Online Community for Teaching and Professional Development

Terry Anderson, PhDProfessor, Centre for Distance

Education

Do you use Online Communities?

But Do you do you use it for Professional Development and to Enhance Student Teaching?

Does Social Networking Improve Teaching and Learning?

“The author summarized the major outcome findings of 29 dissertations that had a specific focus on SM-Education issues. Of these, only 2 studies reported any negative views by either students or faculty on the implementation of SM platforms for academic purposes. “

Piotrowski, C. (2015). Emerging Research on Social Media Use in Education: A Study of Dissertations. Research in Higher Education Journal, 27.

What is wrong with Current Professional Development (PD)?

• The overuse of single, one-day, episodic PD sessions is “intellectually superficial, disconnected from deep issues of curriculum and learning, fragmented, and noncumulative” (Ball & Cohen, 1999, pp. 3–4).

• Doesn’t work!

Uses of Networks for Professional Development

• A focus/meeting place for special interest groups

• “social networking tools can be used to garner collective emotional support and recognition for one's creative practices”

• Coordinating collaborative projects

Tapping the Wealth of Social Networks for Professional DevelopmentGreenhow, ChristineLearning & Leading with Technology, v36 n8

Microsoft’s Professional learning Community

• " Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) provide the support educators need to continue to grow new teaching skills with their peers.

• Groups of educators can work and learn together to improve student achievement through book study, action research, or learning a new best practice through PLCs."

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ukschools/2016/09/30/create-a-professional-learning-community-in-3-easy-steps-with-office-365/

An American, Commercial PD service

• Curricula are designed to enable participation in academic communities via online social networking tools.

• These online communities provide opportunities for collaborative learning, contact with external professionals and involvement in research and professional activities.

Shaha, S. H., Glassett, K. F., & Ellsworth, H. (2015).

• “Further, results from a handful of specific studies establish that the degree of teacher engagement in PD significantly affects the amount of improvement experienced in student performance, contrasting active participation versus more passive engagement based principally on video participation”

Shaha, Glassett &, Ellsworth (2015) Long-Term Impact Of On-Demand Professional Developmen On Student Performance. Journal of International Education Research. 11 http://docplayer.net/4067264-Journal-of-international-education-research-first-quarter-2015-volume-11-number-1.html

• It is much easier to build/create a social network platform than to populate it

What Creates Value in a Community

M. Seraj / Journal of Interactive Marketing 26 (2012) 209–222

TAM Model

Necessary Support

Keys to Success??

• Measurable goals and agreed upon goals for the community

• Activities designed to engage teachers• Action research or inquiry models focused on

tough questions• Collaboration, sharing of results• Institutional support and leadership

What do Students Want out of Facebook

Magro, M. J., Sharp, J. H., Ryan, K., & Ryan, S. D. (2013). Investigating ways to use Facebook at the university level: A Delphi study. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 10, 295-311.

Using Personal Learning Networks with Students

“these results suggest that the techno-pedagogical design of instructional sequences strongly affects the respective communicative and interactive dynamics and determines, to a great extent, the use that students make of the widgets available in the iPLE to configure their own PLE.”

Saz, A., Engel, A., & Coll, C. (2016). Introducing a personal learning environment in higher education. An analysis of connectivity. Digital Education Review(29), 1-14.

Dron, J., & Anderson, T. (2014). On the Design of Social Media for Learning. Social Sciences, 3(3), 378-393.

Soft Versus Hard Technologies

• Soft – unfinished, malable, need user direction, many facetted, complex, effective

• Hard – single purposed, simple to use, unyielding, efficient

https://landing.athabascau.ca/blog/view/65996/the-neediness-of-soft-technologies

Hardening in networks should mostly be concerned with reinforcing network ties, alerting members to relevant activities, simplifying communication and sharing, and helping people to structure, make sense of and yet not be overwhelmed by their networks.” Dron and Anderson, 2014

The Network Paradox

• “ The network is not useful till it is used – it is not used until it is useful”

• Cold start problem

Network Facilitation as Gardening

Our Athabasca Examplelanding.athabascau.ca

What is the Landing?

• Walled Garden with Windows• A Private space for AU• A user controlled creative space• Boutique social system• Networking, blogging, photos,

microblogging, polls, calendars, groups and more

• Differentiating and merging work, from school, from fun

"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.”

Chinese Proverb

Terry Anderson terrya@athabascau.ca

Slides at http://hdl.handle.net/2149/2313

Blog: terrya.edublogs.org

Your comments and questions most welcomed!