Using Twitter to Form Professional Learning Communities

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.

Converging experiences, converging audiences: An analysis of doctor who on Twitch

While primarily considered to be a platform for live streaming of video games, Twitch has recently diversified into streaming archival television content. In 2018 and 2019, episodes of the television show Doctor Who, originally aired between 1963 and 1989, were shown on the service, which also provides a synchronous chat function for viewers to communicate with each other as they watch. This article examines this phenomenon through conducting qualitative and quantitative surveys with a segment of the viewership of these streams in order to uncover a diversity of age and experience with the content that exposes a convergence of viewership. Results indicate that the convergence of audiences and novel affordances of the service provide opportunities for new experiences and forms of interaction, both with the media content and with other viewers. The live, synchronous nature of the broadcast is a key feature, and while some viewers found having less control over their viewing experience disconcerting, it resulted in different watching and production practices. This included the creation of memetic content which was shared with the wider community of fans beyond those watching the stream. We argue that new forms of communal watching are enabled by digital convergence and emerging technology platforms and services. These lead to new shared media experiences and outcomes.

Online composition: strategies and processes during collaborative electroacoustic composition

This pilot study analysed the learning strategies of advanced students and professional electroacoustic composers engaged in creating new musical pieces through online collaboration. The participants were divided into three groups and interacted in a virtual setting using synchronous (chat and Skype) and asynchronous tools (forum, compositional software) to perform the compositional activities. A multiple case study design was used to describe and interpret the actions of the participants. Forum discussions, Skype dialogues and e-mail exchanges were examined to explore the participants’ interactions and understand their actions during the online activities. Individual semi-structured interviews focusing on the processes and working approaches were conducted. The following themes were considered for the analysis of the collaborative compositional activity: working approach, relational model, leadership, organisation and compositional process. The participants effectively completed the compositional activities on the online platform, and based on the results, the following phases emerged as: (a) context definition; (b) planning/organising; (c) experimenting/generating musical ideas; (d) constructing and (e) evaluating. The findings are discussed regarding the educational implications of developing didactic activities based on collaborative composition.

An Examination of the #NGSSchat Storify Database

Teachers frequently use Twitter to engage in professional learning activities. A prominent example of teachers’ use of Twitter for such purposes is evident within the #NGSSchat community, which encouraged synchronous (at the same time) conversations between teachers and other educational stakeholders regarding the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) curriculum reform in the United States. Notably, #NGSSchat moderators archived the chats via the Storify platform, which has subsequently been used by researchers to understand science teachers’ professional learning activities on Twitter. However, what has not been established is the representativeness of this archive of #NGSSchat tweets. In other words, whether those who archived #NGSSchat content selected only a (potentially biased) selection of tweets is as yet unknown. Thus, in this study, we examined the Storify #NGSSchat database and compared it with raw data requests using the Twitter API. We found that the synchronous chats most data was adequately achieved. Contrarily (but as anticipated given what distinguishes the #NGSSchat community-synchronous conversations), the Storify #NGSSchat database did not capture most data outside these synchronous chat sessions. Importantly, we did not find an indication of systematic content- or user-driven tweet exclusion within the synchronous NGSS chat sessions on Storify, suggesting that the #NGSSchat archive via Storify (and potentially others like it) may be used by researchers for most research-related purposes.

Faces or Fingers

The use of synchronous sessions in online teaching is rising. In many online courses, students attend webinars, live lectures, and other audio/video sessions built to enhance course content. As more classes move online, there is a need for research that shows the effectiveness of synchronous sessions in both content mastery and community building. This chapter compares student participation in synchronous sessions in an online TESOL methods course in an effort to build community among class members. The synchronous methods compared include video webinars through Blackboard Collaborate (face chats), events in a private Facebook group (finger chats), and synchronous instant messaging (finger chats). Discussion focuses on interaction and community building in the different modes of synchronous chat. The chapter concludes with some suggestions for best practices that can benefit teachers who are looking for ways to enhance participation and build community in synchronous sessions in online courses.

Using text-based synchronous chat to offer therapeutic support to students: A systematic review of the research literature

Objective: Counselling within educational settings has now become commonplace. As with the advent of the use of new technologies in teaching, such developments are also impacting the broader support structures available to students. One development is the move of schools to offer pupils access to online counselling services. To date, such practices have received little attention, and this paper synthesises the existing empirical research literature in this area. Design: A systematic review of the literature was conducted which focused upon synchronous chat counselling for 11- to 25-year-olds. Method: Key bibliographic databases were searched for relevant papers. These were assessed for relevance and quality prior to being included into the analysis. The final selection of studies was analysed for key themes. Results: In all, 19 papers met the inclusion criteria. The thematic synthesis identified four higher order themes: (1) developing safe and youth-friendly online services, (2) online client characteristics, (3) in-session online processes and (4) session alliance and outcome. Conclusion: These themes outline the varied challenges and opportunities present within this developing practice. Each is initially discussed alongside existing literature related to online counselling before the implications for educational providers are explicitly considered. Ultimately, it is concluded that online counselling for students has much potential, however, those commissioning such services need to be mindful of common pitfalls.

Theoretical Importance of Contingency in Human-Computer Interaction

A critical determinant of message interactivity is the presence of contingency, that is, the messages we receive are contingent upon the messages we send, leading to a threaded loop of interdependent messages. While this “conversational ideal” is easily achieved in face-to-face and computer-mediated communications (CMC), imbuing contingency in human-computer interaction (HCI) is a challenge. We propose two interface features—interaction history and synchronous chat—for increasing perceptions of contingency, and therefore user engagement. We test it with a five-condition, between-participants experiment ( N = 110) on a movie search site. Data suggest that interaction history can indeed heighten perceptions of contingency and dialogue, but is perceived as less interactive than chatting. However, the chat function does not appreciably increase perceived contingency or user engagement, both of which are shown to mediate the effects of message interactivity on attitudes toward the site. Theoretical implications for interactivity research and practical implications for interaction design are discussed.