Exploring higher education professionals’ use of Twitter for learning: issues of participation. - PowerPoint Presentation

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Exploring higher education professionals’ use of Twitter for learning: issues of participation.

Dr. Muireann O’Keeffe

Critical Perspectives on ‘Openness’ in Higher EducationSRHE: The Digital University

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EdD my thesis.Slide2

Let’s talkIf you

use open social networking sites for professional reasonsHow do you use these sites?What are the potential challenges?What strategies have you developed to deal with these challenges?

Image from http://www.freepik.com/ Free license with attribution: seibei Slide3

Academic Developer DCU

EdD graduate IOE UCL @muireannOK

Image: CC BY-NC Muireann O’Keeffe,Slide4

Motivation and idea

I advocated Twitter as a learning tool with HE staffI have responsibility to lead by example, demonstrate critical awareness of technology I engage with (Selwyn & Facer, 2013) Exploration of Twitter for informal professional learning (Gerstein, 2011; Holmes et al., 2013; Lupton, 2014)

Image from www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/hand. Designed by Freepi. Free license with attributionSlide5

Rhetoric V Research

Top Tool for Learning

Collaboration & learning Supports sharing of practiceBuilds connectionsKeep up-to-dateSlide6

Research questions What are the activities of HE professionals using the social

networking (SNS) site Twitter? How are activities on Twitter supporting the learning of these HE professionals? What are the barriers and enablers experienced by these HE professionals in engaging with Twitter for professional learning? Slide7

Case study approach

Exploratory research Holistic view of situationConclusions can be questions for further research(Buchanan, 2012; Denscombe, 2010; Yin, 2014)Participants: 7 HE professionalsLecturers, learning technologists, academic developersCross-case analysis

Image from https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-coffee-meeting-team-7096/ CC0Slide8

Data Collection & Analysis

Twitter – Data HarvestTAGS explorer (Hawksey, 2014) Follow-up interviews

Semi-structured Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006)Data analysis revealed enablers and barriers for professionals in using Twitter for learning.Slide9

An approach to social learning: (Wenger, 1998) Slide10

An approach to social learning: (Wenger, 1998) Slide11

Factors for informal learning

Eraut (2004)Slide12

Informal online professional learning

Networked learning, connected learning, connectivismCommon assumptions: learning is self-determined, participatory, authentic and relevant to needs (Garrison & Anderson, 2003; Hayes & Gee, 2005; Ito, et al., 2013; Siemens, 2006). Online as a space/place (White & Le Cornu, 2011; Gee, 2005)Visitors and Residents typology: Wenger’s modes of participation Visitors : peripheral /non-participationResidents : participation Slide13

Framework

Figure: Muireann O'Keeffe

EdD thesis http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1521971/ Slide14

Visitor - Resident continuum

(White & Le Cornu, 2011)Slide15

Findings: Activities (RQ1) Slide16

Visitor activities on Twitter Slide17

Resident participants Slide18

Findings (RQ 2)RQ2 – How activities on Twitter influenced practice:

New ideas, toolkit (Louise)Challenged thinking (Louise, Carol)Initiated collaborations (Ben, Maurice)New teaching approaches: peer review, Peerwise, lab teaching (Ben, Maurice, Louise)Slide19

Findings (RQ 3)Slide20

Visitors

I don’t have the bravery (confidence)

I’m not readyI’m not confident about it being massively openI’m hyper sensitive of people judging my commentsI would agonise over tweets for too long Colleagues who know a lot more Because people I subscribe to are kind of fairly high upSlide21

Visitor participants – inhibiting factors Slide22

Residents

There is a tendency for group think It’s all about having the correct etiquette and just being a nice person

I think confidence is a huge issueIt’s a subject I feel very confident in You have the freedom to say ‘actually this is what I believe’ and maybe I don’t know ‘I’m happy to be proved wrong I suppose people would be perhaps cautious that they may say something silly, misrepresent the institution, misrepresent themselvesSlide23

Resident participants – enabling factors Slide24

Residents on TwitterSlide25

Key themesSlide26

Overall….

