1. EDUCATORS’ PERCEPTIONS AND REPORTED
BEHAVIORS ASSOCIATED WITH PARTICIPATION IN
INFORMAL, ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
NETWORKS
Debbie Fucoloro, Ph.D.
32nd Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult and Higher Education
Lindenwood University, St. Charles, MO
September 20-21, 2013
2. ABOUT ME
• B.A. and M.A.T. Webster University
• 19 total years in teaching
• Classroom teacher – 10 years + 9 years
• 3rd, 4th, 6th S.S., 7th Sci., and digital video to
middle schoolers
• Instructional Technology Specialist – 9 years
• Currently Technology Coordinator
3.
4. Computers are not being utilized as education
tools as expected.
Bauer and Kenton (2005), Toward Technology Integration in the Schools: Why It Isn’t Happening
5.
6. Overriding sentiment:
“It’s been 30 years since the advent of the personal
computer and we’re still struggling to get teachers
and administrators to integrate digital
technologies into their daily work in ways that are
substantive and meaningful.”
~ Scott McLeod (2011)
7. Purpose
Investigate educators who use social media for
informal professional learning.
What motivates them:
• to seek out and connect with other educators
• to advance their professional learning
• on their own time
8. Importance of the Research
filling the gap in literature
http://globaltoynews.typepad.com/.a/6a0133ec87bd6d970b014e86e58ea8970d-500wi
9. So What?
- shed light on how to better support all
educators professionally
- nurture reluctant technology users
- encouraging and mentoring their participation
in these environments
- increasing their ability to use best practices in
technology integration in order to positively
impact student learning
10. Conceptual Framework Evolution
1. How do we encourage and support educators
to incorporate best practices in technology
integration when planning lessons?
2. Can educator use of social media for informal
professional development increase
technology integration and, in turn, student
learning?
3. However, first it is important to learn more
about educators who currently use social
media for informal professional
development.
11. Foundation of Conceptual Framework
• Paulo Freire – learning is a social act and
dialogue is the heart of education
18. Adult Learning
Connectivism
focuses on the
amplification of
learning,
knowledge, and
understanding
through the
extension of a
personal network
via social media
27. New Paradigm Suggested
• Self-directed
• Differentiated
• Ongoing
• Job embedded
• Flexible
• Encourages self-analysis and personal
reflection
28. New Paradigm
• PLNs should be validated as a powerful
professional development component
• Not: Traditional vs Informal
• But a mix of:
traditional & emerging, formal & informal
29. Research Questions
Q1 What are educators’ perceptions
and reported behaviors associated
with participation in informal, online
professional development networks?
31. Q2 Do educator’s perceptions and
reported behaviors differ based on:
• current assignment
• years in education
• age
Research Questions
32. Methodology
“Unless researchers first generate an accurate
description of an educational phenomenon as it
exists, they lack a firm basis for explaining or
changing it.”
~ Gall, Gall & Borg
33. Instrumentation
• 1st Demographics
• 2nd Traditional Professional Development and
Technology Integration
• 3rd Using Social Media/Networks to Meet
Professional Development Needs
34. • establish a baseline description of
knowledge regarding educators who use
social media for professional development
• lay the groundwork for further in-depth
studies based on the findings
35. Variables
1. Current assignment – grade
level, position, subject area, and school
setting
2. Years in education--categories included 1-10
years, 11-20 years, and 21+ years
3. Respondent’s age included a drop-down box
for exact age
36. Population Sample
• Pre-K through higher education
• Teachers, administrators, librarians and media
specialists, specialists (Art, Music, P.E., Foreign
Language)
• Instructional support personnel (Technology
Specialists, Special Ed., Counselors, Gifted
Ed., Language acquisition)
• Education industry
(retirees, consultants, bloggers, authors)
37. Population
• Snowball sampling method to access
approximately 16,900 educators via Twitter
and Nings
• 1,000 Twitter followers
• 10,000 members of Educator’s PLN Ning
• 6,000 members of ISET Community Ning
38. Sample
“…return rates for Internet surveys are lower
than mail surveys and sometimes abysmal.”
~ Cox & Cox, 2008
Hoped to get at least 100 participants.
