PLN Teachers’ Use of Social Media for Professional Development · 2020-03-10 · PLN Teachers can...
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Teachers’ Use of Social Media for Professional Development Daniel Xerri University of Malta PLN
Transcript of PLN Teachers’ Use of Social Media for Professional Development · 2020-03-10 · PLN Teachers can...
Teachers’ Use of Social Media for Professional Development
Daniel Xerri University of Malta
PLN
Teachers can never truly teach unless they are still learning themselves. A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame.
Rabindranath Tagore
What kind of professional development do you undertake?
Traditionally:
Periodically enhance pedagogical skills and knowledge of subject matter
Via in-service seminars, workshops etc.
Done to teachers rather than something they choose to do
Top-down
Motivation
Intrinsic
Extrinsic
Other models
Emphasis on:
Teachers’ growth
New teacher roles
Culture of inquiry
Critical reflection on practice
Development of beliefs
Empowerment
Ownership
Collegiality
Intrinsic rewards
What’s a…?
P
L
N
ersonal
earning
etwork
PLN
Around for many years
Recently, the reach, size, availability and look of a PLN have changed
Defining a PLN Teachers’ assemblage of resources and
means of assimilating knowledge from those resources (Neubauer et al. 2011)
A social infrastructure that offers teachers access to materials, knowledge and new colleagues (Hanraets et al. 2011)
A means of participating in networked spaces where sharing and reciprocity are expected (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall 2012)
The Study In-service course on using social
media for professional development
60 secondary school teachers of English in Malta
30% of English teachers working in the state school sector
Mixed methods approach
Personal use
33.3%
40.0%
26.7% 1-5 hours
5-10 hours
More than 10 hours
91.6% 83.3%
16.7% 13.3% 10.0% 10.0%
YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Blogs Twitter Google Reader
PD use
Social media is an important (53%) or very important (30%) part of teachers’ professional development
Only 10% consider social media to be the most effective form of professional development
PD use
63.3%
23.3%
13.4% 1-5 hours
5-10 hours
More than 10 hours
81.6%
40.0%
10.0% 10.0% 7.0% 3.3%
YouTube Facebook LinkedIn Blogs Google Reader
“YouTube clips are an integral part of how I learn new things about English teaching”
“I never considered that social networks can be used for this”
Why do you use social media for professional development?
Teachers’ reasons Network with local and international
peers to share ideas and information
Relevant material made available through networking
Learning potential of a teachers’ network
Keep up-to-date with the latest trends in education
“I feel I know the other teachers wherever they are based…we’re all in this for the same goals”
“It helps me to learn and grow as a teacher”
“I feel I’m contributing something. It’s a process of give and take and it’s amongst colleagues who also become friends”
“It gives me a sense of belonging”
Facilitating use
Availability of time
Relevant training
Internet access at school
Hardware
Teachers’ motivation
“the dedicated teacher makes time for learning even though we’re always very busy”
“training gives such innovation a sense of recognition…teachers would realise that Twitter and Facebook can allow them to do great things”
Significance of training
While participating in these online spaces may appear easy, creating a PLN is in fact a highly complex intellectual and emotional task (Richardson & Mancabelli 2011)
Xerri, D. (forthcoming). Teachers’ use of social networking sites for continuing professional development. In Ġ. Mallia (Ed.), The social classroom: Integrating social network use in education. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
References Hanraets, I., Hulsebosch, J., & de Laat, M. (2011).
Experiences of pioneers facilitating teacher networks for professional development. Educational Media International, 48(2), 85-99.
Neubauer, B.J., Hug, R.W., Hamon, K.W., & Stewart, S.K. (2011). Using Personal Learning Networks to Leverage Communities of Practice in Public Affairs Education. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 17(1), 9-25.
Nussbaum-Beach, S., & Ritter Hall, L. (2012). The connected educator: Learning and leading in a digital age. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Richardson, W., & Mancabelli, R. (2011). Personal learning networks: Using the power of connections to transform education. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
