/relationship beyond brands by focusing on personal social media accounts (public student-athletes). Design/methodology/approach The authors adopt a grounded theory methodology (Glaser and Strauss, 2009) triangulating observational netnographic data (Kozinets, 2010) of 49 public student-athlete accounts on Twitter (34,500 tweets) with in-depth interviews. The findings emphasize that PSI/PSR occur not only from interactions with brands but also through personal accounts on social media platforms. Findings The investigation reveals that through such social media platforms, PSI/PSR influence consumers cognitively, affectively and behaviorally. In terms of cognition, the data suggest that PSI/PSR can influence opinion, interests, attention allocation and construction of relations, specifically through the availability of in-depth knowledge about the social media persona. Additionally, the research findings indicate that affect-laden messages from persona can alter emotion and mood, induce empathetic reactions and trigger inspiration, especially in relation to the shared interest of the online community of the social media account. Behaviorally, the findings suggest that personas’ messages can direct and inspire both online and offline actions through endorsed behavioral parasocial interactions. Research limitations/implications This research focused on one specific social media platform, Twitter. Twitter was specifically chosen, because it is a popular social media platform and allows non-reciprocal relationships. Although the authors feel that the findings would hold for other social media platforms, future research may be conducted to see if there are differences in PSI/PSR development on different types of networks. Additionally, the authors focused on a specific type of personal account, student-athletes. Future research may wish to extend beyond this population to other personal social media accounts, such as fashion bloggers, diy bloggers and others. Originality/value This research reveals that PSI/PSR can occur not only from interactions with brands but also through personal accounts on social media platforms. The findings give support for the value of brand spokespersons and brand ambassadors and suggest that brands should take careful consideration into who is chosen to represent the brand.

scholarly journals The Professional Development of English Language Teachers in Colombia: A Review of the Literature

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (21) ◽  
pp. 89-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ximena Paola Buendia ◽  
Diego Fernando Macías
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
English Language Teachers

This article offers a review of 25 empirical studies to identify the areas and findings of professional development initiatives for in-service English teachers in Colombia. The reviewed studies suggest that language teacher professional development has focused on six major areas: language proficiency, research skills and reflective practice, teachers’ beliefs and identities, an integrated approach to teacher professional development, pedagogical skills and teaching approaches, and emerging technologies. Results suggest that there is a need to move from traditional master-apprentice, content-oriented, teacher-centered models of professional development towards initiatives that allow teachers to critically analyze their particular context and needs, and devise their own local alternatives so that they can become more active agents of their own process of change. Issues that constitute possible alternatives for future research in the professional development of English language teachers are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document