44. Findings
Favorite social media application to use
for informal professional development:
http://bettergraphic.com/free-and-paid-fonts-used-in-logos-of-popular-brands/
45. Open-ended Themes - Why Twitter?
Community & Convenience
“It is the modern equivalent of the 18th century
coffeehouse—a place teaming with
ideas, opinions, research, discussion, collaborati
on, and bold vision.”
http://blog.songcastmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/twitter-community-600.jpg
46. Open-ended Themes – Why Twitter?
Informal Learning & Sharing
“I have created a PLN that I feel meets my needs
by providing resources, ideas, and challenges to
improve learning for my students.”
http://images.wisegeek.com/people-independently-working-in-a-cafe.jpg
47. Open-ended Themes – Why Twitter?
Professional Improvement
“I have developed more as a professional since
participating in #edchat than I did in the last five
years.”
http://appliedsimplicity.org/files/u2/group_3w.jpg
48. Open-ended Themes – Why Twitter?
Isolation Reduction*
“The largest difference is that I no longer feel
alone in the classroom. I think it is hard for
those outside of education to realize how
isolated teachers were before social media.”
49. Findings
• Educators (99%) believed they should take
personal responsibility for continued
professional growth and improvement.
50. Findings
How well did each of the following prepare you
to make effective use of technology for
instruction?
55. Current Assignment - Position
• Administrators perceived that employers used
more methods to support technology
integration than classroom teachers.
• Administrators had a more positive view of
the effectiveness of PD in educational
technology provided by school, district, or
campus than classroom teachers.
67. Key Recommendations to
Future Researchers
1. Examine successful programs currently
supporting the use of, and giving credit to
and recognizing educators for participation
in informal, online professional development
networks.
68. Key Recommendations to
Future Researchers
2. Is there a correlation between participation in
informal, online professional development and:
- Improved practice
- Increased student learning
- Increased technology integration
- Increased confidence in tech integration and
lesson planning
- Increased feeling of belongingness—less isolation
- Increased satisfaction with personal professional
development
69. Key Recommendations to
Future Researchers
3. Conduct longitudinal studies to investigate:
- quality of teacher education programs
- employer-provided professional development
on the integration of technology for
instruction
70. Key Implications for
Education Leaders
1. Make technology integration a priority.
Focus on sound pedagogy and lesson
planning rather than just tools and
application use.
72. Key Implications for
Education Leaders
2. Allow educators input regarding professional
development:
- differentiated
- self-directed
- example – unconference and edcamp models
or cMOOCs
73. Key Implications for
Education Leaders
3. Provide professional development that is
ongoing and job embedded.
4. Encourage (don’t demand) participation in
informal professional development networks
and support development of PLNs.
74. Key Implications for
Education Leaders
5. Explore ways that would support, honor, and
give credit for time spent in informal, online
professional development.
6. Administrators need to lead by example by
modeling effective use of technology—for
example, in communicating with
students, parents, and staff.
75. Implications for
Educators
1. Participate in informal, online professional
development by starting your own PLN built
on your needs and passions—start small, find
mentors, be patient.
1. Take responsibility for your own professional
growth and improvement.
76. Implications for
Educators
3. Advocate for the legitimacy and recognition
of time spent participating in informal, online
professional development networks.
4. Advocate for professional development that is
self-directed, differentiated, ongoing, and job
embedded.
77. Implications for
Educators
5. Be bold and share what you learn in these
environments and encourage others to join in
the conversation.
6. Model lifelong learning by staying as up to
date as possible regarding technology
integration.
78. The next best thing to being wise oneself
is to live in a circle of those who are.
~ C. S. Lewis
The next best thing to being wise
oneself is to live in a circle of those
who are. ~ C. S. Lewis
“It’s been 30 years since the advent of the personal computer and we’re still struggling to get teachers and administrators to integrate digital technologies into their daily work in ways that are substantive and meaningful.”
Literature review found little on the topic Those studies that were available were conducted on closed or managed networks constructed for research purposesLack of in-depth research available on topic of study
Though Freire’s work predates social media technologiesGiven that informal learning is dialogical rather than a curriculur formIt’s not hard to image that Freire would have encouraged the use of social media as a communication platform for educators to utilize in order to engage in discussions that encourage reflection and inspire action and reform, thereby improving and transforming their practice, student learning, and the educational system.
International Society for Technology in EducationDeveloped standards for students, teachers, administrators and now coachesNETS-S, NETS-T, NETS-A, NETS-C
Literature Review:Adult Learning TheoryProfessional DevelopmentPLN
Lindeman - Adult learning theory stresses the potential of informalsociallearning that focuses on discussion and collaboration as central elements. "Friends educating each other" was a theme Lindeman championed.
Knowles - ADL or andragogy is the art and science of helping adults learn in a self-directed manner in which the desire for control, flexibiity, and feedback are satisfied.
