The assistant professor of education and director of the Teaching Fellows program co-authored the article in the journal Professional Development in Education and the peer-reviewed chapter in the Handbook of Research on Teacher Education in the Digital Age.
Jeffrey Carpenter, assistant professor of education and director of the Teaching Fellows, published an article in the journal Professional Development in Education along with co-author Daniel G. Krutka of Texas Woman’s University.
The article, titled “Engagement through microblogging: Educator professional development via Twitter” appears in Volume 41, Issue 4 of the journal, released in July, and describes how and why educators report using Twitter to facilitate their own professional learning.
Abstract
Traditional, top-down professional development (PD) can render teachers mere implementers of the ideas of others, but there is some hope that the participatory nature of social media such as Twitter might support more grassroots PD. To better understand Twitter’s role in education, we conducted a survey of K–16 educators regarding their use of the microblogging service for professional purposes. Respondents described multifaceted and intense use, with PD activities more common than use with students and families. This paper delves into qualitative data from 494 respondents who described their perspectives on Twitter PD. Educators praised the platform as efficient, accessible and interactive. Twitter was credited with providing opportunities to access novel ideas and stay abreast of education advances and trends, particularly regarding educational technology. Numerous respondents compared Twitter favorably with other PD available to them. Members of our sample also appreciated how Twitter connected them to educators beyond their own schools and districts, with mention of exposure to both like-minded and diverse perspectives. Respondents described positive and collaborative professional activity facilitated by Twitter, and many noted how it helped them combat various forms of isolation. We conclude by discussing implications of the survey results for educators, researchers and policy-makers.
The peer-reviewed book chapter, titled, “Social Media in Teacher Education” appears in the two volume Handbook of Research on Teacher Education in the Digital Age, published by IGI Global and edited by Margaret Neiss and Henry Gillow-Wiles. This chapter was also co-authored with Daniel G. Krutka of Texas Woman’s University.
Abstract
Social media’s rise has affected human interactions in significant ways, and such media may support learning. But how to prepare teachers who can maximize the educational potential of these technologies remains unclear. In this chapter the authors aim to summarize and synthesize extant research concerning social media use in teacher education, specifically attending to methods, theories, and findings. They begin by defining and situating social media with an eye towards affordances and drawbacks. The authors discuss pertinent research through the lens of experiences various mediums afford individuals and groups, including enhanced interaction, discussion, collaboration, community, feedback, mentoring, and support. Opportunities and challenges associated with the use of social media in the preparation of teachers in and for the digital age are discussed, and the chapter concludes by detailing implications of the existing literature for theory, practice, and future research.