All participants demonstrated different ways of being social online Differnet modes of participation underpinned by various reasonsNon-participation an opportunity for learning: “being silent is still a social practice” (Wenger, 1998, p. 57) Is Twitter an inherently social space?Slide27

Shortcoming of peripheral participation

Denise, Paul, Carol: strong reluctance to increased participationLearning to participate in communities is perceived to be important in establishing voice: “the purpose is not to learn from talk as a substitute for legitimate peripheral participation; it is to learn to talk as a key to legitimate peripheral participation” (Lave & Wenger, 1991, pp. 108-9).Louise: peripheral participation helped establish voice on Twitter, showing changing

modes of participation paralleled with an identity trajectory. Slide28

Belonging in open online spacesOnline

spaces for learners endorsed as affinity spaces (boyd, 2011; Hayes & Gee, 2010; Ito, et al., 2013; Stewart, 2014) Others warn against simplified and unchallenged findings that extol the virtues of learning in online spaces (Selwyn & Facer, 2013) Paul ( Visitor): others more knowledgeableKnowledge and status hierarchyHughes’ (2010): affinity through knowledge-related identity was fundamental to learningSlide29

Belonging

Paul equal to other educators in formal face-to-face contexts Denise: comfortable in engaging in face-to-face discussion Did other factors marginalise their participation online and prevent finding affinity with others Resident participants, Maurice and Ben, were both male and had secured permanent “participating online feels different if you are a woman” (Neary & Beetham, 2015, p. 98)

“These platforms were designed with specific people in mind, and those people were rarely people of color, minorities, women, or marginalized folks” (Singh, 2015)Slide30

Barriers inhibited capacity to participate

Visitors: marginal position “creating an identity of non- participation that progressively marginalised them” (Wenger, 1998, p. 203). Slide31

Stumbling & experimenting I

mportance of legitimacy in peripheral participation “inevitable stumblings and violations become opportunities for learning rather than cause dismissal, neglect or exclusion” (Wenger, p101). Understanding and benefiting from Twitter: experiment and use Twitter (McPherson, Budge, & Lemon, 2015; McCluskey & Readman, 2014). Slide32

Vulnerability / care

Denise’s concerns: exposure & vulnerability Singh (2015) urges educators be sensitive about openness as for some it can signify harm “These do not feel like safe spaces when you are developing your identity, your subject specialism, and your voice….” (Beetham, 2016, blog)Stewart’s (2016) research, in contrast, highlights how those who engage peripherally on Twitter, without participation in networks, might not benefit from networks of careSlide33

Affective barriersParticipants had an

emotional response to Twitter Trust: important in CoP’s – Wenger (1998)Vulnerability in online spaces, unknown audiences (boyd, 2014)Confidence“Much learning at work occurs through doing things and being proactive in seeking learning opportunities, and this requires confidence” (Eraut 2004)Slide34

Evolving modes of participation

Louise: Visitor to ResidentIdentity shift/development Learning to participate in communitiesEstablishing voice: “the purpose is not to learn from talk as a substitute for legitimate peripheral participation; it is to learn to talk as a key to legitimate peripheral participation” (Lave & Wenger, 1991, pp. 108-9)Louise’s peripheral participation helped establish professional voice on TwitterPeripheral participation led to more significant participation

Identity trajectorySlide35

Twitter: an identity opportunity

Turkle (1997) online as an identity opportunity Wenger (1998): identity as an educational resourceWesch (2008): online enables development of self-awareness Twitter/SNS: rich development opportunity development opportunity stimulating reflection on the self and one’s position in societal, cultural, institutional and global contexts. Placing SNS into prof dev opportunities can support identity and digital identity work Slide36

ContributionsProfessionals use SNS in varied ways, not all positively disposed to participation

SNS provide opportunities but create complex effects Support needed: more than technical, digital identity development (confidence & identity)Multiple issues identified need critical thought and further discussion among academic developers and those supporting education in digital eraSlide37

Duty of Care?

Risk-taking, vulnerability of open onlineCare: As educators how are we protecting people from that gap?(Stewart, 2016)Image from https://pixabay.com/en/railway-platform-mind-gap-1758208

/ CC0Slide38

Questions for practice

Critical discussion is required to discover what it means to work in the digital age in education (Beetham, 2015) As can be seen from the data the virtual world presents particular emotional challenges (Neary & Beetham, 2015) and is a messy experience (Budge, Lemon, & McPherson, 2016). Should academic developers model online social networking practices and behaviours? If so what do these practices and behaviours look like?More broadly, how do we create safe places for networked forms of learning and how can we best support this? Should support be framed by policies, by guidelines, by procedures, or by developing critical thinking regarding SNS and Twitter? Digital identity is important, but it is formed in conjunction with the practices and responsibilities of HE professionals. How can academic developers help support professional identity and thus support digital identity? Slide39

Questions for practice What key supports do HE professionals need to thrive in a twenty-first century environment?