Mezirow - TLT promotes inclusion (giving voice) and empowerment (belongingness and equity as a member) and opportunities to negotiate between and across cultures. Social media facilitated.
Wenger - CoPs focus on people and social structures that enable adults to learn with and from each other.Learning is social
CoP – people and social structures that enable adults to learn with and from each otherConnectivism – Siemens and Downes: ...a construct for learning in the digital age, focuses on the amplification of learning, knowledge, and understanding through the extension of a personal network via social media.Friends educating each other
Guskey - Professional development should be self-directed, ongoing and job-embedded, not an event. Cross - ...having great connections to networks, which satisfy both the community concept (social media) and the knowledge aspect (access to information) of learning.Learning is social.
Guskey - Professional development should be self-directed, ongoing and job-embedded, not an event. Cross - ...having great connections to networks, which satisfy both the community concept (social media) and the knowledge aspect (access to information) of learning.Learning is social.
Richardson & Mancabelli a PLN is a set of connections to people and resources, both offline and online, who enrich our learning.
I propose that the PLN has resurrected the "friends educating each other” model of adult learning.
We need to take a step back and consider how things have changed.
Pre-Internet – teacher’s store, magazines, face-to-face: conventions, workshops, classes all input (one-way) no conversation
Networked teacher with access to Internet – social bookmarking, personal publishing platforms, aggregators; two-way interactions
The social networked teacher is now connected to everyone that each person they are connected to are connected to…learning is amplified
Literature suggests a new paradigm for staff development that should be:Self-directedDifferentiatedOngoingJob-embeddedIn addition,FlexibleEncourage self-analysis and personal reflectionSetting the stage for PLNs to be validated as a powerful professional development component
Q1a What motivates educators to participate in informal, online professional development networksQ1b What types of informal, online professional development networks do educators report they use to connect with other educators to enhance their practice?Q1c What specific informal, online professional development networks do educators report they find most useful in order to improve their practice?
Descriptive research study used a survey instrument which had both quantitative and qualitative components and was administered by Zoomerang (now SurveyMokey), an online third party vendor.
Findings
Q1Most common grade level was preK-5 and Least represented was higher educationQ2Most reported they were classroom teachersQ3 No differences found regarding subject – surprised researcher. Most indicated they were self-contained, which includes most subject areasQ4Most indicated their schools were set in the suburbs.Q5Most have been teaching for 1-10 years, but fairly distributed.
Q16Educators used Twitter significantly more than Facebook, social bookmarking, wikis, blogs, RSS, and Nings and marginally more than cloud storage and sharing.Graph represents currently use
Twitter was designated by respondents as their favorite social media application
Open-ended QuotesTwitter – Community“It is the modern equivalent of the 18th century coffeehouse—a place teaming with ideas, opinions, research, discussion, collaboration, and bold vision.”
Open-ended QuotesTwitter – Informal learning“I have created a PLN that I feel meets my needs by providing resources, ideas, and challenges to improve learning for my students.”
Open-ended QuotesTwitter – Improve practice“I have developed more as a professional since participating in #edchat than I did in the last five years.”
Open-ended QuotesTwitter – Isolation reduction“The largest difference is that I no longer feel alone in the classroom. I think it is hard for those outside of education to realize how isolated teachers were before social media.”
Q11Most (96%) educators believed they learned how to make effective use of educational technology for instruction through informal/independent learning—”on my own” than other methods.
Q11Added strongly agree and agree = 96% informal
Conflict
Q12NO:Training in technology integration (lesson planning)Encourage participation in informal professional development networks (social media)YES:Training on technology tool useEncourage faculty to share ideas
Q13 Mixed findings.It met my personal goals: 46% strongly disagree or disagreeIt supported the goals/standards of my state/district/school: only 57% strongly agree or agreeI was able to choose or self-select what I wanted to learn: 46% strongly disagree or disagree
Consistent finding = perhaps use of SM would help them feel more confident. Get PD on own and don’t wait for employer.
Q7
Bottom line.
Social media for PD is relatively new, additional research would be valuable in expanding our understanding of these dynamic learning communities. Further research and practice useful to those responsible for planning PD.
In order to understand how this may be done and build upon the insights gained so as to develop a best-practice model to be used in schools, districts, and campuses.
Conduct research on each of the previously mentioned by demographic group:Current assignment (grade level, position, subject, school setting)Years in educationAge
DifferentiatedAllows for self-directionUnconference and edcamp models or cMOOCs