Professional Online Social Networks


Social Media use in Teaching and Professional Development

In this post I will be using Jay and Johnson’s (2012) model to guide my discussion.

Step 1:
I have attempted many times to start up a class blog over the years but somehow I have not sustained it or even got it going. I ended up learning about blogging through my own portfolio against the former PTC’s. In the past year I started to use Seesaw. There was a sense of achievement in both the activity itself and the sharing of it. But there was not any constructive feedback nor were experts used. Considering other social media platforms went in the ‘too hard basket’.
            During Professional Development (PD), formally as a school we started to use VLN’s but were not guided on how effective they could be. Generally our PD is arranged around locally sourcing someone or linking with other schools to co-host and facilitate. As we are rural, it can be hard to attend flash PD courses in large cities like Auckland. Since a large portion of staff started on the Mindlab journey we have been able to network and use each other (as well as the greater Mindlab community) to seek assistance and advice. Yet many of us remain ‘stalkers’ and do not interact but still form opinions on topics that we may voice with others at school (Melhuish, 2013).


Step 2:
            I feel like I know there are plenty of benefits to using social media in teaching and PD but I have not given it a push. I think some of the challenges are that changing the mindset of not necessarily using kanohi ki te kanohi concept which is important to our staff.
Challenges should be addressed with open mind sets, naturally starting anything new comes with teething issues that need to be thoughtfully solved. There would be various stakeholders across different areas of the community who would be highly critical of the use of social media, which emphasises the importance of buy in and transparency. Access to Internet and devices is a problem in rural NZ. The majority of our parents are reluctant to allow their children to use any social media for safety concerns and age restrictions, so we would have to use the classroom resources and school email accounts with appropriate security setting, contracts and policies in place. Initiating and setting up project using social media can be challenging, because if not done with successful pedagogy behind it will lead to it falling flat with no one participating (Sharples et al., 2016).


Step 3:
            Sharing the benefits with both staff and whānau of the use of social media on specific learning situations can have a large impact on their motivation to see the project through. It would encourage less lurking and more constructive feedback and critique, which enhances learning opportunities (Melhuish, 2013). Due to it’s interactive nature, a diverse range of people can be linked into the conversations, increasing networks – showing the potentials of online learning with active engagement.
If the time is taken to set up the project successfully, perhaps on a smaller scale initially with setting clear guidelines on interactions, using appropriate resources and sourcing reputable others who can respond; I now believe that there is a good chance that differentitated learning opportunities will arise. In the ideal Mathematics classroom, to bring learning to life using real life contexts and we encourage students to collaborate, communicate, share, defend and articulate their ideas. This pedagogy is shared with using social media and online interactions so why wouldn’t be encourage these behaviours online too, which in turn would encourage healthy cyber habits.


References:

Jay, J.K. and Johnson, K.L. (2002) Capturing complexity: a typology of reflective practice for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 73-85.

Melhuish, K. (2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 27 February, 2018 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/han…

Sharples, M., de Roock , R., Ferguson, R., Gaved, M., Herodotou, C., Koh, E., Kukulska-Hulme, A., Looi,C-K, McAndrew, P., Rienties, B., Weller, M., Wong, L. H. (2016). Innovating pedagogy 2016: Open University Innovation Report 5. Milton Keynes: The Open University. Retrieved from http://proxima.iet.open.ac.uk/public/innovating_pedagogy_2016.pdf

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