If digital identity is increasingly part of ‘Identity’, how do we support both?What do processes of identity development in digital climate look like? As academic developers: How do we support staff in online spaces?In using SNS how does that alter our duty of care for staff and students? How do we “mind the gap” with HE professionals in online spaces? (Stewart, 2016)Do we have a responsibility to examine our roles, values and responsibilities. (Beetham, 2016) How can critical discussions of these issues be structured into development work?Responsibility 4: Every time we comment on the democratic potential of social media, let’s agree to say something about the risks (Beetham, 2016)Slide40

Thank you!Feedback & questions…

Muireann O’Keeffe@muireannOKopenuplearning.wordpress.com/ http://www.slideshare.net

/muir31Image: permission from Catherine CroninSlide41

References

Beetham,H. (2016) Ed Tech and the circus of unreason. https://helenbeetham.com/2016/11/14/ed-tech-and-the-circus-of-unreason/ 14 Nov 2016.Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3 (2). pp. 77-101. Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/11735 boyd, d. (2011). Social network sites as networked publics: Affordances, dynamics,,and implications. In Z. Papcharissi, A networked self (pp. 39-58). New York: Routledge. boyd, d. (2014). It’s complicated: the social lives of networked teens. Retrieved 2015, from danah boyd:

http://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdfBuchanan, D. (2012). Case studies in organisational research. In G. Symon, & C. Crump, H. (2014, October 31). My Open Tour: a critical turn. Retrieved November 3, 2014 from Learningcreep: http://helencrump.net/2014/10/31/my-open-tour-a-critical-turn/Denscombe, M. (2010). The good research guide: for small-scale research projects (4th ed.). Berkshire: Open University Press. Eraut, M. (1994). Developing professional knowledge and competence. Oxon: Routledge.Eraut, M. (2004). Informal learning in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education, 26(2), 247-273. Garrison, D., & Anderson, T. (2003). E-learning in the twenty first century. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. Gerstein, J. (2011). The Use of Twitter for Professional Growth and Development. International Journal on E-Learning , 10 (3), 273-276.Hart, J. (2015, March 31). Twitter for Learning: The Past, Present and Future. Retrieved April 20, 2015 from Learning in the Social Workplace: http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/blog/2015/03/31/twitter-for-learning-the-past-present-and-future/Hawksey, M. (2014) Available from https://tags.hawksey.info/. Slide42

ReferencesHayes, E., & Gee, J. (2010). Popular culture as a public pedagogy. Retrieved Sept 29, 2015, from

jamespaulgee.com: http://jamespaulgee.com/admin/Images/pdfs/Popular%20Culture%20and%2 0Public%20Pedagogy.pdf Holmes, K., Preston, G., Shaw, K., & Buchanan, R. (2013, August). ‘Follow’ Me: Networked Professional Learning for Teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38(12). Retrieved April 20, 2015, from EduResearch Matters: http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=564 Hughes, G. (2010). Identity and belonging in social learning groups: the importance of distinguishing social, operational and knowledge‐related identity congruence. British Educational Research Journal, 36(1), 47-63. Ito, M., Gutiérrez, K., Livingstone, S., Penuel, B., Rhodes, J., Salen,

K.,Watkins, C. (2013). Connected learning: an agenda for research and design. Irvine, CA, USA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub. Lupton, D. (2014). ‘Feeling Better Connected’: Academics’ Use of Social Media. News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra. Canberra: University of Canberra.Seely Brown, J., & Thomas, D. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change. Copyright by Thomas & Seely Brown.Siemens, G. (2006). Connectivism: Learning Theory or Pastime for the Self-Amused? Retrieved April 30, 2015, from elearnspace Everything eLearning: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism_self-amused.htm Singh, S. (2015). The Fallacy of “Open”. Retrieved May 20, 2016, from savasavasava: https://savasavasava.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/the-fallacy-of-open/ Stewart, B. (2014). Networks of Care and Vulnerability. Retrieved May 10, 2015, from the theoryblog: http://theory.cribchronicles.com/2014/11/04/networks-of- care-and-vulnerability/ Stewart, B. (2016). Collapsed publics: Orality, literacy, and vulnerability in academic Twitter. Journal of Applied Social Theory, 1(1), 61-86. Veletsianos, G. (2012). Higher Education Scholars’ Participation and Practices on Twitter. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning , 28 (4), 336-349.White, D., & Le Cornu, A. (2011). Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9).Yin, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (5 ed.). California: Sage Publications.